ST. PETERSBURG – In his 100th match for the Tampa Bay Rowdies Sebastian Guenzatti had the honor of scoring the winning goal with a 68th-minute penalty at Al Lang Stadium on Saturday night.
The goal came after a foolish foul from Leland Archer who stuck his leg back to take down Jordan Adebayo-Smith, who was seemingly struggling to hold possession anyway. That allowed the man of the moment to step up and send the keeper the wrong way.
The hosts started the match well and if not for some good goalkeeping Guenzatti could have opened the scoring in the first 10 minutes. He got on the end of a good cross from Leo Fernandes but his effort was saved for a corner.
In the 23rd minute, The Charleston attack lost a big outlet as Stavros Zarokostas had to leave the field due to an injury.
Scrambling defense cut down the space for the Rowdies and that was evident in the 28th minute when chances from Dayonn Harris and Fernandes were prevented thanks to that space being choked.
In the fourth minute of first-half stoppage time, Joe Kuzminsky was at his best again, denying Zach Steinberger’s header into the ground to keep it scoreless at the break.
The Rowdies’ possession domination continued in the second half, but they also continued to have no luck beating Kuzminsky. For most of the half, the Battery were playing 10 men behind the ball which made it difficult for Tampa Bay to break them down and find the needed goal.
After going behind the Charleston offense woke up but without Zarokostas that finishing touch just wasn’t there, and they just never looked in the match as the Rowdies cruised to the victory.
Photo Tom Denham Twitter
Florida Soccer Report 