The Legion goes back to school tomorrow as they try to teach the Tampa Bay Rowdies a lesson (11:30am, ESPN+) for Education Day. It is, as is every remaining game, a key matchup for both teams.
The Rowdies pulled ahead of the Legion this past weekend with a 3-3 home draw against the Colorado Springs Switchbacks. They are now level on points at 22 but get the tiebreaker on in-conference PPG (the 3rd tiebreaker). Both teams also have a game in hand on every Eastern team except North Carolina FC, which they obviously will be using up tomorrow. Tampa Bay will play North Carolina this Saturday; the Legion heads to Indy Eleven for a Sunday game so will have an extra day of rest.
The previous game between the two back in May ended a 2-2 draw. That was Mark Briggs’ first game in charge of the Legion; the Rowdies were still operating under their interim manager. The Rowdies took an early lead on a questionable PK (we took a close look at that here), the Legion then scoring twice in the second half only to blow lead 3 minutes into stoppage time.
That has been to a large extent the story of the season for the Three Sparks but also for the Rowdies who have had a very hard time holding leads, even multi-goal leads. Last week they led twice, giving up a 1-goal advantage and then a 2-goal advantage. In the Jägermeister Cup they blew a 3-goal lead. New head coach Dominic Casciato has had as much difficulty getting results out of his squad as Mark Briggs has out of his.
That being said, the Rowdies have a win much more recently than the Legion, who last won July 26th (2-1 over Forward Madison) and in league play July 11th (3-2 over North Carolina). Tampa Bay got a slightly surprising 2-1 result over the Pittsburgh Riverhounds August 30th.
The Rowdies have 2 main scoring threats. The most dangerous is Woobens Pacius who has 9 goals in league play and 3 more in the Jäger Cup. He is on loan from Nashville SC. Next best on the team is Manuel Arteaga with 4 and 2 goals who has been with the Rowdies since last season.. His production has dropped off significantly this year but ignoring him would not be wise.
Tampa Bay lines up in a similar way to the Legion, featuring a 3-4-3 much of the time and on occasion a 5-3-2 or 3-5-2. Like the Legion they have had a few lineup changes lately. Most notable among those is goalkeeper Bill Hamid, one of many escapees this season from The Miami FC. He was down there in large part because his sister Jasmine Plays for Fort Lauderdale United in the Gainbridge Super League. I assume it became obvious that was not good for his career so he headed up I-75 for greener pastures, so to speak. He had a very good game against Colorado Springs who could easily have won if not for a couple of excellent stops by Hamid.
The status of Sam Shashoua was still questionable when I last checked with the team but that was last Thursday. Ramiz Hamouda got back from the Netherlands last Wednesday and Phanuel Kavita from all over Africa last Friday. Both of them should be good to go. Phanny, by the way, probably travelled a total of 22,000 miles for 2 games. Other injuries are still likely to keep players out.
However, the Legion is carrying rather more confidence after the Tulsa game, especially in view of the defensive performance with multiple players missing. It will come down to whether the team can put together a complete game, which they have struggled to do.
Because of the unusual timing of the game, the Legion has been working with an adjusted practice schedule to acclimate for the early kickoff. The Rowdies presumably will not have had that opportunity. Saturday was an evening kickoff, they likely took Sunday to rest, practiced yesterday and travelled today, with perhaps a short practice once they got here. That should really work to the Legion’s benefit.
Prediction: I am pretty confident about this one. The Legion has been able to rest, have a good result behind them and a tired and not especially strong opponent. Expect a home win in front of the kids.
