Tampa Bay Rowdies Beat Jacksonville Armada FC 3-2 In Coastal Cup Thriller
Tampa Bay Rowdies goalkeeper Matt Pickens didn’t start Saturday night’s 3-2 win over the Jacksonville Armada FC, but he certainly played a big role in ending it from the goalkeeper position.
Pickens entered the match in place of injured starting goalkeeper Kamil Contofalsky in stoppage time and made a handful in saves in a short time to protect Tampa Bay’s lead and help the Rowdies to a huge Coastal Cup victory in front of 5,460 fans at Al Lang Stadium.“While I was coming on, I realized that I had never entered a match as a substitute before,” Pickens said. “I hadn’t touched a ball for probably two hours, but I did what I could.”
Maicon Santos scored the first and last goals of the match, with Martin Nunez scoring the Rowdies’ second goal to level the match in the second half.The victory puts the Rowdies just one point behind the first-place New York Cosmos in the NASL Spring Season standings. It also ties the Rowdies with the Fort Lauderdale Strikers atop the Coastal Cup standings.
“We never gave up,” Rowdies Head Coach Thomas Rongen (pictured above) said. “That was the mantra of our team in preseason and in the first two games. Man, did they respond to a little bit of (yelling) at halftime? I can’t be happier for this team. The work so hard and were finally able to give the home fans a win.”
The match had a frenetic start, a worthy precursor to the dramatic finish.
Santos, with his first goal of the season, put the Rowdies ahead after just 12 minutes from the penalty spot beating Miguel Gallardo in the Armada goal.
Less than two minutes later, Jacksonville gained a penalty kick of its own. Armada FC midfielder Marcos Flores’ shot was well saved by Contofalsky, but Flores managed to tap in the rebound to even the match at 1-1 in the 14th minute.
After that, Jacksonville took control of the match, taking a 2-1 lead in the 32nd minute from a Jemal Johnson strike that caromed off both goalposts before trickling over the line.
Leading up to half time, the Armada had three or four other chances to extend their lead but ballooned over the bar each time. It would prove very costly.
Needing some magic in the second half, the Rowdies got a lifeline in the 59th minute from a superb strike from Nunez’s from about 30 yards that Gallardo couldn’t reach.
Santos’ second goal of the night, a thundering header off Georgi Hristov’s cross from the byline in the 77th minute, set the stage for the dramatic finish.
Jacksonville finished the match with shot after shot on the Rowdies’ net. Pickens entered the match in the first of seven minutes of stoppage time and benefited from a Rowdies team that put its body on the line time after time to block shots before they could reach Pickens.When the Rowdies needed him though, Pickens made every save. He tipped pawed shots out of play with reflex saves and tipped the ball over the crossbar to help the Rowdies over the finish line with a 3-2 win in Tampa Bay’s 2015 Coastal Cup opener.
“The defense blocked shots ahead of me, but I had to do my part as well,” Pickens said. “It was fun. I’m glad I got to contribute. I knew coming in that it was going to be a barrage for five minutes, but I didn’t expect that (many shots.)”
Lineups
Rowdies (4-3-3): GK Kamil Čontofalský (Matt Pickens 90′); D Rich Balchan, Tamika Mkandawire, Stefan Antonijevic, Ben Sweat; M Marcelo Saragosa (c), Martin Nuñez (Darnell King 72′), Georgi Hristov; F Zak Boggs (Corey Hertzog 69′), Maicon Santos, Darwin Espinal
Jacksonville (3-4-3): GK Miguel Gallardo; D Matt Bahner, Fabricio Ortiz, Lucas Trejo; M Bochy Hoyos (Akeil Barrett 77′), Jaime Castrillon (c) (Shawn Nicklaw 73′), Lucas Scaglia, Marcos Flores (Lucas Rodriguez 79′); F Pascal Millien, Alhassane Keita, Jemal Johnson
