ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. (September 14, 2018) — The Tampa Bay Rowdies have added even more offensive firepower for the stretch run of the season with the signing of forward Jaime Chavez, the club announced Friday.

Chavez, 31, comes to the Rowdies after another stellar season with Miami FC in the NPSL. He scored nine goals in 11 appearances in 2018 in helping Miami win the NPSL Championship.

“I played against Jaime in my second game in the United States and I was very impressed that night and I’ve been very impressed every time I’ve played him since then,” Rowdies Head Coach Neill Collins said. “With a couple injuries we’ve had, the choice to bring him in was a no-brainer. It’s not secret that we want to score more goals and Jaime can help us do that.”

Originally from Southern California, Chavez grew up in the Chivas USA youth academy before playing for various amateur teams across the Los Angeles area. He made his breakthrough into the professional ranks with the Atlanta Silverbacks in 2014. Chavez scored 20 goals in two seasons with the Silverbacks before making a move to Miami before the 2015 season.

“We’re at the point of the season where we need to start scoring goals if we want to make it into the playoffs,” said Rowdies Chairman & CEO Bill Edwards. “Jaime had success scoring goals at other clubs and were looking for him to replicate that here. Our first objective is to make the playoffs and for that we need goal scorers like Jaime.”

The 2016 and 2017 seasons saw Chavez scored a combined 18 goals. He continued that form in the NPSL with Miami this season.

In Tampa Bay, Chavez will be reunited with former teammates Kwadwo Poku (2014, 2016, 2017) and Daniel Vega (2015-2018). Chavez is eligible to make his Rowdies debut as early as tomorrow night against Atlanta United 2.

Additionally, the Rowdies have loaned forward Jochen Graf to Reno 1868 FC for the remainder of the USL season.