Tampa Bay Rowdies 4–1 The Villages SC
A USL Championship side, two tiers above us, at Al Lang Stadium in St. Petersburg — and we got on the board in the eighty-ninth minute.
It was goalless for forty-three minutes. Longer than most people expected.
Jerfesson was busy from the start and dealt with it. Steinberger shot from outside the box on 17, saved. Hoppenot from the centre of the box on 25, saved. Ryan Felix missed two headers and had a third saved on 26. Yago Lopes conceded three corners in nine minutes and kept clearing them.
And we had chances of our own. Vandyke Gyau got a header on target on 16 from a Gabriel de Freitas cross. Saullo da Silva shot from outside the box on 9 from Felipe Pampolin. Josh Fawole forced a save in first-half stoppage time.
43' — Mohamed Kone headed in a Steinberger cross from a corner. 45+3' — Zach Steinberger made it two right at the whistle. 62' — Brandon Allen from close range, Steinberger again with the cross.
3–0, and the match looked gone.
89' — Vandyke Gyau.
Right side of the six-yard box, right foot, bottom right corner, from a Gabriel de Freitas set piece.
3–1, and a goal against a professional club at Al Lang Stadium.
Leon Taylor got a fourth in the third minute of stoppage time.
4–1.
Steinberger had a hand in three of their four goals, which is about what a USL Championship midfielder does to an amateur side across ninety minutes. We knew that going in.
MAN OF THE MATCH: Felipe Pampolin
But our players walked out at Al Lang against professionals, held them for forty-three minutes, and scored.
"If you ever dream about playing a professional game, in a professional environment, this is it." — Anderson Da Silva, before the match
Fourth consecutive year in the first round of the U.S. Open Cup.
