Rowdies 2 vs. Miami FC 0
It had been 57 days since the Rowdies last picked up a victory, a 2-1 win over the Puerto Rico Islanders on May 29th. It had been 314 minutes since the Rowdies last scored a goal, Jeremy Christie’s 82nd minute goal against Miami FC on July 4th. Both of those streaks are a thing of the past after a convincing 2-0 victory over Miami FC on Sunday afternoon at George M. Steinbrenner Field.
Despite the struggles, the Rowdies had held on to its playoff spot until Puerto Rico’s victory on Saturday night temporarily lifted the Islanders into a playoff spot. This victory cancels that out and would put the Rowdies back into the playoffs if they were to start tomorrow.
“This was a very important win for us, especially with Puerto Rico winning. We put together another clean sheet and added two more goals to our goal differential. It’s a relief to break the run we were in, but I’m not really surprised,” said Rowdies Head Coach Paul Dalglish.
“We’ve played well but we’ve just had no luck. We’ve had decisions go against us and we’ve had freak goals go against us. You think about the luck that we’ve had and it’s just so nice to get the three points. They said that luck evens itself out over the course of the season and hopefully ours is turning around now.”
Drew Yates, making his second start of the season, started the offensive movement that led to the opening goal. He picked up the ball and dribbled towards the Miami goal before passing it out to Long Tan on his left. Tan’s shot from the edge of the six-yard box was saved by Miami goalkeeper Caleb Patterson-Sewell but put out for a corner kick.
Mozzi Gyorio’s corner kick to the far post found the head of Captain Julian Valentin who coolly put it into the net, giving the Rowdies a 1-0 lead and breaking the scoring drought. The goal was Valentin’s second of the season. His first was also against Miami.
Aaron King scored the crucial second goal in the 66th minute after a Chad Burt cross into the box. Pascal Millien held the ball well and passed it out to Burt, who found King about 10 yards from the center of goal. The goal was King’s fifth of the season, making him top scorer for the Rowdies.
“We knew a win was coming and we’re really happy it came against a rival at home like it did today. I think we really showed our heart today because we dug deep for this win. We got it going, we got our goals and we really committed to defending today,” said Valentin.
After three of four regular season meetings, the Rowdies are in good position to claim the inaugural Coastal Cup, the rivalry series against Miami FC. The Blues now have two points, while the Rowdies have accumulated five.
With eight players out injured, the Rowdies again relied on youth to carry them through. The 10 outfield starters had an average age of 23.2.
“I’ve got complete trust in the young players and they’ve grown up very quickly. The most pleasing thing is that come the end of the season, we’re going to have a squad of players that are all capable of playing in our first team,” said Dalglish.
Lineups:
Rowdies Lineup: Sattler, Valentino, Tatters, Valentin, Yates (79' - Diaz), Burt, Millien (83' - Adjeman-Pamboe), Donoho, Gyorio (69' - Yamada), King (70' - Akpan), Tan
Miami FC Lineup: Patterson-Swell, Dias, Gbandi, Thompson (78' - Rodrigues), Gomez, Randolph (69' - Andrade Silva Neto), Goldberg (69' - Dominguez), Cameron (87' - Perez), Shriver, Lancaster, Araujo Jr. (74' - Santeliz)
Scoring Summary
Rowdies - Julian Valentin - 36' (Assisted Mozzi Gyorio)
Rowdies - Aaron King - 66' (Assisted Chad Burt)