Rowdies close homestand with second straight shutout victory
The Tampa Bay Rowdies left it late but ultimately came away with all three points against Las Vegas Lights FC on Saturday night at Al Lang Stadium. Forward Call Jennings nabbed the winner in the 85th minute, notching his eighth goal of the season.
“This [result] is massive,” said Jennings after the match. “Anytime you can get three points is a big deal. Close the gap toward the top. It’s difficult for a team to do it game in, game out, so anytime you can get a result and build on that is huge and we’re looking to continue it.”
As they did in Wednesday’s Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup defeat versus FC Dallas, the Rowdies outshout Las Vegas by a wide margin, 20 to 7 to be exact. The visitors had their chances, though. In the 29th minute, Las Vegas’ leading scorer Valentin Noel missed a wide open sitter a couple yards in front of goal after Solomon Asante picked him out with a cross from the right edge.
Just a few minutes after Noel’s miscue, Lewis Hilton fired off Tampa Bay’s first shot on goal of the night. The Rowdies midfielder shook off a defender before powering a shot from just outside the box right into the arms of former teammate and current Las Vegas keeper Raiko Arozarena.
In the 37th minute, Rowdies midfielder came within a few inches of grabbing the go-ahead goal. Slicing into the box from the left flank, Bodily ripped a shot toward goal that deflected off the foot of a defender and then clanged into the near post to stay out of the net.
“I thought the first half we actually played really well,” said Neilson. “We dominated possession, created lots of chances and didn’t have the final moment. To [Las Vegas’s] credit, they stayed in the game and made it really difficult for us. They sat in a back six, it was almost a 6-3-1. They were really hard to break down.”
Las Vegas put the Rowdies under serious pressure with a flurry of shots in the 77th and 78th minute. Rowdies captain came up clutch with two blocks, first denying a right-footed shot by Joe Hafferty and then another a minute later to thwart Shawn Smart. However, just a few seconds later Las Vegas’s Gennaro Nigro slipped behind the back line and lifted a shot over the shoulder of Rowdies keeper Jordan Farr but right into the crossbar.
After weathering the close chances for Las Vegas, the Rowdies finally found their winner in the 85th minute. Bodily initiated the sequence with a sublime chipped pass into Las Vegas’s defensive third. Receiving the service on the left side of the box, Jennings cut back toward the top of the box but sharply turned toward goal to take a crack on frame. Jennings’ effort was enough to beat Arozarena at the near post and seal the victory.
“I was thinking just relax, be patient,” said Jennings. “I think I rushed a number of chances tonight and I’ve been rushing in recent games. It was like, okay, beat the defender, get a little space and then really focus on putting it on frame away from the goalkeeper and I did it.”
With the win, the Rowdies make up some ground on the top teams in the Eastern Conference standings, as the Charleston Battery and Louisville City FC both dropped points this week. Indy Eleven picked up a 2-1 win over Phoenix Rising FC at home, leaving them third in the conference on 20 points and the Rowdies sitting fourth with 19 points.
“We spoke about it before the game, said Neilson. “Louisville obviously draw and then Charleston get beat last night, so it gives us a chance to get closer and put some pressure on them. Hopefully we’ll get closer again next week and keep putting pressure on them.”
Next up, the Rowdies head out west for a two-match swing in California. They’ll face the top team in the West Sacramento Republic FC on Saturday, June 1 at 10 pm ET and then Oakland Roots SC on Saturday, June 8 at 10 pm ET.
Scoring Summary
TBR – Jennings (Bodily), 85’
Caution Summary
LV – Nigro, Yellow Card, 31’
TBR – Munjoma, Yellow Card, 56’
LV – Smart, Yellow Card, 68’
LV – Azcona, Yellow Card, 71’
Lineups
Rowdies: Farr, Munjoma (Moon, 61’), Doherty, Guillen, Niyongabire, Crisostomo (Dennis, 61’), Hilton (Worth, 61’), Perez (Rivera, 53’), Bodily, Jennings, Arteaga (Fernandes, 76’)
Rowdies Bench: Breno, Dezart, Kleemann, Moon, Worth, Dennis, Fernandes, Rivera, Ortiz,
Las Vegas: Arozarena, Hafferty, Klimenta, Howell, Nigro, Adams, Ngando, Smart, Noel, Samake, Azcona
Las Vegas Bench: Ammeter, Garcia, Sargus, Gue, Romero, Asante, Bennet
UP NEXT:
TAMPA BAY ROWDIES at Sacramento Republic FC
Heart Health Park | Sacramento, CA
June 1, 2024 | USL Championship Regular Season | Matchday 12
10 p.m. ET | ESPN+
TAMPA BAY ROWDIES v LAS VEGAS LIGHTS POST GAME QUOTE SHEET
HEAD COACH ROBBIE NEILSON
On the performance of the team tonight...
“I thought the first half we actually played really well. We dominated possession, created lots of chances and didn’t have the final moment. To [Las Vegas’s] credit, they stayed in the game and made it really difficult for us. They sat in a back six, it was almost a 6-3-1. They were really hard to break down. When you don’t have that final moment, you have to just keep going and going. Thankfully Cal gave us the final moment.”
On the impact of the substitutes in the second half to help lift the team to victory...
“The subs were massive. It’s massive to have a squad of players like ours. The guys that are coming in are pushing us. There’s no doubt the boys are out there, they’ve played Saturday, Wednesday, and asked them to play again Saturday. It’s tough physically. These guys can come in and give us a spark. I thought both the guys that started and they couldn’t quite get the goal, and then the guys who came on gave us that wee extra bit that we need.”
On the performance of Nick Moon off the bench and Leo Fernandes making his first appearance since March 24...
“First and foremost, it’s great to see Leo [Fernandes] coming back. He’s been out for a long time after a wee setback, but he just brings a real quality to the team. He gets in little pockets and plays forward. Nick [Moon] takes another step forward. Defensively he did really well for us. He’s physical and strong. It’s just now about getting that fitness level up so he can do what he’s done previously in San Diego.”
On if things are clicking defensively after securing consecutives clean sheets...
“I think they are. Obviously losing Forrest [Lasso], we’re kind of readjusting with what we’ve got in there. Part of the game we had [Nick Moon] move in there as a right center half. Part of it is just continuing to do what we do every week in training, work on that 3-5-2. We flipped in a four at the back and then went back to the 3-5-2. Having that ability within the team to change systems is really important.”
On the important Ance of grinding out a 1-0 win and not settling for a draw...
“Games are like that sometimes. Teams will come into Al Lang and sit in and try to negate the game and make it very difficult for us. We have to accept that and it’s up to us to break them down. I thought, for us it’s about continuing the way we’re playing and if it doesn’t work, alter it a week bit with the guys that come in with that extra energy. Obviously when we look back at the season, we’ll be lifting a trophy and not worrying about the performance tonight because it’s all about putting points on the board.”
On the importance of closing the gap with Louisville and Charleston at the top of the standings...
“We spoke about it before the game. Louisville obviously draw and then Charleston get beat last night, so it gives us a chance to get closer and put some pressure on them. Hopefully we’ll get closer again next week and keep putting pressure on them.”
FORWARD CAL JENNINGS
On how much the frustration from the Dallas matched seeped into tonight by the 80th minute…
“As a player you’re always kind of fighting that. You’re always getting chances, goalkeeper’s making saves, you’re putting them wide, you’re getting in and getting good opportunities. You gotta have a short memory, you gotta keep going, you gotta keep pushing because the second you turn off, that’s the game and it’s over. So I was really just trying to tell myself ‘alright, you’ve had chances, you’ve missed a couple but it’s a positive to get chances and it’s coming. I believe.’ Today I was fortunate, got it at the end and got the one we needed and the team did a great job seeing out the result.”
On just needing the one goal to get the win…
“Anytime we have a lead, we get that one goal and we’re confident and we know we can get some more and we know we can close out a result. The reality is it’s tough. This is our third game of the week, it was always going to be difficult. I thought [Las] Vegas did a good job pushing late in the game. We saw out a result and at the end of it, that’s all you need to do.”
On the importance of the subs with it being the third game of the week…
“Massive. Guys’ legs are tired. You need your whole team you need your depth and I thought everybody who came on made an impact, helped us create chances, helped be organized defensively. Complete team effort today.”
On his goal tonight…
“I was thinking just relax, be patient. I think I rushed a number of chances tonight and I’ve been rushing in recent games. It was like, okay, beat the defender, get a little space and then really focus on putting it on frame away from the goalkeeper and I did it.”
On how a gritty win can build character for a team…
“This is massive. Anytime you can get three points is a big deal. Close the gap toward the top and it’s difficult for a team to do it game in, game out, so anytime you can get a result and build on that is huge and we’re looking to continue it.”
FORWARD LEO FERNANDES
On how he saw the game developing before he subbed on and the message he received…
“It was one of those games where we had a lot of half chances, but we knew as soon as we scored one goal, we knew we were going to win the game. We were coming off two great performances, we knew we weren’t going to be perfect, it was just for us having that mentality of scoring that goal and getting the win. For myself, Robbie [Neilson] wanted me to come in and show a little bit of quality and composure in the midfield. Keep the ball and try to score the game-winning goal. Luckily Cal [Jennings] did it. Happy to be back and just impact in any way that I can.”
On coming back after being sidelined for two months…
“I felt great. Obviously, a little bit tired, it’s been a little while. I felt great, happy to win. Happy to get the result and hopefully there’s a lot more minutes in the season.”
On the importance of grinding out wins like tonight’s…
“Exactly. Like you said, not every win is going to be a four, five-nothing win. We have to learn how to win games like these. It’s tough to win games in this league, I know that. You know. So for us to not play well and still win, it’s massive for us because we know what we want to do by the end of the year so these three points will be huge.”
On the importance of this win with Louisville and Charleston dropping points tonight…
“Exactly. This week, we knew how important the game was just because we knew that Louisville and Charleston dropped points. We wanted to make sure that we won the game and put a little more pressure on them.”
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