Forrest Lasso Named Player of the Week, Four More Rowdies Earn Team of the Week Honors

May 21, 2024 – United Soccer League Championship (USL)
Tampa Bay Rowdies News Release

ST. PETERSBURG, Fla – On Tuesday, the USL Championship revealed the Team of the Week for Week 11 of the 2024 regular season, with Rowdies defender Forrest earning Player of the Week honors after notching the first two-goal match of his career in Tampa Bay’s 5-0 win over FC Tulsa.

Lasso has plenty of company on the Team of the Week. Teammates Manuel Arteaga, Cal Jennings, and Charlie all earned spots on the Team of the Week, with Rowdies Head Coach Robbie also being named Coach of the Week.

At 6-foot-3, Lasso is always a looming threat of set pieces around the box. The 31-year-old proved that not once but twice on Saturday against Tulsa. Five minutes before the halftime break, Lasso lunged at a corner kick flicked on from the near post by Jennings and powered the ball into the back of the net with his head. Lasso closed out the five-goal result for Tampa Bay in the second half with another headed effort, this time getting his noggin on the end of a well-struck corner kick from midfielder Lewis Hilton.

A three-time Defender of the Year winner, Lasso has now notched 19 goals and seven assists during his USL Championship career.

“Forrest has been great,” said Rowdies Head Coach Robbie Neilson following Saturday’s game. “We did quite a bit of work during the week on set pieces. [Assistant Coach] Nicky Law does work on the attacking side of things and [Assistant Coach] Stuart Dobson does the work on the defensive side. … Attacking wise, it’s important that we don’t solely rely on Manu [Manuel Arteaga] and Cal [Jennings]. We have to get goals from elsewhere.”

Arteaga and Jennings were once again a deadly combo up top against Tulsa. Jennings recorded his seventh goal of the season, his first assist of the year, and also won the penalty that led to Arteaga’s second goal of the night. Arteaga now leads with eight goals on the season after his brace against Tulsa, including a magnificent header to open the scoring in the 12th minute.

Meanwhile, Dennis looked right at home back in the starting lineup for the first time this season. The English midfielder has been slowly working his way back to fitness after an injury sidelined him for all of the preseason and the first month of the season. Against Tulsa, Dennis recorded an assist with a pinpoint cross to Jennings from the left flank while also creating six chances overall during his 67-minute shift.

Neilson earns his first…