So, nothing new here. Another game, another win. This time, the Rowdies faced their first real test of the season and passed with another perfect 1-0 win in front of more than 5,300 fans.
“Even though it didn’t look like one of our best games, personally, I think I was our best game,” Georgi Hristov said after the match, who scored the evening’s only goal.
Saturday night saw the Rowdies face fellow defectors of the North American Soccer league, the Ottawa Fury. Though affiliated with Major League Soccer’s Montreal Impact, they are the first team the Rowdies faced this season that are not considered a “reserve”, “B”, or “second” team. No matter. The result was the same and the Rowdies maintained their perfect start to 2017.
I have been accused lately of downplaying the Rowdies dominant 4-0 win over Toronto FC II over a week ago in my last Rowdies gush-fest, but Saturday night’s match was a true testament of what the Rowdies can do (Editor's note: Um, no, Colin, you haven't been. You sound like a lovesick schoolgirl.)
Three matches, three wins, and zero goals allowed. That’s how the Tampa Bay Rowdies kicked off their best start to a season in the modern era (since 2010). For the third match in a row, Georgi Hristov found himself on the scoresheet, scoring the only goal of the game in the 47th minute.
Tampa Bay held 70 percent of ball possession and out-passed Ottawa 625 to 263 (¡Olé!). Ottawa took one more shot (11 to 10), but each team only managed to get three shots on target.
But goals came at a premium. Ottawa took a page out of America’s playbook and built a “wall” of defense and relied on quick counter attacks for offense. It’s an easy way to frustrate your opponents.
“It was a very, very tough game. They were a very tough team to play and it was a very good test for us,” Hristov said. “They are very hard to play against. I don’t think they were really looking for a win; just trying put 12, 13 players behind in their 18-yard box. It was hard to break through them because there was no space.”
And what is Hristov’s secret to scoring anyway?
“The most important thing is to stay positive, and that’s what we did,” Hristov said.
Hristov topped the club in goals last season with 11 and is well on his way to shatter that record. He scored 12 in the 2013 season, which will pale in comparison if he keeps up this pace.
“You can play Georgi anywhere,” Rowdies head coach Stuart Campbell said. “Left wing, right wing, center forward. He’s just a good, good footballer. It’s great to have him on the team.”
Even more impressive than scoring goals is the Rowdies’ ability to stop them. It has been three matches and the Rowdies have yet to let up a single goal. That’s 270 minutes of perfect play.
“It’s been incredible,” goalkeeper Akira Fitzgerald said. “All four [of the defenders] have been doing really well, limiting the chances. They have done so much for me so it was great to help the team.”
Despite the previous two shutouts, Fitzgerald — who remains the starter of Matt Pickens — only recorded two saves in the first two matches combined. That was the same amount of goals scored by Hristov. But Saturday’s match asked a little more of him, calling him to make three big saves to keep the match scoreless in the first half.
“Another great result and another clean sheet,” Fitzgerald said.
The Rowdies will take this show on the road next week, traveling to Louisville, Kentucky for Saturday’s match, and then a quick turnaround to Cincinnati for a Wednesday night match before going back at in at Al Lang that following Saturday.
“It’s going to be strange actually after playing here three weeks in a row,” Campbell said. “But I’m looking forward to seeing how the team adapts as we go away.”
This article appears in Apr 6-13, 2017.