June 13, 2024 – United Soccer League Championship (USL)
Tampa Bay Rowdies News Release
The marquee matchup of the weekend in the USL Championship is set to go down at Al Lang Stadium as the Rowdies host rivals Louisville City FC. Tampa Bay will be aiming to take all three points against Louisville, who enter the weekend as the frontrunner for top spot in the Eastern Conference standings and the Players’ Shield race. A Rowdies win this Saturday would help close the points gap between the two sides, who won’t meet again until the regular season finale in October.
“Obviously it’s a huge game for us, and for both teams,” said Rowdies Head Coach Robbie Neilson. “From our perspective, it’s an opportunity to gain some ground on them. They’re a few points ahead at the moment, so if we can get the result at Al Lang it’ll be huge for us, but I’m just looking forward to the game. I think it’ll be two really good teams that try and play soccer the right way and that have some top quality players. It’ll be a brilliant game to be involved in.”
This past weekend, Louisville picked up their 10th victory of the year in a 2-1 result over North Carolina FC at home while the Rowdies closed out their two-match trip to California with a 1-0 loss at Oakland Roots SC. Tampa Bay’s trip out west wasn’t all bad news, as they did hand Sacramento Republic FC their first loss of the season the week before.
“Obviously we didn’t get what we wanted,” said Rowdies Captain Aaron Guillen. “We wanted to come back with six points from two away games. But I think it’s a great learning lesson that we’re taking from it, especially with more games coming up on the road. Ultimately the Oakland game is one we’ll learn from.”
New Faces in the Rivalry
A new season brings opportunities for new players to make their mark in the Tampa Bay-Louisville rivalry. Louisville’s Adrien Perez, a former teammate of first-year Rowdies Blake Bodily and Nick Moon, is a new face among Louisville’s ranks but, like Bodily, he leads his squad with five assists.
Veteran goalkeeper Jordan Farr, who led San Antonio FC to victory over Louisville in the 2022 USL Championship Final, will get his first taste of the rivalry this Saturday at Al Lang Stadium.
“I’ve gotten to watch Louisville-Tampa Bay throughout the years, and it’s always a heated, intense match that has just a ton of quality on both sides of the pitch,” said Farr. “To be involved in it is nice, especially as part of an Eastern Conference title battle that…