A week after losing to Charleston, the Tampa Bay Rowdies joined the Battery atop the Eastern Conference by beating Richmond Kickers, 1-0, with its fourth shutout at home and a spectacular goal byDeshorn Brown just before halftime.
Brown’s strike earned the No. 1 slot in SportsCenter’s Top 10 plays of the day and topped an effort less than two weeks ago byteammate Marcel Schaefer, who scored from 40 yards out in a 1-1 tie with FC Cincinnati April 19 to wind up at No. 2.
The victory at Al Lang Stadium ended a three-game Tampa Baywinless streak and knotted the teams atop the East with 13 points, though the Rowdies (4-2-1) have played one more game than Charleston (4-1-1). The Kickers are 12th at 2-4-0.
COMEBACKS NET BATTERY APOINT. Romario Williams equalized late in both halves in a 2-2 tie with Ottawa Fury that kept Charleston on place with Tampa Bay.
Mikael Chang assisted on bothgoals to wipe out Ottawa leads provided by a Ryan Williams (no relation) free kick midway through the first half and Ramon Martin del Campo, assisted by Williams, early in the secondhalf.
Romario Williams is tied for the league lead with six goals and is already more than halfway to the 10 he tallied last season. As a team, Charleston is tied for secondin USL scoring with 15 goals, and has scored at least two goals in five of its six games.
Ottawa isn’t having as much success in the USL as its former NASL partner Tampa Bay. TheFury is 14th at 1-2-2 (5 point).
USL 2017:
Scoreboard |
SAN ANTONIOSWEEPS THROUGH CASCADIA. Standing alone atop the Western Conference is San Antonio FC, which finished a three-game Northwest tour by beating Portland Timbers 2 by a 4-0 score Friday atProvidence Park.
Cesar Elizondo scored two goals, assisted on Billy Forbes’s sixth goal of the season, and Revs’ loanee Zachary Herivaux talliedin stoppage time as SAFC followed up on a 3-2 defeat of Seattle Sounders 2 just three days before. Goals from A.J. Ajeakwa and Forbes opened up a 2-0 lead in the first 24 minutes at StarfireSports Complex, and a goal by Devin Vega in the 69th minute turned out to be the winner.
SAFC has won a team record four straight games and leads the Western Conference with a6-0-1 record (19 points). Timbers 2, which finally won a game last weekend, 2-0, at Sacramento, are 14th of the 15 Western teams at 1-6-0.
DEFENDERS DO THE JOB IN MONARCHS’ WIN. Left back Max Lachowecki set up a goal and centerback James Moberg notched the winner as Real Monarchs SLCstrengthened their hold on second place in the Western Conference by beating Swope Park Rangers, 2-1, at Rio Tinto Stadium.
The backliners and midfielder Ricardo Velasco, whoserange and guile unhinged Rangers on both goals, led the way as Monarchs SLC took command by scoring twice before halftime. They are four points behind SAFC at 5-1-0 (15 points).
On thefirst goal, Velasco pushed forward and played a ball to Lachowecki near the end line. He cut the ball past keeper David Greczek and Chandler Hoffman tapped in his team-best fourth goalof the season. Moberg scored his second goal on a deflected Velasco free kick that he pushed inside the post with his right foot.
Kharlton Belmar put SPR on the board with a goalearly in the second half but Rangers, which had started the season by extending a regular-season winning streak to seven games, fell to their second straight defeat and are in fifth place at3-2-0 (9 points).