Strikers Fall To Rowdies On The Road
The Fort Lauderdale Strikers fell to the Tampa Bay Rowdies (7W-3T-5L) 3-1 at Al Lang Stadium on Wednesday, July 4th in front of 4,710 fans. The Strikers scored first through Andy Herron, but the Rowdies scored three unanswered gals to win their seventh game of the year. The goal was Herron’s fifth of the season with Walter Restrepo earning his league leading sixth assist. The Strikers are now in sixth place in the NASL standings with 19 points on the season.
“It was a good start to the game,” said Strikers head coach Daryl Shore. “We felt like we were moving the ball well. Even though the score doesn’t show it, I thought we fought hard and deserved a better result.”
The Strikers opened the scoring in the 19th minute when Walter Restrepo found forward Andy Herron inside the box. Herron took two shots at Jeff Attinella, eventually burying a shot into the net for a 1-0 lead. The assist makes Restrepo the NASL’s leader on the season with six.
The Rowdies would equalize in the 30th minute when Fafa Picault took a ball near the end line and passed back to Mike Ambersley, who slotted a shot far post just out of Matt Glaeser’s reach.
The second half had several chances for the Strikers, the best one coming in the 58th minute when Conor Shanosky received a pass from a combination play from Andy Herron and Mark Anderson. Shanosky’s shot caromed off the post and back out to keep the score 1-1.
Then, in the 66th minute a throw in to the Rowdies’ Daniel Antoniuk led to a through pass to Tsuyoshi Yoskitake, who fired a half volley chance off the left post and into the goal for a 2-1 Rowdies lead.
Tampa Bay extended their lead to 3-1 in the 85th minute when Mike Ambersley’s cross got by Glaeser to be met by a sliding Antoniuk to complete the scoring.
Fort Lauderdale defender Emilio Orozco will miss the next game after receiving two yellow cards in the match. Also receiving a one game suspension will be Tampa Bay’s JP Rodriguez who also was issued two yellow cards in the match.
The Strikers will remain on the road and travel to Cary, North Carolina to face the RailHawks on Saturday, July 7, at 7:00 p.m.
