- Soccernation.com
It comes down to final road game of the regular season for the Tampa Bay Rowdies as they travel to Edmonton, Alberta, Canada this weekend, Sun., Oct. 27 at 4 p.m., hoping to remain in the hunt for the Soccer Bowl against FC Edmonton.
But before they play FC Edmonton, the Rowdies will know whether if they’re in contention for the Soccer Bowl or not as the New York Cosmos visit the San Antonio Scorpions on Saturday night. If the Cosmos win, Tampa Bay will be mathematically eliminated from NASL Fall season.
In order to win the title, the Rowdies will need to win the remaining matches against FC Edmonton and Minnesota United on Nov. 2 and hope the Cosmos will lose against last place Scorpions and at Atlanta next week. If the Cosmos were to lose one game and draw the other while Tampa Bay win both games, both teams will finish tied for first place with 26 points. If that scenario were to happen, the Rowdies were to earn the title due to a superior goal difference.
Five points separates the second-place Rowdies from the Cosmos heading into this weekend.
Tampa Bay enters the weekend with a needed 1-0 victory over the Scorpions last week, coupled with Sunday’s draw between the Cosmos and FC Edmonton, as midfielder Luke Mulholland scored the only goal of the game on a penalty kick after forward Etienne Barbara was fouled by Scorpions defender Greg Janicki inside the box.
Meanwhile, FC Edmonton are at home following their 1-1 draw against the Cosmos in New York last week. Both teams are familiar with one another as they played each other early in the season on Aug. 24 in Tampa Bay, resulting in a 1-1 draw.
The weather could be factor Sunday with temperatures for the game is predicted to be in the mid 30s with 60 percent chance of rain, snow and sleet.
Following their match in Edmonton, the Rowdies will head back home Sat., Nov. 2 at Al Lang Stadium to close out the season against Minnesota United at 7:30 p.m.
This article appears in Oct 24-30, 2013.