TAMPA, Fla. — After an on-the-road winning stretch, the Rowdies are back at Al Lang Stadium — and they hope to keep it that way.
The Tampa Bay area team will take on the Charleston Battery at 8 p.m. on Oct. 7. During the game, the Rowdies will be chasing down not only their ninth consecutive victory but also progress toward securing the Atlantic Division title.
"The playoffs is something that we want to achieve but it's not something that we're gonna celebrate too much. It's on to the next, on to the next game," head coach Neill Collins said in a video posted to the team's Twitter account.
According to the United Soccer League, the Rowdies are only six points away from clinching the title. That means every remaining regular-season game counts in their pursuit for the top spot.
"The last six games, you know, we have tough teams and the teams who are there with us fighting for the top spot. But it's like I said, like, we need to do what we've been doing and it's been working great for us," forward Steevan Dos Santos said.
Should the Rowdies clinch the top spot, they'll also get to play on their home turf for the championship which Dos Santos says is a "huge advantage."
"We need to be focused a hundred percent to the last minute of the last game," he added.
With a record of 19-6-1, the Rowdies are currently tied with the 2014 Orlando City Soccer Club for the fourth-longest regular-season winning streak in the league's history.
The 2021 USL Championship, 16-team playoff schedule kicks off in November. USL projections show the Rowdies have a 99-percent chance of finishing first in their division.