A Rematch of FC Tulsa’s 2021 Eastern Conference Quarterfinal Awaits the Club in St. Petersburg
TAMPA, Fla. – A weeklong three-city, three-match roadtrip for FC Tulsa has now turned into a two-match trip after Wednesday’s match postponement following inclement weather in Memphis. Tulsa boarded its regularly-scheduled flight on Thursday morning in Memphis, headed to Tampa, knowing it will have the benefit of rest – a full week between its home match last Saturday against Pittsburgh and this coming Saturday night against the Tampa Bay Rowdies.
Truth be told, the postponement might serve as a blessing for FC Tulsa considering the fixture congestion caused by an already full April league slate mixed with U.S. Open Cup matches. Without the postponement in Memphis, FC Tulsa would have played seven competitive matches in the month of April, a tough test at any point during a season, much less in the first full month of 2022.
Now, FC Tulsa travels to Tampa, where its 2021 season was brutally ended at the hands of the Rowdies. A lopsided 6-2 loss in the Conference Quarterfinals, which was exacerbated by a second half red card and elimination desperation, was FC Tulsa’s last memory at Al Lang Stadium. Ten players who played for Tulsa that night will return to the Bay wanting to partially right the November wrong of 2021.
The match will kick off at 6:30 p.m. CT and will be broadcast locally in Tulsa on My41 and be available to stream nationally on ESPN+.
SCOUTING THE ROWDIES
FC Tulsa’s task will be no less daunting in 2022 as it was in the 2021 postseason. Again, the Tampa Bay Rowdies are one of the league’s elite teams, only allowing three total goals across six league matches. A recent scoring lull, which has seen the Rowdies fail to bag a goal over its last two matches, is more an aberration than an indictment against its offense. Led by perennial USL goalscorers Sebastian Guenzatti, Jake LaCava, Kyle Grieg and Lucky Mkosana, Tampa Bay is as high-powered an offensive unit as it comes in the USL Championship.
Defensively, FC Tulsa fans will see a familiar face in Tampa’s net in former OKC Energy FC keeper CJ Cochran. While Cochran is technically on loan from the “on-hiatus” Energy, he is leading the Rowdies defense with clean sheets (3) in half of his starts so far in 2022. While former USL Championship Defender of the Year, Forrest Lasso, no longer patrols the Rowdies backline, head coach Neil Collins’ defense continues to be stout.
THREE REASONS TO WATCH
1) Revenge for Last Year
Everyone that wears an FC Tulsa crest remembers the Playoffs match in 2021 where FC Tulsa wasn’t close to its best against Tampa, the eventual Eastern Conference representative in the USL Championship Final. That combination was a recipe for disaster as FC Tulsa allowed the most goals it had ever allowed in a match during this new era of the franchise. In reality, that loss was an amalgamation of a season worth of inconsistency where FC Tulsa was plagued by a below average defense. New faces on the backline will look to tell a different story on Saturday as FC Tulsa looks for another marquee victory in 2022 against a top of the table team.
2) Momentum from Last Weekend
While the result was a loss, the way FC Tulsa played in the final 30 minutes against Pittsburgh Riverhounds SC, another of the league’s best defensive teams, was cause for optimism. Down 4-1 at home last Saturday, head coach Michael Nsien made five changes that shifted the dynamic of the match into Tulsa’s favor. Facing a similarly stout Rowdies team, how many of those changes will stick for Nsien and his staff? With an unexpected full week between matches, there will be plenty of time to answer that question ahead of this crucial tie.
3) Williams On Fire
The man with his name on both the front and back of the FC Tulsa kit has already shown he is the striker that Nsien has been waiting three years to sign. With three goals in his first two starts in an FC Tulsa kit, not only is JJ Williams making team history, he is proving to be the focal point of the Tulsa attack. Flanked by savvy, technical wingers like Darío Suárez and Joaquín Rivas and supported by Tulsa’s No. 10 Rodrigo da Costa, Williams has been able to hold up play, link effectively with the rest of the offense and finish his chances. With no goals in four career meetings against the Rowdies, Williams is due for a goal on Saturday night.
How To Watch
As with all FC Tulsa matches, fans can catch the action locally on My41 through the club’s partnership with Fox23. The match can also be streamed on ESPN+.
Follow @FCTulsa on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook for all in-game highlights, updates and stats throughout matchday.
