Tampa Bay Rowdies Stay In – Minnesota United FC Bows Out
Soccer News: The fight for the North American Soccer League’s Spring Season Championship will go down to the wire in the final week of the season.
On Saturday night, the Tampa Bay Rowdies did what they had to do to stay in the title race, beating FC Edmonton, 2-1, at Al Lang Stadium. Minnesota United FC, on the other hand, bowed out of the race after conceding a second-half goal in a 1-1 draw against the Carolina RailHawks at WakeMed Soccer Park.
The Rowdies’ win allowed them to deny, at least for now, the idle New York Cosmos the Spring Season Championship and create an interesting storyline heading into the final week of the season. Tampa Bay will need a victory against the Atlanta Silverbacks, and a Cosmos loss to Jacksonville Armada FC to tie the current league leaders on points. The first tiebreaker is goal differential, in which the Cosmos hold a substantial advantage (+6).
The unbeaten, first-place Cosmos can clinch the Spring Season Championship next weekend with a win or a draw against the Armada FC, or they could even lose to Jacksonville if the Rowdies were to draw or lose to the visiting Silverbacks.
Here is a full recap of NASL Saturday night’s action:
San Antonio Scorpions 1, Atlanta Silverbacks 0
The visiting Scorpions (3W-2D-4L, 11 points) got a goal, and the eventual victory, when veteran striker Omar Cummings scored his fifth goal of the season in the 26th minute. Cummings’ five goals put him in a tie with fellow Jamaican Lance Laing (FC Edmonton) for the league lead. The Silverbacks (1-5-3, 8), who fell into last place in the standings with the loss, peppered the San Antonio goal in the second half, forcing visiting goalkeeper Daryl Sattler into several key saves, but the hosts ultimately couldn’t find the net at Atlanta Silverbacks Park.
Carolina RailHawks 1, Minnesota United FC 1
After an entertaining and scoreless first half at WakeMed Soccer Park, visiting Minnesota (3-5-1, 14) grabbed a 1-0 advantage only three minutes into the second stanza when J.C. Banks beat Carolina (3-5-2, 14) goalkeeper Akira Fitzgerald with a deflected effort. Just when the Loons looked likely to remain in the Spring Season Championship race, the RailHawks equalized. In the 80th minute, midfielder Tiyi Shipalane hauled the ball to the end line and hit a perfect cross that forward Nacho Novo headed past United goalkeeper Sammy Ndjock.
Tampa Bay Rowdies 2, FC Edmonton 1
Needing a win to stay in the Spring Season Championship race, Tampa Bay (4-4-1, 16) opened the scoring in the 37th minute off a scramble that ensued from a corner kick. Brian Shriver chased down the ball on the end line and took a shot from an extreme angle that goalkeeper John Smits probably should have covered, but the rebound was put away by Darwin Espinal. The Rowdies scored again in the 60th minute after Shriver chested down a Smits parry, let the ball bounce, then powered home a shot from the top of the penalty area. Edmonton’s Lance Laing, who is headed to Copa América with Jamaica’s national team, scored his fifth goal of the season in the 65th minute. Against Edmonton (2-3-4, 9), Tampa Bay played without three starters (Georgi Hristov, Maicon Santos, and Stefan Antonijevic), all of whom were sent off last week.
Indy Eleven 2, Fort Lauderdale Strikers 1
The Strikers (2-2-5, 8 points), who had scored only one goal in their previous four league matches, took a 1-0 lead in the 23rd minute when Stefano Pinho headed a cross from Dani Sanchez past Indy Eleven goalkeeper Kristian Nicht. Indy Eleven (2-4-3, 10 points) evened the match just before halftime on a goal by Victor Pineda, who would later serve as the hero for the visitors. Following an impressive run by Duke Lacroix, Pineda found the net for a second time, scoring a stoppage-time winner to help interim coach Tim Regan get off to a perfect start after replacing Juergen Sommer earlier this week.
Jacksonville Armada FC vs. Ottawa Fury FC – Sunday at 4 p.m. ET
It has been a rough few weeks for Armada FC, which lost its Spring Season Championship hopes after dropping its last two league matches. The expansion side, however, has a lot to be proud of in its inaugural campaign so far and will want to reverse the momentum in its final two matches. Sunday’s home match against Ottawa gives them a good place to start. Armada FC (3-1-4, 10) will be looking to erase its memory from last week’s 4-0 loss to the RailHawks. Jacksonville has been strong throughout the spring and the club will want to give its fans another thing to cheer about in its final home match before the Fall Season begins in July.
Ottawa (2-3-3, 9) is trending in the right direction as the Spring Season comes to a close. A win and a draw in its last two matches, by way of strong performances, will give Fury FC some confidence heading on the road. While dealing with some injury issues, Ottawa will still need to find someone to capitalize in front of goal. If they can do so, they will have a chance for another positive result, as the Armada FC have been no strangers to conceding multiple goals in a match.
NASL Spring Season Standings
