Rowdies Top Tulsa to Advance to Conference Semifinal
November 6, 2021 - United Soccer League Championship (USL)
Tampa Bay Rowdies News Release
ST PETERSBURG, FL - A five-goal second half in front of a raucous 6,262 fans at Al Lang Stadium saw the Tampa Bay Rowdies comfortably notch a win over FC Tulsa in the Eastern Conference Quarterfinal round of the USL Championship playoffs. The Rowdies finished 6-2 against Tulsa, securing a matchup versus Birmingham Legion FC in the conference semifinal next Saturday at Al Lang.
The Rowdies started strong and found their breakthrough goal in the 21st minute. Driving in from the right flank, Connery Antley whipped in a lethal cross which found Sebastian Guenzatti in front of goal. Guenzatti's first attempt was blocked, but he made sure to bury the follow up attempt.
A second goal eluded the Rowdies the rest of the first half, but they didn't have to wait long in the second half. Pressuring the visitors into a turnover, the Rowdies charged into the final third to double the lead. Laurence Wyke fed Steevan Dos Santos in the box and the striker put some power behind a cross attempt that ended up clippin the foot of a defender and redirecting into the back of the net.
Dos Santos then grabbed an outright goal for himself 10 minutes later when Lewis Hilton delivered a pin-point corner kick to the far post for the imposing attacker to drive home with a header.
Tulsa grabbed one back in the 67th minute, as Joaquin Rivas tucked a low strike past Evan Louro. Their comeback effort hit a snag, though, when substitute Eric Bird picked up a second yellow card in the 73rd minute.
The floodgates eventually opened as the match reached the final stages. In the 89th minute, substitute Lucky Mkosana broke through Tulsa's back line and slipped a pass over to Leo Fernandes, who deposited the ball past Austin Wormell.
Tulsa immediately responded with a wonder strike from way out by substitute Dario Suarez that dipped down under the crossbar.
Rather than fall back and ride the result out, the Rowdies pounced on two more scoring chances. First, Mksoana bagged a goal of his own as he cleaned up a rebound off a Fernandes shot. Then Fernandes grabbed one to close the night out, receiving another assist from Mkosana.
Scoring Summary
TBR - Sebastian Guenzatti (Conner Antley) 21'
TBR - Kembo Kibato (Own Goal) 46'
TBR - Steevan Dos Santos (Lewis Hilton) 56'
TUL - Joaquin Rivas (Modou Jadama) 67'
TBR - Leo Fernandes (Lucky Mkosana) 89'
TUL - Dario Suarez (Bradley Bourgeois) 90'
TBR - Lucky Mkosana 90+2'
TBR - Leo Fernandes (Lucky Mkosana) 90+5'
Lineups
Rowdies: Louro; Scarlett, Lasso, Guillen; Antley, Hilton, Ekra, Wyke, Fernandes; Dos Santos, Guenzatti
Tulsa: Wormell; Bourgeois, Jadama, Fenwick, Sheldon; Santos, Moloto, Rivas, Kibato, Johnson; Costa
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