Jordan Farr’s first season with the Tampa Bay Rowdies hasn’t always been smooth sailing.

The 30-year-old ranked second in the league among goalkeepers with four errors that led to goals – only Miami FC’s Khadim Ndiaye had more – while his save percentage of 66.1 percent was an individual single-season low, and he posted a +4.86 Goals Prevented mark, the wrong side of the ledger as far as goalkeepers are concerned.

But when his side needed him the most, the 2022 USL Championship Goalkeeper of the Year showed he can still deliver when the chips are down.

Farr’s five-save performance against Detroit City FC on Saturday night at Keyworth Stadium and two saves in a penalty shootout that kept the Rowdies in with a chance after their own first two shots were saved proved critical as Tampa Bay earned a 3-1 win from the spot to advance to the Eastern Conference Semifinals of the 2024 USL Championship Playoffs presented by Terminix.

“Jordan Farr was massive for us,” said Rowdies Head Coach Robbie Neilson. “I always feel in these penalties and set pieces that he has great reactions, and he’s so athletic. He’s got such a great reach. You really have to place it right in the corner if you want to beat him. He did absolutely great for us tonight.”

The irony of this superpower? This was the first time Farr had faced a penalty shootout in his professional career.

It was, in fact, the first time the Rowdies as a side had gone to a shootout since joining the USL Championship in 2017. But when the time came for players to volunteer to step up to the mark, there was no shortage of hands raised.

“Thankfully we had eight or so guys that wanted to take one,” said Neilson. “So, we picked the first five and they did great. We’re delighted with them.”

And then, Neilson had a final message for his players before they faced the win-or-go-home situation that faced them.

“He got us all together at the halfway line and got us all together and said, ‘whatever happens, we’re a team’,” said Rowdies midfielder Lewis Hilton. “‘Whether you score or whether you miss, we’re in this together. It's not going to be anyone’s fault if we lose and we’re going to win it as a team.’ It was great.”

The Rowdies needed that confidence as despite gaining the theoretical advantage of shooting first, both Manuel Arteaga and Joshua Perez had their shots saved by DCFC’s Nate Steinwascher in the opening two rounds. Farr responded with a fine low save to keep out Le Rouge’s Maxi Rodriguez in the opening round before standing his ground as James Murphy’s effort down the middle came straight to him, keeping the shootout scoreless after two rounds.

There were also the massive challenges the club as a whole faced in late September and October during Hurricanes Helene and Milton, which caused devastation across the entire Tampa Bay region.

“Obviously it’s been a tough year for a lot of people,” said Hilton, part of the club since 2020. “A lot of adversity for everyone in the area of Tampa Bay and if this gives even just a few people a smile or a bit of a happier weekend, then we’re delighted to do that.”

Now, the prospect of a playoff run is there for the taking with a trip to the Charleston Battery set for next weekend in the Eastern Conference Semifinals. Facing a side that has won 14 of 18 games at home this campaign and features Golden Boot winner Nick Markanich off his 29th goal of the season on Saturday night, it’s going to be a major test.

“It’s a tough place to go, but if we want to win a championship we have to go to these places and win,” said Neilson. “They’ve had a great season. Nick Markanich had a great season. We have to make sure we stop him and make sure we create opportunities to win the game. The last time we played them we lost a couple of early goals that really hurt us, but we managed to get ourselves back in the game with some chances. It just wasn’t our night. We know next week is straight shootout though.”

And if a shootout’s required to decide it, Farr will have another chance to shine.

“Jordan’s done an unbelievable job to put up some of the saves,” said Hilton. “I felt so confident with him in goal. Every penalty [Detroit] stepped up, I felt like he was going to save it.”