PEMBROKE PINES, Fla. (May 27, 2017) -- The Tampa Bay Rowdies U23 squad opened their inaugural PDL season with a 2-1 road win against Weston FC on Saturday Night.

Kevin Varela powered the Rowdies through to victory with his two scoring strikes coming in the 25th and 69th minutes.

From the outset of the game, the Rowdies carried a lot of momentum. After an early yellow card was drawn on Weston defender Adam Hassan, the U23's began to truly press the attack.

Not long after, Varela was able to break through after a good through ball by Kamar Mariott and put the ball in the net to take the early 1-0 lead.

The game suddenly changed drastically as the Weston goalkeeper Evandro Rachoni was called for a red card after running out of the box and batting down a ball with his hand. For the rest of the game the Rowdies carried a man advantage which certainly had strategic as well as emotional repercussions.

With that being said, the red card seemed to make the Weston side fight just that much harder to stay in the game. In the 43rd minute, Weston attacker Zack Jones headed in the equalizer after an impressive cross into the box.

Heading into the half, the Rowdies were tied and carried a man advantage, yet had certainly seemed to lose a fair amount of their momentum.

Coming out of the halftime break, Tampa Bay started strong with a bevy of chances on net. While the Rowdies pressed hard offensively, they were bailed out greatly in the 65th minute when keeper Sean Caufield made an incredible diving stop to keep the game level.

Caufield's highlight reel stop proved critical as Varela helped the U23's take the lead just a few minutes later with his second goal of the night.

From there, the Rowdies continued to dominate possession of the ball and control the pace of the game for the remainder of the second half. Although frustration began to boil over, Tampa Bay kept a cool focus and thwarted the final few attempts on net until the final whistle blew.

This win gives the Rowdies (1-0-0) a huge three points as they head into a busy schedule of PDL games. On the other hand, Weston (0-3-1) will have to wait until their game Wednesday against the division leading SIMA Aguilas to try to get their first win of the PDL season.

Coming up next for the Rowdies U23 team is a game against IMG on Wednesday. The game will be played at Al Lang Stadium and kickoff is at 10:00 a.m. with the Midfielder's Gate opening at 9:30. The game is opened to the public and is free of charge to spectators.

Scoring Summary

Rowdies: Kevin Varela - 25th minute

Weston: Zack Jones - 43rd minute

Rowdies: Kevin Varela - 69th minute

Caution Summary

Weston: Adam Hassan - 4th Minute

Weston: Evandro Rachoni - 28th minute (Red)

Rowdies: Ivan Castro - 45th minute

Weston: Alessandro Campoy - 74th minute

Starting Lineups

Rowdies (4-1-4-1) – GK Sean Caufield; D Ivan Castro, Preston Kilwien, Gabriel Pfeffer, Pico Espinal (Morgan Hackworth 59'); CDM Kamar Marriott (C) (Caleb George 80'); M Tosan Popo (Melvin Boateng 80'), Gonzalo Rodriguez (Gustavo Fernandes 90'), Kevin Varela (Trey Jackson 70'), Noah Franke (Mack Curran 85'); F Ricky Lopez

Weston FC (4-4-2): GK Evandro Rachoni; D Ryan Enriquez (Ricardo Oliveros 81'), Adam Hassan, Steven Ghitis, Corentin Da Mutten; M Nico Perez, Inigo Sagarduy (David Longo 46'), Jonathan Bolanos (Alessandro Campoy 70'), Felipe Cepeda (Max Stieghardt 54'); F Zack Jones (Joao Neto 54'), Sebastian Garcia