ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. – The Tampa Bay Rowdies and Charleston Battery will meet again at Al Lang Stadium in the Eastern Conference Semifinals of the 2020 USL Championship Playoffs with the Battery looking to continue their run of positive results against their Group H rival from the regular season meetings between the clubs. Kickoff is scheduled for 7:30 p.m. ET.
The @TampaBayRowdies reached the Eastern Conference Semifinals for the first time since their first year in the Championship in 2017 after a helter-skelter contest against Birmingham Legion FC last Saturday night that saw the Rowdies strike twice late on to win 4-2 after letting a two-goal halftime lead slip. Veterans Lucky Mkosana and Leo Fernandes provided the key goals after both coming off the bench in the second half as the Rowdies posted their first four-goal performance of the season, while captain Sebastian Guenzatti had a goal and assist in another strong outing.
The Rowdies have struggled of late against the @Chas_Battery, though, with Head Coach Mike Anhaeuser’s side having won three games in a row against Tampa Bay to close the regular season including a win at Al Lang Stadium on the final weekend. Those three defeats represented the only setbacks the Rowdies suffered in the regular season. Charleston reached its first Eastern Conference Semifinals matchup since 2016 after a 2-1 victory against the Charlotte Independence that saw Arthur Bosua record the winning goal in extra time at the Sportsplex at Matthews. After the success the Battery have found in their matchups with the Rowdies this season, the club could have a chance to be part of the final four teams standing in the Championship Playoffs for the first time since 2013 on Saturday night.
Opta Says
39 – Rowdies defender Jordan Scarlett has recorded 39 interceptions this season, second-most in the Championship.
71 – Both the Rowdies’ Sebastian Guenzatti (9 goals) and Battery’s Nicque Daley (6 goals) have recorded a 71 percent shooting accuracy rate this season.
FiveThirtyEight.com Match Predictor: Tampa Bay Rowdies 67%, Charleston Battery 33%
Projected Lineups
Tampa Bay Rowdies – GK: Evan Louro; D: Jordan Scarlett, Forrest Lasso, Aaron Guillen; M: Malik Johnson, Lewis Hilton, Jordan Doherty, Yann Ekra, Leo Fernandes; F: Juan Tejada, Sebastian Guenzatti
Charleston Battery – GK: Joe Kuzminsky; D: Logan Gdula, Leland Archer, Jarad van Schaik, AJ Paterson; M: Zeiko Lewis, Angelo Kelly, Robbie Crawford, Stavros Zarokostas; F: Nicque Daley, Mauro Cichero
Discipline
Tampa Bay Rowdies – None
Charleston Battery – None