It was looking good early on for the Tampa Bay Rowdies, who had home-field advantage in the 2021 USL Championship final and were awarded a 19th-minute penalty kick. But Orange County’s German goalkeeper, Patrick Rakovsky,  saved the shot by Tampa Bay captain Sebastián Guenzatti, Ronaldo Damus scored in the 25th and 38th minutes, and Mikko Kuningas‘ free kick had the visitors up 3-0 at halftime.

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