Rowdies Defeat Huntsville City 3-1 in Preseason Bout

March 1, 2024 – United Soccer League Championship (USL) – Tampa Bay Rowdies News Release

BRADENTON, Fla – The Tampa Bay Rowdies nabbed a 3-2 victory in a preseason matchup with Huntsville City FC on Saturday evening at IMG Academy. Leo Fernandes tallied the winning goal from the penalty spot deep into second half stoppage time. The win is Tampa Bay’s fourth win of the preseason.

Cal Jennings opened the scoring for the Rowdies 20 minutes into the match. After fighting off a defender in the box, Rowdies midfielder Damian Rivera drove toward the endline before centering a cross for an unmarked Jennings, who calmly converted the chance.

Forward Manuel Arteaga doubled Tampa Bay’s lead in the 64th minute, cutting back toward his right to shake off his defender before rifling a shot into the back of the net.

Huntsville got back on level terms with two penalty opportunities in the span of six minutes. A Rowdies preseason trialist was whistled for a handball, leading to Huntsville’s first goal from the spot in the 71st minute. Then in the 77th minute, Huntsville equalized from the penalty spot after defender Freddy Kleemann drew the referee’s whistle for a foul in the box.

Knotted at 2-2, the Rowdies pushed hard to find a go-ahead goal in the final stages of the match and did so through veteran Leo Fernandes. The dynamic midfielder was clipped down in the box while trying to drive toward goal, eliciting the third whistle for a penalty of the night. Fernandes stepped to the spot and deftly buried the chance. It was the second goal of the preseason for Fernandes, who also scored in last week’s contest versus the University of South Florida.

Scoring Summary

TBR – Jennings (Rivera), 20′

TBR – Arteaga, 64′

HFC – (Penalty), 71′

HFC – Penalty), 77′

TBR – Fernandes (Penalty), 90+2′

Rowdies Starting XI: Farr, Doherty (Trialist, 57′), Lasso (Trialist, 84′), Kleemann, Niyongabire (Bodily, 57′), Hilton (Herivaux, 66′), Crisostomo (Trialist, 66′), Jennings (Cristian Ortiz[Preseason Training Guest], 66′), Arteaga (Perez, 66′), Rivera (Fernandes, 57′)

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