ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. (May 25, 2019) — The Tampa Bay Rowdies left it late but picked up a fourth-consecutive win in all competitions, defeating Swope Park Rangers 1-0 at Al Lang Stadium on Saturday night.

Leo Fernandes scored the only goal of the match from the penalty spot in the 82nd minute to move the Rowdies four points clear at the top of the Eastern Conference standings with a game in hand over second-place Nashville SC. The Rowdies are now riding a 13-game unbeaten run in all competitions.

“I thought we thoroughly deserved the victory,” Rowdies Head Coach Neill Collins said. “We found a way to win and please let’s never get complacent. Swope Park are a very organized, very well-coached side. If you look across the league, the games are tight. One thing you’ve got to give (the Rowdies) credit for, they came back from a really big game last week and they trained this week like they were contenders, they didn’t train like they were the top of the league. They trained like they were trying to get there and we need to keep doing that. We’ll play better in the future, but we got three points and kept a clean sheet.”

The Rowdies (7-0-5, 26 points) controlled the match from the very start with Sebastian Guenzatti nearly scoring the game opener just eight minutes into the game if not for an incredible save from Swope Park (1-6-4, 7 points) goalkeeper Adrian Zendejas.

Tampa Bay nearly scored again in the 22nd minute when Fernandes beat Zendejas with a shot across the face of goal, but it hit the post and bounced out of play.

Once the Rangers weathered the early storm, things started to even out. Swope Park strung together a handful of good counter attacks but didn’t manage to get any of its six shots on target. Rowdies goalkeeper John McCarthy kept his eighth clean sheet in twelve matches without being asked to make a single save.

As the match went on, Swope Park sat deeper and deeper, trying to eke out an unlikely result.

The tide turned in the Rowdies favor in the 80th minute when Fernandes cut into the box and Rangers defender Mark Segbers got a little too aggressive, sticking a leg out to win the ball from an angle behind Fernandes. Referee Thomas Snyder pointed to the penalty spot and Fernandes beat Zendejas to put Tampa Bay ahead.

“Our penalty kick taker is Sebastian (Guenzatti) and he wasn’t on the field so I stepped up and buried it,” Fernandes said. “To grind this one out and win 1-0 just shows how good of a team we are that we can get wins like this. We’re getting better each and every game.”

The Rowdies now have a short turnaround as they head to Oklahoma City for a Third Round match against OKC Energy FC in the Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup on Tuesday night. Tampa Bay will then visit Birmingham Legion FC on June 1 before returning home to host North Carolina FC on June 8. For tickets, click here.

Scoring Summary
Tampa Bay: Leo Fernandes - 82nd minute (penalty kick)

Caution Summary
Swope Park: Wilson Harris - 78th minute
Tampa Bay: Antoine Hoppenot -81st minute
Swope Park: Alexsander Andrade - 81st minute
Swope Park: Rassambek Akhmatov - 83rd minute

Starting Lineups
Rowdies XI (3-5-2): GK John McCarthy; D Mohamed Kone, Tarek Morad, Caleb Richards; M David Najem (Antoine Hoppenot 61'), Kwadwo Poku (Zach Steinberger 70'), Andrew Tinari, Jordan Doherty, Leo Fernandes; F Sebastian Guenzatti (c) (Malik Johnson 79'), Juan Tejada

Swope Park XI (4-3-3): GK Adrian Zendejas (c); D Mark Segbers, Kaveh Rad, Mohammad Abualnadi, Alexsander de Oliveira Andrade; M Camden Riley, Rassambek Akhmatov, Felipe Hernandez; F Will Little (Jerome Ndem Mbekeli 69'), Wilson Harris (Ethan Vanacore-Decker 82'), Sean Karani (Killian Colombie 63')