Battery Travel to Florida to Face Rowdies

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By: Battery Media

The Charleston Battery will head to Florida this weekend for the Saturday duel against the Tampa Bay Rowdies at Al Lang Stadium. Kickoff in St. Petersburg is slated for 7:30 pm.

The matchup is the first between Charleston and Tampa Bay in the 2022 season, but there's no lack of familiarity between the two East Coast clubs. In the 2020 regular season, the Battery beat the Rowdies three times in four matches. However, in 2021, Tampa Bay got the better of the series and won each match, three of which were decided by a difference of one goal. Charleston will look for revenge this weekend.

Tampa Bay return home following a 1-2 away victory over Miami FC. The Rowdies secured a 0-2 advantage through the hour-mark via a Miami own goal and a penalty spot conversion from Leo Fernandes. The hosts cut into Tampa Bay's lead in the 64th minute when Othello Bah found the back of the net. Fernandes' goal would prove to make the difference as the Rowdies held on for the victory. The win placed Tampa Bay at third in the Eastern Conference table, just two points off the pace of leaders Memphis 901 FC.

Charleston will look to build upon their best performance of the season after they blanked Pittsburgh Riverhounds SC 3-0 at home. Augustine Williams opened the scoring in the 2nd minute, his fifth of the year, to set up the Black and Yellow with an ideal start. Before the break, Andrew Booth and Romario Piggott would connect on two separate occasions to give the Battery a commanding 3-0 lead. From there, Charleston's defense firmed up to prevent any ability for Pittsburgh to get back into the game. Goalkeeper Hugo Fauroux needed to make just one save and tallied his first clean sheet with the team.

Defensive midfielder Dominic Oduro will return to his old stomping grounds for the first time as a member of the Battery – Oduro played for the Rowdies from 2018 to 2020. Preston Kilwien also makes a return to St. Pete after competing for the Rowdies' U23 squad in 2017 while attending Florida Gulf Coast University.

Absent from Tampa Bay's squad this year is the center-back-goalkeeper duo of Forrest Lasso and Evan Louro. Both were with the team during their Eastern Conference title-winning seasons of 2020 and 2021.

Saturday will also kickoff the No Quarter Derby, a supporter group-led rivalry between the fans that spans the season series. The fans of the winning team will receive a cooler chest full of beers from the fans of the losing team. The final result will be determined after the reverse fixture on September 10 when the Battery host the Rowdies at Patriots Point.

Ones to Watch

Tampa Bay – Jake LaCava LaCava is a name fans will recall from his time with New York Red Bulls II and he is now with the Rowdies, on loan from the Red Bulls first team. The winger is Tampa Bay's leading scorer with six goals and is one of three players to appear in all 15 league games. LaCava has also tallied two assists and 16 chances created so far. Against the Battery last year, LaCava had two goals and one assist across the four matches. He'll be a player Charleston will want to keep in check on Saturday.

Charleston – Romario Piggott Piggott was a true tour de force against Pittsburgh, having involvement in every goal the Battery scored. The Panamanian helped set up Williams' opening goal with pressure against the Hounds that forced them into an errant backward pass that fell to Augi before he scored. Piggott assisted Booth in the second goal and then scored the third one himself. Look for Romario to play another important role against Tampa Bay as the Black and Yellow aim to seize the momentum of their recent performances.