DETROIT — The Tampa Bay Rowdies booked their spot in the Eastern Conference Semifinals next weekend, advancing past Detroit City FC 3-1 in a penalty shootout on Saturday night at Keyworth Stadium. Rowdies keeper Jordan Farr was the hero for Tampa Bay on the night with five saves and two stops in the penalty shootout.
“I’m just absolutely delighted with the players,” said Rowdies Head Coach Robbie Neilson. “We spoke tonight about trying to do it for the fans. It’s been a tough couple of months for everyone in Tampa Bay. Hopefully we brought a wee bit of joy for the Rowdies fans. The boys gave everything.”
In the 19th minute, Leo Fernandes curled a delivery for forward Cal Jennings to rise and meet at the near post with a header past keeper Nate Steinwascher.
Tampa Bay’s lead held until the 49th minute when the hosts capitalized on their set piece opportunity. A free kick sent in from the left flank took one skip off the turf in Tampa Bay’s box before taking an unfortunate deflection off Rowdies wingback Nick Moon that sent it straight into the underside of the cross and across the line.
The penalty shootout got off to a shaky start when Tampa Bay’s leading scorer of the season, Manuel Arteaga, saw his attempt in the first round saved by Steinwascher. However, Farr kept the Rowdies level with his denial of Maxi Rodriguez. Tampa Bay’s Joshua Perez failed to convert on his opportunity in the second round, but once again Farr came through with a stop on Bryan Murphy’s attempt straight down the middle.
“Jordan [Farr] did an unbelievable job to put up some of the saves,” said Rowdies Midfielder Lewis Hilton. I felt so confident with him in goal. Every penalty [Detroit] stepped up, I felt like he was going to save it. All credit goes to Jordan for getting us in the position to win.”
Tampa Bay’s Eddie Munjoma managed to convert his attempt in the third round with a strike down the middle of goal, as did Detroit’s Ben Morris. Rowdies defender Jordan Doherty then buried his penalty in the fourth round with a blast that Steinwascher got his fingertips on but could not stop from crossing the line.
Detroit’s Elvis Amoh then stepped up and sent his penalty attempt into the crossbar, setting the stage for Rowdies midfielder Lewis Hilton to send the Rowdies through to the next round. Hilton did just that with a rifle into the top right corner out of Steinwascher’s reach.
“Definitely my first time hitting the winning the penalty,” said Hilton. “I stepped up and thankfully I was able to execute it. Obviously, Jordan [Farr] did an unbelievable job to get the team and myself in that position to win us the game. Great feeling and everyone’s delighted tonight and excited to get back for another week of football and prepare for next weekend.”
Next up, the Rowdies travel to face the Charleston Battery next Saturday in the Conference Semifinal. The two sides split the regular season series, with each team claiming a win at home.
“[Charleston] is a tough place to go, but if we want to win a championship we have to go to these places and win,” said Neilson.
