LAKELAND — The Florida Tropics have been rampant all season, proving a vicious goal-scoring threat and that continued on Friday night at the RP Funding Center. The Tropics fell just one goal short of the team record for goals in a home Major Arena Soccer League match.
Coming second on the goal-scoring charts for the season the Tropics continued their stunning form winning 15-4 against the Dallas Sidekicks.
Unfortunately, the Sidekicks were forced to play without usual starting goalkeeper Juan Gamboa as he had to attend to a personal matter. The side is hoping that he will return on Sunday and make the trip to Lakeland, but will be given all the time needed to attend to things and hopefully deal with things.
Photo courtesy Florida Tropics
Florida took full advantage of reserve goalkeeper, Chase Coy and took a significant 6-1 lead into the halftime break. The run continued in the second half and the first goal in the half piled on the pain for the sidekicks with Zach Reget scoring a shorthanded goal, the Tropics’ first of the season.
The star of the night was Bruno Henrique who scored a goal and laid off three assists, one of nine players to get at least one point on the night. Victor Parreiras, Ricardo Carvlaho, Kiel Williams, and Reget all managed braces in strong performances. Taylor Walter Bond, Breno Oliveria, J.P. Reyes, Anthony Arico, and Chad Vandegriffe all scored one goal each.
Jamie Lovegrove was the best for the Sidekicks, managing a goal and an assist in the loss. There won’t be much time for Dallas to recover with the two sides going again on Sunday. Florida remains on top of the Southern Conference and the combined league table with 24 points, one win ahead of Kansas City from the Central Conference (who have played one fewer match) and four wins clear of Baltimore in the conference.
TAMPA — The USL Championship will open its 2022 season on March 12th and on Thursday the league office announced the home openers for every team. That means that the Tampa Bay Rowdies and Miami FC learned how their 2022 season will start.
Miami will host New York Red Bulls II in its home opener on the 12th, looking to open the season with a big win and make an early statement following a strong recruitment drive in the offseason.
Tampa Bay’s first home match will come a week later when the Rowdies host Indy Eleven in what should be an enthralling contest. The Rowdies will be on the road for the first week of the season when they travel to Alabama to take on Birmingham Legion on the 13th, the debut of Protective Stadium in the league. That match will be a 2021 Playoffs rematch and is the only match on the 13th raising the possibility of being part of the to be announced national TV schedule.
The 2022 season will be significantly different from the 2021 season with a return to the pre-COVID league structure of just two conferences, without divisions. This will mean seeing a wider variety of opponents, each team will only play one home game against every other team from its conference. In addition, there will be inter-conference play for the first time in several years.
MIAMI — Miami FC has continued growing its roster for the 2022 season picking up Christian Sorto from RGV FC on Tuesday.
The El Salvador international has signed a two-year contract with Miami and bolsters the attacking stocks at the club which has already seen plenty of change this off-season.
“Christian is a player that caught my eye at Loudoun United a few years ago,” said Miami FC Head Coach Anthony Pulis in a press release. “He’s a player that gets you on the edge of your seat when he has the ball. He can play in any of the positions underneath the striker and has the ability to produce real moments of quality in and around the box. Christian is a young player that I believe has a very high ceiling. I’m excited to work with him and help develop him further.”
2021 was a banner year for Sorto, he scored four goals and provided seven assists as he starred for the Toros in 31 games.
The year also saw Sorto make his international debut coming against Jamaica last month in the FIFA World Cup Qualifiers. That was his second call-up after failing to make the pitch in the prior match window.
Joining Miami will see Sorto reunited with former Loudoun team-mate Kyle Murphy who is also a new addition to the club having joined two weeks ago.
ORLANDO — Six more players have been added to the Orlando Pride roster, three coming in the first round thanks to some shrewd dealing to secure more picks.
Mia Fishel was the first to join the Pride, coming as the fifth selection. Fishel comes from UCLA and will be reunited with her former coach, Amanda Cromwell, who just took over the Pride job.
Fishel is a two-time All-American having played 59 matches scoring 32 goals and managing 14 assists. The new Pride member has already become part of the US Women’s National Team, earning an October call-up following an impressive qualifying tournament for the Under-20s. At that tournament, she won the golden ball and golden boot after scoring 13 goals.
After that, the negotiations began and the 10th pick was acquired from OL Reign. In exchange for that pick, Orlando gave up Phoebe McClernon and gained this pick, a 2023 natural second-round pick, defender Celia Jimenez Delgado, and forward Leah Pruitt.
With that 10th pick, the Pride took defender Caitlin Cosme from Duke. Cosme started 62 of her 70 matches for the Blue Devils with 10 goals and an assist, she won all-region honors in 2020.
Just one pick later Pride was back up and selected 2020 NCAA Champion Julie Doyle a forward from Santa Clara University as the 11th selection. Doyle captained that side winning all-conference honors three times in her career.
With the 29th pick, Orlando Pride traded that away to get the rights for Deanne Rose, currently playing for Reading in the FA WSL in England. With the 31st and final pick, Orlando picked up another player who played their college soccer in California taking Jada Talley.
It’s been a few weeks and maybe the pain of what happened at the 2021 USL Championship Final has calmed for Tampa Bay Rowdies fans. If it has maybe those fans will be ready to take a dive into those close-calls, or those fans may have to bookmark this and come back. The Rowdies got close to but did not win, the championship in 1978, 1979, famously in 2020, and most recently in 2021.
1978: L Soccer Bowl to New York Cosmos 3-1
Franz Beckenbauer on the ball in the 1978 Soccer Bowl (Photo: Dave Mortimer)
Three last four champions had come from the Eastern Division (and all four years the premier, the regular-season winner, was from the Eastern Division). As a result, it was unsurprising when the Eastern Division was tight again this year, despite the New York Cosmos moving to the National Conference. All four teams in the Eastern Division (the New England Tea Men, the Rowdies, the Fort Lauderdale Strikers, and the Philadelphia Fury) advanced to the Playoffs. New England topped the division beating out the Rowdies due to one more win. Despite that New England was stunned in the first round by the Strikers. Tampa Bay came through to the final knocking off Chicago Sting, San Diego Sockers, and the hated Strikers (winning the last two in a mini-game) to meet the empire of the Cosmos, who were fortunate to make it as they would have lost the conference semi-final 9-6 if it was scored on aggregate rather than on games won. In front of 74,901 people (still, the third-highest attended US club championship game) the Cosmos completed the double with a 3-1 win after jumping out to an early lead.
Rodney Marsh starred for the Rowdies this season scoring 18 goals and providing 16 assists while Arsene Auguste was a vital part of the back-line and Steve Wegere was strong upfront.
1979: L Soccer Bowl to Vancouver Whitecaps 2-1
Trevor Whymark looking to beat the Rowdies in the 1979 Soccer Bowl (Photo: NASL Jerseys)
It was a better year for the Tampa Bay Rowdies in 1979 finishing with more points and winning the division by four points. After a dominant win over the Detroit Express in the first round, a win on penalties and a 1-0 win sent the Rowdies to the conference title against San Diego. Holding home advantage the Rowdies won the second leg on penalties forcing a mini-game in which they scored the golden goal. The Whitecaps made the final thanks to a 3-2 shootout win over the Cosmos in the same stadium so came in confident. A goal in the 13th minute set Vancouver off, Jan van der Veen equalized in the 25th but Trevor Whymark sealed his brace and the match on the hour mark.
2020: Championship Cancelled
Louisville players after being eliminated by the Tampa Bay Rowdies (Photo: Tampa Bay Rowdies)
After COVID-19 nearly tanked the whole season, it did take out one game, the Rowdies were denied the trophy by a COVID-19 outbreak which led to the final being canceled. The Rowdies came in as the hosts and were likely the slight favorites against Phoenix Rising FC. It was a relatively simple “regular” season for Tampa Bay, taking top-spot from the opening match and never looking back, having only three losses all year. The Playoffs were much the same story, two tight wins against Charleston battery and Louisville City FC put the Rowdies in the final while Phoenix came through two penalty shootouts. That may have made the Rowdies the favorites but winning on shootouts may not mean you’re so overworked that you can’t win the final.
2021: L USL Championship Final to Orange County SC 3-1
Orange County SC celebrates winning the 2021 USL Championship (Photo: USL)
The only season in this list where the Tampa Bay Rowdies won the regular-season title only to lose the championship game. Much like 2020, the Rowdies took the lead in the division from the first match, only slipping to second for two weeks. That reflected a mid-season slump where the Rowdies lost four of five matches. From there they would only lose one more match in the regular season. After demolishing FC Tulsa 6-2 in the first round, playoff hopes were high. But from there the Playoffs were much harder. The Rowdies squeaked past Birmingham Legion and only the Miracle of Al Lang helped them make the final a 3-2 extra-time win over Louisville City FC. Orange County came in after three straight shootout wins, so fans were confident. But the issues exposed by Birmingham and Louisville were capitalized on by Orange County which cruised to the win.
It’s hard to say which of these seasons were the best, 2021 is a strong candidate and perhaps in time may be seen as the best because of the regular-season crown. 2020 also has a strong case since it’s easy to argue that the Rowdies would have won but we’ll never know. Between the two NASL seasons, 1979 seems the easier argument, the Rowdies won the division, unlike the year before, and only lost by one goal.
These things seem to happen in twos, so what happened in 1980? Well, the Rowdies won the division again but fell in the second round of the Playoffs. That would be the last Playoffs appearance for the original Rowdies and the team wouldn’t make the Playoffs again until 2011. If we count the Mutiny it was a 16-year wait for a Playoffs appearance for Tampa Bay and then another 11 between the Mutiny and the modern Rowdies. It likely won’t be that long a wait this time.
SANTA CLARA, Calif. — After losing to this year’s hosts on penalties in 2020 Florida State claimed the NCAA Women’s Soccer Championship with a shootout win against Brigham Young University in Santa Clara on Monday night.
The ghosts from 2020 did not haunt the FSU with Cristina Roque making two big saves to help her team to a 4-3 shootout win after the scoreless draw. Yujie Zhao was given the historic moment as she powerfully hit the penalty to claim the trophy.
“I feel like I had a lot of trust in my teammates, everyone who was stepping up to kick the ball especially (Zhao) finishing it off,” said Roque after the match. “I feel like everyone is behind me no matter which way it goes just how last year it didn’t just go our way and everyone was behind me then. I knew whatever happened this year they were going to be behind me. I’m not gonna lie it does feel better here.”
With the win Florida State has won three titles, all coming in the last eight years. That makes the side the second most successful NCAA Division I women’s soccer team tied with Notre Dame and Stanford. Only the dominant North Carolina side has more titles.
The match itself was a real clash of styles with the free-scoring Cougars taking on the stout defense from Tallahassee. It was just the third time all year that BYU had been held scoreless in a match.
BYU had the ball in the back of the net, only to be denied by an offside flag keeping the match scoreless. Emily Madril made a perfect sliding challenge on the eight-yard box to keep it scoreless at half-time.
In the 71st minute, Jody Brown ran through the BYU defense and had a chance at a close range but sent her shot off target from a tight angle. One minute from time Florida State nearly won the match from Zhao’s corner only for the shot from Jody Brown to go over the bar.
Extra time saw good defense from both sides forcing the match to penalties, which Florida State won to claim the title.
ST. PETERSBURG — After a long week of soccer Indy Eleven claimed the 2021 USL Academy Championship with a 3-0 win over Queensboro FC at Al Lang Stadium on Sunday night.
Diego Sanchez was the star, managing a goal and an assist in the comfortable victory. It only took 11 minutes for his side to open the scoring through Diego Rodriguez. Palmer Ault started the play by hitting a through-ball for Kabiru Gafar whose shot after rounding the keeper was denied by a stunning sliding block from the Queensboro backline. On the corner, Indy was not denied as Sanchez’s corner found Rodriguez’s head for a perfect start.
Another 11 minutes later Sanchez became the goal-scorer, he stepped up for a dead-ball situation from 25 yards. Lining it up with his left foot his strike was perfectly placed, out of the reach of the keeper, to double his side’s lead.
After being shell-shocked Queesboro had a chance on the counter 30 minutes into the match. Nestor Cabrera stole possession and then ran at goal and shot over the bar. That sparked a run for the side and moments later Piero Elias was at it, taking a run and hitting a shot from a similar distance as Sanchez’s goal only to be denied by the keeper.
After the break, it was almost all QBFC and in the 42nd minute the club had a penalty shout denied that could well have changed the course of the match. The Eleven defense was fighting to keep the clean sheet and waring the onslaught well.
Nine minutes from time the match was iced as Alann Torres stole the ball and set up Gafar who was able to turn and find Ault whose shot was saved. That mattered little as the rebound fell for Ault who made no mistake at the second time of asking.
Queensboro pushed in the final few minutes but a well marshaled Indy defense was never going to let them through to claim the crown.
In the other matches AC Connecticut avoided the wooden-spoon with a 4-2 win over Southern Soccer Academy. Weston FC finished fifth thanks to a 2-0 win over San Antonio FC and New Mexico United claimed the third place playoff in a 3-2 thriller.
ST. PETERSBURG — A three-goal first-half barrage from Orange County SC was too much for more Tampa Bay Rowdies heroics as Orange County won the USL Championship Final 3-1 at Al Lang Stadium on Sunday night.
Orange County shocked the crowd with the opener, sneaking in the goal against the run of play. It was supposed to be a routine pass out of the back but it was picked off by Ronaldo Damus who was left with a simple finish to open the scoring.
Another Rowdies defensive lapse let Orange County double the lead in the 38th minute. Damus was left wide open in the middle of the penalty area to shoot across his body with a well-taken half-volley that nestled into the side-netting.
“My job as a striker is to take advantage of the space given,” said Damus. “So I made sure to do that and am very happy to have helped win the match and to be a champion here at Orange County.”
A needless foul helped OCSC make it 3-0 right before half-time. The free-kick from just outside the area was perfectly curled around the wall by Mikko Kuningas and out of the reach of Raiko Arozarena.
In the 57th minute, Tampa Bay got back in the match. It seemed like the chance was gone after a missed kick from Sebastian Guenzatti but the ball continued and fell to Leo Fernandes who made no mistake, slamming it past the keeper
A penalty allowed the Rowdies their first clear chance in the 19th minute after a foul in the box. Guenzatti stepped up and sent it to the goalkeeper’s right but put it at the right height for Patrick Rakovsky to make the save.
The pattern of play was established early with Orange County playing deep defensively, creating a gap between midfield and attack and the Rowdies dominating possession.
“He just put it at the right height for me,” said Damus after the match. “I didn’t see anything especially, just got lucky.”
After the penalty save things changed, Orange County became more energetic, getting forward more and changing shape to have an attacking midfielder and the momentum shift helped lead to the goal.
The Rowdies came out from half-time brightly and in the 52nd minute had their best chance of the match, with a strong run from Dos Santos ending with a shot that went just across the face of goal and wide. The momentum continued one minute later as he headed just wide again.
It was almost all Tampa Bay in the second half, needing a three-goal comeback but the heroics of one week ago just were not there and Orange County left Al Lang with the trophy.
ST. PETERSBURG — If there was one word that summed up the Tampa Bay Rowdies 2021 Playoffs coming into Saturday night’s Eastern Conference Final against Louisville City FC it was patience. So when Louisville scored early, sitting back and absorbing pressure seemed to play exactly into the Rowdies’ hands allowing them to come from behind to win 3-2 in extra time.
While the number of goals in the match was a shock for two normally very solid defensive teams in several ways it was a typical Tampa Bay performance that saw the team over the line. Most notably Tampa Bay remained dominant in the air, winning 58.2 percent of aerial duels.
That was partly due to Louisville conceding possession, with a surprise 2-0 lead at half-time the men in purple didn’t feel they needed much of the ball. That allowed the hosts to be patient, waiting for an opening similar to what was needed against Birmingham in the semi-final.
As with the match against Birmingham, it was all about just daring to have a look. The Rowdies had 25 shots, 16 of them in the box, eventually, the huffing and puffing would tell. The opener was a stunning strike from Lucky Mkosana that somehow dissected a sea of bodies, his second was that pressure building, putting men in the right places, even if it was somewhat fortuitous. At this level, you make your own luck.
I said in the @RBLRSports chat that I didn't think the Rowdies should play for corners as they don't often lead to goals. I'm a well known US Soccer stats person… #TBRvLOU
There were some anomalies. Corners rarely work out in the professional game, they’re from a tight angle and the box is always too crowded. Despite that, it was a corner that started the move for both goals, even if the goal didn’t come from the corner itself. Louisville slipped by letting its opponent get so many, 16, opportunities from the corner arc.
It was hardly a perfect game from the Rowdies, enough has been said of the calamitous own goal but some other areas will need work before the big one next Sunday. Normally the Rowdies have been strong defensively, but on Saturday they were not. 36.4 percent tackling accuracy is not good enough in a conference final, and if there were three minutes of stoppage time instead of four this article would have focused mostly on that. Most worryingly the missed tackles weren’t just in the Louisville half, they were all over the park. Neill Collins has some work to do on the training pitch this week, maybe in just getting his best 11 fit for Sunday, but for now, he would do well to remember that while his side may have got lucky on Saturday they made that luck and deserved their back-to-back titles.
ST. PETERSBURG — There’s a trophy on the line on Saturday when the Tampa Bay Rowdies take on Louisville City FC at Al Lang Stadium on Saturday night. Like last year the Rowdies will have to overcome the perennial finalists to win the Eastern Conference title but this time it’s at home. They proved Louisville is beatable in the conference final and here are the areas that will make the difference this year.
Like many matches, Tampa Bay has played this year the aerial duels will matter, winning the ball in the air will be important. But that’s because, unlike other opponents, Lou City is also strong in the air and as such will fight hard for that first ball and who wins this battle as a whole will go a long way to deciding who will win the match and claim the berth in the USL Championship Game.
One thing that is interesting about how Louisville has played is their patience to get forward. That is most reflected in the offside count from last week. Against Charlotte, LCFC wasn’t caught offside all match. That could mean that the Rowdies shouldn’t bother but it also signals that playing a higher line may catch Louisville City off guard and change the game plan.
Going forward the Rowdies and Lou City play a similar game. Last week Louisville managed a crossing accuracy of 28.6 percent, showing that the team will work the ball to the wing and cross it in and it often works. A success rate that high is very good, especially when seeing that Louisville stopped Charlotte’s crosses, only allowing an 8.7 percent accuracy. That may force Tampa Bay to keep the ball on the ground more.
The patience that Louisville City FC plays with was reflected mostly in where the men in purple take their shots. All of their shots last week were from inside the box, 13 shots. That’s similar to how the Rowdies overcame Birmingham last week but it was unusual for the Rowdies to be that patient. It gives some insight into how the Rowdies should defend, there can be more space outside the box but a focus needs to be on shutting things down once the ball is within 18 yards.
The Tampa Bay Rowdies will go in as favorites, but Louisville City has proven time and time again that it can get the job done. This will be a tight match but if the Rowdies pay attention to what Louisville has shown them they will be able to take the trophy.
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