The 2018 Tampa Bay Rowdies season was the club's ninth season of existence, and their second in the United Soccer League. Including the previous Tampa Bay Rowdies, it was the 25th season of a franchise in the Tampa Bay metro area with the Rowdies moniker. Including the now-defunct Tampa Bay Mutiny, this was the 31st season of professional soccer in the Tampa Bay region.
| 2018 season | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Chairman | Stuart Sternberg (from October 2) Bill Edwards (until October 2) | |||
| Head coach | Neill Collins (from May 18) Stuart Campbell (until May 17) | |||
| Stadium | Al Lang Stadium | |||
| USL | 12th (Eastern Conference) | |||
| USL Cup | did not qualify | |||
| U.S. Open Cup | Second round | |||
| Top goalscorer | Georgi Hristov (7) | |||
| Highest home attendance | 7,709 (Oct. 7 vs. Charlotte) | |||
| Lowest home attendance | 4,876 (Aug. 11 vs. North Carolina) | |||
| Average home league attendance | 5,869 | |||
| Biggest win | 5–0 (Apr. 7 vs Ottawa) | |||
| Biggest defeat | 0–5 (Apr. 14 vs. New York) | |||
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| ||||
Club edit
On October 2, 2018, the Tampa Bay Rays baseball club announced their purchase the Rowdies for an undisclosed amount, pending St. Petersburg City Council approval. Once the sale was finalized, Rays presidents Matthew Silverman and Brian Auld became vice chairmen of the soccer club. They, along with Rowdies vice president and chief operating officer Lee Cohen, became the team's directors.[1][2]
Roster edit
- As of September 14, 2018[3]
| No. | Position | Player | Nation |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | GK | Cody Mizell |  United States
|
| 2 | DF | Kyle Curinga | United States
|
| 4 | DF | Papé Diakité |  Senegal
|
| 5 | DF | David Najem | United States
|
| 7 | MF | Junior Flemmings |  Jamaica
|
| 9 | MF | Alex Morrell | United States
|
| 10 | FW | Georgi Hristov |  Bulgaria
|
| 11 | MF | Leo Fernandes |  Brazil
|
| 13 | FW | Sebastián Guenzatti |  Uruguay
|
| 14 | FW | Leon Taylor | United States
|
| 15 | DF | Zac Portillos | United States
|
| 16 | DF | Max Lachowecki | United States
|
| 17 | FW | Jaime Chavez | United States
|
| 19 | GK | Daniel Vega |  Argentina
|
| 20 | MF | Martin Vingaard |  Denmark
|
| 23 | MF | Michael Nanchoff | United States
|
| 24 | DF | Tarek Morad | United States
|
| 25 | MF | Lance Rozeboom | United States
|
| 26 | MF | Joe Cole (captain) |  England
|
| 27 | DF | Hunter Gorskie | United States
|
| 28 | MF | Afrim Taku |  Albania
|
| 29 | MF | Dominic Oduro |  Ghana
|
| 50 | GK | Akira Fitzgerald | United States
|
| 56 | FW | Stefano Bonomo | United States
|
| 88 | MF | Kwadwo Poku | Ghana
|
| 90 | DF | Kyle Porter |  Canada
|
Technical staff edit
_(cropped).jpg)
Neill Collins - head coach (beginning May 18)
Cheyne Roberts – assistant coach
Martin Paterson – assistant coach
Stuart Dobson – goalkeeper coach- Blain Bott – strength and conditioning coach
- Bentley Smith – kit man
- Stuart Campbell – head coach (until May 17)
Medical staff edit
- Andrew Keane – head athletic trainer
- Michelle Leget – assistant athletic trainer
- Robert Dixon – message therapist
- Dr. Koco Eaton – team physician and orthopedic surgeon
- Dr. Mohit Bansal – team physician and orthopedic surgeon
- Dr. Christopher Salud – team physician
- Dr. Samuel Meyers – team chiropractor
Front office edit
- Stuart Sternberg – owner (beginning October 2)
- Lee Cohen – vice president and chief operating officer
- Matthew Silverman – vice chairmen (beginning October 2)
- Brian Auld – vice chairmen (beginning October 2)
- Bill Edwards – chairman, chief executive officer and governor (until October 2)
Competitions edit
Preseason / Friendlies edit
The Rowdies hosted Major League Soccer teams in the Suncoast Invitational for the third year in a row.
| February 10, 2018 | Tampa Bay Rowdies | 0–1 | FC Cincinnati | Bradenton |
| 15:30 EST (UTC−5) | Gorskie  76'Morrell 86'Hristov 87' |
Report | Walker 21' Barrett 41'Halfhill  63' |
Stadium: IMG Academy |
| February 17, 2018 Suncoast Invitational | Tampa Bay Rowdies | 1–2 | Montreal Impact | St. Petersburg |
| 19:30 EST (UTC−5) | Hristov 32' Graf 75' (Guenzatti) |
Report | Edwards 32' Taïder 44' (Petrasso)Petrasso 61'Piatti 77' (Taïder) |
Stadium: Al Lang Stadium Referee: Sorin Stoica |
| February 24, 2018 Suncoast Invitational | Tampa Bay Rowdies | 2–1 | Philadelphia Union | St. Petersburg |
| 19:30 EST (UTC−5) | Graf 19' (Blake) Nanchoff 35' (Najem)Blake 36' |
Report | Creavalle 21' Medunjanin 84' |
Stadium: Al Lang Stadium Referee: Ted Unkel |
| March 9, 2018 | USF Bulls | 2–5 | Tampa Bay Rowdies | Tampa |
| 19:00 EST (UTC−5) | Jackson 42' Skublak 66' |
Report | Fernandes 11', 51' (Portillos) Cole 39' (Najem)Nanchoff 50' (Najem)Hristov 61' (Fernandes)Graf 75' (pen.) |
Stadium: Corbett Soccer Stadium |
| July 16, 2018 Closed-door scrimmage | Tampa Bay Rowdies | 2–2 | Lakeland Tropics | St. Petersburg |
| EST (UTC−5) | Graf , |
Coutinho Ruiz |
Stadium: Al Lang Stadium Attendance: Closed-door |
USL edit
USL Eastern Conference table edit
| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 10 | Ottawa Fury | 34 | 13 | 6 | 15 | 31 | 43 | −12 | 45 |
| 11 | Charlotte Independence | 34 | 10 | 12 | 12 | 44 | 57 | −13 | 42 |
| 12 | Tampa Bay Rowdies | 34 | 11 | 8 | 15 | 44 | 44 | 0 | 41 |
| 13 | Penn FC | 34 | 9 | 10 | 15 | 38 | 47 | −9 | 37 |
| 14 | Atlanta United 2 | 34 | 7 | 10 | 17 | 37 | 72 | −35 | 31 |
Source: 2018 USL standings
Rules for classification: 1) total wins; 2) total goal differential; 3) total goals scored; 4) points earned against top four Conference finishers; 5) disciplinary points; 6) coin toss or drawing of lots
Rules for classification: 1) total wins; 2) total goal differential; 3) total goals scored; 4) points earned against top four Conference finishers; 5) disciplinary points; 6) coin toss or drawing of lots
Results summary edit
| Overall | Home | Away | |||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD |
| 34 | 11 | 8 | 15 | 44 | 44 | 0 | 41 | 7 | 5 | 5 | 28 | 17 | +11 | 4 | 3 | 10 | 16 | 27 | −11 |
Last updated: 14 October 2018.
Source: Match reports
Results by round edit
Updated to match(es) played on 27 Sept 2018. Source: Match reports
A = Away; H = Home; W = Win; D = Draw; L = Loss
A = Away; H = Home; W = Win; D = Draw; L = Loss
Results edit
| March 17, 2018 1 | North Carolina FC | 1–3 | Tampa Bay Rowdies | Cary |
| 15:30 EDT (UTC−4) | Danso 17' Miller 38' (Lomis) |
Report | Fernandes 23' (Hristov) Hristov 41' (pen.)Blake 90' (Guenzatti) |
Stadium: WakeMed Soccer Park Attendance: 4,197 Referee: Guido Gonzalez |
| March 24, 2018 2 | Tampa Bay Rowdies | 2–0 | Bethlehem Steel FC | St. Petersburg |
| 19:30 EDT (UTC−4) | Hristov 62' (Blake) Fernandes 68' (Najem)Najem 90' |
Report | Herbers 54' |
Stadium: Al Lang Stadium Attendance: 7,368 Referee: Rubiel Vazquez |
| March 31, 2018 3 | Louisville City FC | 1–0 | Tampa Bay Rowdies | Louisville |
| 19:30 EDT (UTC−4) | McMahon 26' Jimenez 69' (DelPiccolo) |
Report | Hristov 60' Collins 70' |
Stadium: Louisville Slugger Field Attendance: 6,336 Referee: Jon Freemon |
| April 7, 2018 4 | Tampa Bay Rowdies | 5–0 | Ottawa Fury FC | St. Petersburg |
| 19:30 EDT (UTC−4) | Hristov 60' (Schäfer) Mannella 71' (o.g.)Fernandes 79'Schäfer 81'Cole 87' (Blake)Portillos 90+5' (Fernandes) |
Report | Dixon 11' Obasi  90+1'Mannella 90+3' |
Stadium: Al Lang Stadium Attendance: 5,059 Referee: Luis Guardia |
| April 14, 2018 5 | New York Red Bulls II | 5–0 | Tampa Bay Rowdies | Harrison |
| 16:00 EDT (UTC−4) | Escobar 18' (Rivas), 25' Cásseres 28'Aguinaga 53' (Bonomo)Bonomo 61' (Moreno)White 84' (Bonomo), 90' (Stroud)Lema 85' |
Report | Cole 25' Blake 77' |
Stadium: Red Bull Arena Attendance: 903 Referee: Alan Kelly |
| April 21, 2018 6 | Tampa Bay Rowdies | 2–0 | Real Monarchs SLC | St. Petersburg |
| 19:30 EDT (UTC−4) | Gorskie 35' Cole 40', 51'Hristov 70' (Cole) |
Report | Ryden 45' Portillo 59' |
Stadium: Al Lang Stadium Attendance: 6,027 Referee: Daniel Gutierrez |
| April 28, 2018 7 | Charleston Battery | 1–0 | Tampa Bay Rowdies | Charleston |
| 19:00 EDT (UTC−4) | Candela 5' Guerra 45+1'van Schaik 46' |
Report | Cole 30' |
Stadium: MUSC Health Stadium Attendance: 3,462 Referee: Ismir Pekmic |
| May 4, 2018 8 | Penn FC | 3–0 | Tampa Bay Rowdies | Harrisburg |
| 19:00 EDT (UTC−4) | Venter 11' (Ortiz) Heinemann 25', 57' (Opoku), 60' (Galvão)Metzger 32'Peiser 89' |
Report | Curinga 15' |
Stadium: FNB Field Attendance: 1,281 Referee: Javier Santos Escobar |
| May 12, 2018 9 | Richmond Kickers | 1–0 | Tampa Bay Rowdies | Richmond |
| 19:00 EDT (UTC−4) | Kelly 38' (Yearwood) Shanosky 90+6' |
Report | Hristov 35' Lachowecki 65'Rozeboom 90+6' |
Stadium: City Stadium Attendance: 5,860 Referee: Lorant Varga |
| May 19, 2018 10 | Tampa Bay Rowdies | 2–2 | Pittsburgh Riverhounds | St. Petersburg |
| 19:30 EDT (UTC−4) | Rozeboom 3' (Morrell) Hristov 57'Cole 59'Lachowecki 90+1' |
Report | Kerr 17' Lachowecki 20' (o.g.)Parkes 30' (Forbes)Pratzner 49' |
Stadium: Al Lang Stadium Attendance: 6,202 Referee: David Barrie |
| May 26, 2018 11 | Toronto FC II | 2–4 | Tampa Bay Rowdies | Toronto |
| 14:00 EDT (UTC−4) | Uccello 21' Bjornethun 26'Campbell 50' (Petrasso)Johnson 63' (Uccello)Romeo 73' |
Report | Nanchoff 18', 25' Flemmings 24' (Schäfer), 89'Cole 40'Gorskie 74' (Schäfer), 77' |
Stadium: BMO Field Attendance: 141 Referee: Alain Ruch |
| June 2, 2018 12 | Tampa Bay Rowdies | 0–0 | Atlanta United 2 | St. Petersburg |
| 19:30 EDT (UTC−4) | Vingaard 25' Schäfer 44'Cole 90' |
Report | Crain 32'  40'Metcalf 43'Kendall-Moullin 90+2' |
Stadium: Al Lang Stadium Attendance: 5,953 Referee: Jonathan Bilinski |
| June 9, 2018 13 | Tampa Bay Rowdies | 1–1 | Nashville SC | St. Petersburg |
| 19:30 EDT (UTC−4) | Mkandawire 68' Taylor 84'Hristov 90+3'Nanchoff 90+4' |
Report | Moloto 22' LaGrassa 26' |
Stadium: Al Lang Stadium Attendance: 6,082 Referee: Daniel Gutierrez |
| June 22, 2018 14 | Tampa Bay Rowdies | 1–2 | Penn FC | St. Petersburg |
| 19:30 EDT (UTC−4) | Taylor 31' (Schäfer), 51' Schäfer 39'Magalhães 48'Hristov 55'Cole 85' |
Report | Tribbett 27' Mkosana 49', 67' (Opoku)Franco 88' |
Stadium: Al Lang Stadium Attendance: 5,369 Referee: Mark Allatin |
| Note: Match rescheduled from June 23 to avoid conflict with the St. Pete Pride Parade.[4] | ||||
| June 27, 2018 15 | Charlotte Independence | 2–2 | Tampa Bay Rowdies | Matthews |
| 19:30 EDT (UTC−4) | Herrera 57' (Cato) Cato 64' (Herrera)Johnson 86' 89'Smith 90+2' |
Report | Gorskie 44' Mkandawire 66'Lachowecki 78'Oduro 90' |
Stadium: Sportsplex at Matthews Attendance: 1,399 Referee: Marcos de Oliveira |
| July 4, 2018 16 | Tampa Bay Rowdies | 3–1 | Toronto FC II | St. Petersburg |
| 18:00 EDT (UTC−4) | Hristov 8' (Fitzgerald) Taylor 27', 54' (Fernandes)Cole 79' (Oduro) |
Report | Romeo 30' Dunn-Johnson 47'Fitzgerald 58' (o.g.) |
Stadium: Al Lang Stadium Attendance: 5,221 Referee: Elvis Osmanovic |
| July 7, 2018 17 | Tampa Bay Rowdies | 1–2 | Louisville City FC | St. Petersburg |
| 19:30 EDT (UTC−4) | Flemmings 71' (Bonomo) |
Report | Smith 22' (McCabe) Craig 41'Williams 44'McMahon 51'Lancaster 76'DelPiccolo 88' |
Stadium: Al Lang Stadium Attendance: 5,232 Referee: Guido Gonzalez |
| July 14, 2018 18 | FC Cincinnati | 2–0 | Tampa Bay Rowdies | Cincinnati |
| 19:30 EDT (UTC−4) | Ledesma 54' (Bone), 63' König 54' (Welshman) |
Report | Flemmings 23' |
Stadium: Nippert Stadium Attendance: 25,416 Referee: Malik Badawi |
| July 21, 2018 19 | Tampa Bay Rowdies | 3–1 | Indy Eleven | St. Petersburg |
| 19:30 EDT (UTC−4) | Bonomo 12' (Flemmings) Hristov 19' (Flemmings), 29'Flemmings 54', 89' (Hristov)Cole 62' |
Report | Starikov 20' (Pasher) Venegas 39'Matern 49'Ring 90+2' |
Stadium: Al Lang Stadium Attendance: 5,378 Referee: Matthew Miscannon |
| July 28, 2018 20 | Tampa Bay Rowdies | 2–2 | New York Red Bulls II | St. Petersburg |
| 19:30 EDT (UTC−4) | Bonomo 8' (pen.), 9' (Flemmings), 35' Oduro 45+2'Flemmings 45+9'Mizell 88' |
Report | Stroud 2' (Barlow) Ndam 17'White 62' (Lema) |
Stadium: Al Lang Stadium Attendance: 5,784 Referee: Elvis Osmanovic |
| August 3, 2018 21 | Ottawa Fury FC | 2–0 | Tampa Bay Rowdies | Ottawa |
| 19:00 EDT (UTC−4) | Taylor 1' (Duba) Reid 45+1'Attakora 53' (Oliveira) |
Report | Gorskie 79' Diakité 83' |
Stadium: TD Place Attendance: 4,226 Referee: David Barrie |
| August 8, 2018 22 | Tampa Bay Rowdies | 0–0 | Charleston Battery | St. Petersburg |
| 19:30 EDT (UTC−4) | Oduro 58' Cole 86' |
Report | Candela 23' |
Stadium: Al Lang Stadium Attendance: 5,028 Referee: Guido Gonzalez Jr. |
| August 11, 2018 23 | Tampa Bay Rowdies | 0–2 | North Carolina FC | St. Petersburg |
| 19:30 EDT (UTC−4) | Diakité 13' |
Report | Tobin 6' da Luz 51'Kandziora 65' (Miller)Ríos 78' (Bekker) |
Stadium: Al Lang Stadium Attendance: 4,876 Referee: Luis Guardia |
| August 22, 2018 24 | Pittsburgh Riverhounds | 1–1 | Tampa Bay Rowdies | Pittsburgh |
| 19:00 EDT (UTC−4) | Dabo 45+2' (Brett) Vancaeyezeele 62' |
Report | Flemmings 72' (Vingaard) Vega 90+4' |
Stadium: Highmark Stadium Attendance: 1,910 Referee: Marcos de Oliveira |
| August 25, 2018 25 | Tampa Bay Rowdies | 1–2 | FC Cincinnati | St. Petersburg |
| 19:30 EDT (UTC−4) | Taku 1' Cole 15'Poku 43', 75'Portillos 68'Oduro 80'Diakité 82' 85' |
Report | Ledesma 2' (pen.), 86' (pen.) Smith 50' 62'Barrett 88'Newton 90+2' |
Stadium: Al Lang Stadium Attendance: 5,963 Referee: Kevin Broadley |
| September 1, 2018 26 | North Carolina FC | 0–3 | Tampa Bay Rowdies | Cary |
| 19:00 EDT (UTC−4) | Guillen 61' Lomis 76'Tobin 81'da Luz 90+2' |
Report | Guenzatti 23' (Flemmings), 43' (Flemmings), 56' (Fernandes) Oduro 48' |
Stadium: WakeMed Soccer Park Attendance: 4,102 Referee: Matthew Franz |
| September 8, 2018 27 | Charleston Battery | 1–0 | Tampa Bay Rowdies | Charleston |
| 19:00 EDT (UTC−4) | Okonkwo 22' Bolt 55'Archer 90+6' |
Report | Guenzatti 81' |
Stadium: MUSC Health Stadium Attendance: 2,949 Referee: Rubiel Vazquez |
| September 15, 2018 28 | Tampa Bay Rowdies | 1–0 | Atlanta United 2 | St. Petersburg |
| 19:30 EDT (UTC−4) | Guenzatti 30' (Poku) Oduro 45+1'Cole 87' |
Report | Kissiedou 44' Kendall-Moullin 51'Shannon 79' |
Stadium: Al Lang Stadium Attendance: 6,045 Referee: Daniel Gutierrez |
| September 18, 2018 29 | Nashville SC | 1–2 | Tampa Bay Rowdies | Nashville |
| 20:30 EDT (UTC−4) | Moloto 20' |
Report | Hristov 6' (pen) Morad 46' Woodberry 69' (o.g.)Guenzatti 90+7'Vega 90+7' |
Stadium: First Tennessee Park Attendance: 7,269 Referee: Malik Badawi |
| September 22, 2018 30 | Tampa Bay Rowdies | 3–0 | Richmond Kickers | St. Petersburg |
| 19:30 EDT (UTC−4) | Gorskie 49' (Hristov) Chavez 57' (Taku), 58'Flemmings 90+3' (Cole) |
Report | Umar 9' Hlavaty 18'Williams 87' |
Stadium: Al Lang Stadium Attendance: 6,472 Referee: Lukas Szpala |
| September 26, 2018 31 | Indy Eleven | 2–0 | Tampa Bay Rowdies | Indianapolis |
| 19:00 EDT (UTC−4) | Ouimette 37' (Ayoze) Fôn Williams 74' Collier 75' |
Report | 9,123 | Stadium: Lucas Oil Stadium Referee: Daniel Radford |
| October 3, 2018 32 | Atlanta United 2 | 1–1 | Tampa Bay Rowdies | Lawrenceville |
| 19:00 EDT (UTC−4) | Robinson 60', 90+3' Wheeler-Omiunu 62' Shannon 65' Carleton 83' Kendall-Moulin 90+2' |
Report | Morad 20' Guenzatti 68' Oduro 75' |
Stadium: Coolray Field Attendance: 1,269 Referee: Jon Freemon |
| October 6, 2018 33 | Tampa Bay Rowdies | 1–2 | Charlotte Independence | St. Petersburg |
| 19:30 EDT (UTC−4) | Gorskie 75' Taylor 80' (Guenzatti)Vega 90+7' |
Report | Voser 26' (Zayed), 84' Gebhard 32' (Cato)Miller 82' |
Stadium: Al Lang Stadium Attendance: 7,709 Referee: Luis Guardia |
| October 14, 2018 34 | Bethlehem Steel FC | 1–0 | Tampa Bay Rowdies | Bethlehem |
| 15:00 EDT (UTC−4) | Ngalina 13' (Aaronson) Chambers 44'Herbers 76' |
Report | Stadium: Goodman Stadium Attendance: 262 Referee: Sergii Demianchuk |
U.S. Open Cup edit
| May 16 2nd round | Jacksonville Armada FC  | 1–0 | Tampa Bay Rowdies | Jacksonville, Florida |
| 7:00 PM EDT | Melvin 27' Banks 58'Beckie 90+' |
Report | Fernandes 14' Blake 62'Nanchoff 69' |
Stadium: Southern Oak Stadium Attendance: 374 Referee: Matthew Miscannon |
References edit
- ^ "The Rays are buying the Rowdies. What does it mean for Tampa Bay?".
- ^ "Rays purchase USL's Tampa Bay Rowdies". October 2, 2018.
- ^ "Roster". Tampa Bay Rowdies. Retrieved September 15, 2018.
- ^ "ROWDIES MOVE JUNE 23 MATCH TO JUNE 22". RowdiesSoccer.com. Retrieved February 20, 2018.