Rowdies face final four regular season matches

Posted Sep 15, 2010 by Jarrett Guthrie

Updated Sep 15, 2010 at 09:02 PM

FC Tampa Bay has four matches left and need to find some points to get back into the United States Soccer Federation Division-2 playoff picture. The Rowdies, currently ninth and one spot out of the playoffs, have 28 team points heading into Thursday’s match against Austin.

The Rowdies trail eighth place NSC Minnesota by three points and according to coach Paul Dalglish the team is still the masters of its own destiny.

“Our playoff hopes are still in our own hands,” Dalglish said. “I think these games coming up are real chances for us to get points.”

The Rowdies will face a tough test Thursday night against the Austin Aztex. This match will mark the fourth and final match of the season against Austin. The Rowdies are 0-1-2 in the three previous meetings with Austin, with its last match ending in a 4-2 loss on the road. Led by top scorer F Edward Johnson, whose 13 goals rank second in the league (behind Portland’s Ryan Pore), Austin is one of four teams who have already clenched a playoff spot along with Rochester, Portland and Vancouver. In the first two meetings between Austin and FC Tampa Bay (May 8 and May 19) the Rowdies came from behind to score equalizers in the 86th and 88th minute to earn a point in each match.

Dalglish said both teams have shown that defense isn’t there focus as 16 goals have been scored in the previous three meetings.

“I don’t think defending has been a strong suit for either team, but neither team has had trouble scoring,“ Dalglish said. “If you’re a betting man you’d probably think it’ll be a shootout.”

News and Notes: After giving up three goals in 10 minutes in the 3-0 loss to Rochester last Saturday, Dalglish said his focus this week has been on getting his team’s mind right for the remainder of the season.

“When we were on a bad run there, the confidence kind of went down,” Dalglish said of the match. “I think the guys felt sorry for themselves for a minute and that’s something you just can’t do.”

Dalglish said the focus this week has been finding solutions to the problems the team has faced as the season has gone on.

“It’s just getting frustrating saying, ‘we dominated possession,’ or ‘we were unlucky,’ or ‘we missed chances,’ or ‘we didn’t get a decision’,” Dalglish said. “We’re done with that and it’s time to find solutions.”

Some of those solutions, Dalglish hopes, is the team returning to full strength. Jeff Christie played a full 90 minutes at Rochester and his coach said the midfielder is back to full strength. The Rowdies last match also saw the return of leading scorer Aaron King, who played the first half in Saturday’s loss and are hoping the return of defender Rob Valentino will help against Austin.

Dalglish did say that the return of GK Daryl Sattler for the Austin match is “doubtful.”