2018_Tampa_Bay_Rowdies_season References

Tampa Bay Rowdies
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)
	← 2017 2019 →

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.

Club

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

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

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

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

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

Preseason / Friendlies

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

USL Eastern Conference table

Pos	Team v t e	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

Results summary


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

Round	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	18	19	20	21	22	23	24	25	26	27	28	29	30	31	32	33	34
Stadium	A	H	A	H	A	H	A	A	A	H	A	H	H	H	A	H	H	A	H	H	A	H	H	A	H	A	A	H	A	H	A	A	H	A
Result	W	W	L	W	L	W	L	L	L	D	W	D	D	L	D	W	L	L	W	D	L	D	L	D	L	W	L	W	W	W	L	D	L	L
Position	3	2	2	1	3	2	2	7	7	9	7	8	9	11	11	9	11	12	10	12	12	12	12	12	13	13	13	13	11	10	11	11	12	12

Updated to match(es) played on 27 Sept 2018. Source: Match reports
A = Away; H = Home; W = Win; D = Draw; L = Loss

Results

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

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

^ "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.

[1] "The Rays are buying the Rowdies. What does it mean for Tampa Bay?".

[2] "Rays purchase USL's Tampa Bay Rowdies". October 2, 2018.

[3] "Roster". Tampa Bay Rowdies. Retrieved September 15, 2018.

[4] "ROWDIES MOVE JUNE 23 MATCH TO JUNE 22". RowdiesSoccer.com. Retrieved February 20, 2018.

[1]

[2]

[3]

[4]

v t e FC Tampa Bay / Tampa Bay Rowdies seasons
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v t e 2018 USL season
Playoffs Transfers
East	Atlanta United 2 Bethlehem Steel Charleston Battery Charlotte Independence FC Cincinnati Indy Eleven Louisville City Nashville SC New York Red Bulls II North Carolina FC Ottawa Fury Penn FC Pittsburgh Riverhounds SC Richmond Kickers Tampa Bay Rowdies Toronto FC II
West	Colorado Springs Switchbacks Fresno FC LA Galaxy II Las Vegas Lights OKC Energy Orange County SC Phoenix Rising Portland Timbers 2 Real Monarchs SLC Reno 1868 FC RGVFC Toros Sacramento Republic Saint Louis FC San Antonio FC Seattle Sounders 2 Swope Park Rangers Tulsa Roughnecks