For a second consecutive season the Tampa Bay Rowdies and San Antonio FC delivered a thrilling regular season contest that ended with San Antonio grabbing a point in second-half stoppage time as Carter Manley’s equalizer resulted in a 2-2 draw before a sellout crowd of 7,500 fans at Al Lang Stadium in the Rowdies’ opening game of the season.

Here are three things we took away from the contest.

1. EARLY ENERGY SUBSIDES LATE FOR ROWDIES

For a side making its first official appearance of the season, there was very little sign that the Tampa Bay Rowdies needed time to get up to speed. They broke out of the blocks quickly in front of a packed Al Lang Stadium and got a beautifully executed opening goal as Cal Jennings picked up where he left off a season ago off Blake Bodily’s near-post corner in just the fourth minute.

Tampa Bay looked well on course to take all three points, in fact, when Manuel Arteaga made it two with 17 minutes to go after a tremendous piece of work that summed up the Rowdies to that point by Pacifique Niyongabire, who hustled past his marker on the right to chase down possession and then cut back a great cross. But the energy the Rowdies had expended keeping themselves on top seemed to take a toll, and in the end the fatigue of a side that hadn’t gone a full 90 minutes of competitive action yet showed, and offered San Antonio a path back in.

2. SAN ANTONIO REBOUNDS FROM OPENER

San Antonio FC looked second-best for a lot of Saturday night’s contest as the Rowdies held more possession in the San Antonio half and made life difficult for the visitors to try and break into attacking positions. Overall, just 18.5 percent of the game was played in Tampa Bay’s defensive third of the field, but after conceding a late equalizer last weekend to Loudoun United FC, San Antonio summoned the energy it needed to deliver another classic late comeback.

San Antonio’s substitutes paved the way as Bura’s narrow-angle shot off an assist by Kameron Lacey snuck home to give the visitors hope, and then an old-school SAFC scramble in the box presented the chance for Carter Manley to power home a finish just inside the right post. There will be plenty to reflect on for San Antonio from this contest, but they’ll be happy to have grabbed a point.

3. JENNINGS, ARTEAGA SHOW DANGER

Cal Jennings continued to be one of the most dangerous strikers in the USL Championship when he arrived at the Tampa Bay Rowdies a season ago, reaching 50 regular season goals in just 90 games, the fastest in league history, so it was little surprise that he got off the mark quickly this season with a deftly taken header.

The potential for the combination between him and Manuel Arteaga to deliver consistent production in front of net was also evident, with fellow newcomers Blake Bodily and Pacifique Niyongabire providing service on impressive debuts of their own. The Rowdies couldn’t make Jennings and Arteaga’s goals stand up for all three points, but there’s clearly going to be plenty of danger between the two that should come to bear as this season progresses.