Tampa Bay Rowdies forward Brian Shriver ended Saturday as the hero in a water-soaked match that called on the bench in a big way. The Clearwater native’s stunning volley from 20 yards out in the 60th minute was enough to carry the Rowdies to a 2-1 win over FC Edmonton.

Head coach Thomas Rongen was faced the reality of missing six regular starters for Saturday’s match. Leading scorer Maicon Santos, leading assist-man Georgi Hristov, and sturdy center back Stefan Antonijevic were all serving red card suspensions. Defensive midfielder Marcelo Saragosa and right back Rich Balchan were out as well with injuries. And, for good measure, midfielder Richard Menjivar is away on national team duty with El Salvador.

Despite the absences, Rongen kept the familiar 4-3-3 formation, but frontloaded the starting eleven with speed and athleticism up front in hopes of exploiting the heavy-footed Edmonton back line. The move paid off in a big way as all three forwards left the Eddies defenders scrambling at various moments in the match.

“We connected really well,” said forward Darwin Espinal. “We just understand each other and it was fun playing. It was the most fun group that I’ve ever played with. I enjoyed it a lot.”

Playing in an advanced midfield role, Shriver positively shined. It was his first start of the year after only playing 40 minutes through two substitution appearances. Shriver showed little sign of rust or discord with his fellow attackers. He was aggressive on both sides of the ball throughout the entire match and demonstrated excellent awareness of his teammates’ tendencies moving forward.

“It’s been a little bit tough personally,” said Shriver. “But with a deep like we have I knew I’d get my chance at some point. I was having fun out there. It’s the first time I got to play a significant amount of minutes in a game this year, so for me it was a chance to showcase what I can do and make a case for me being in the lineup week in and week out.”

In the 36th minute, Shriver connected on a give-and-go with Nunez and then on another with Corey Hertzog that set him up with the first quality chance for the Rowdies inside the penalty area. Keeper John Smits came off his line to deny Shriver, but the block went out for a corner that the Rowdies would convert.

Hertzog’s service on the corner wasn’t anything special, but the attempted clearance ricocheted off a crowd of players in the air and back across goal towards the endline. Hertzog, recognizing that the ball was still alive, arrived just in time to keep the ball in play and fire a shot on Smits from the tight angle. Smits managed to deflect the attempt away, but it landed right in the path of Espinal for a simple finish.

The Rowdies may have been able to capitalize on their excellent buildup play in the first half if not for the waterlogged field in the end they were attacking toward, courtesy of a torrential downpour a few hours before kickoff.

Fortunately for Tampa Bay, he visitors failed to form any rhythm or develop any of their usual counter attacks to threaten the Rowdies. Matt Pickens was only seriously challenged on a free kick from 40 yards out by Cristian Raudales that the keeper was able to parry over the crossbar.

The Eddies began to assert themselves a bit more at the start of the second half once they began to make more of an effort to play the ball through Lance Laing on the left flank. Around the 50th minute mark Edmonton won three consecutive corners and had the Rowdies desperately searching for a proper clearance.

The Rowdies were able to weather that brief surge and double the lead when Shriver was rewarded for all his efforts. Hertzog delivered a seemingly innocuous free kick into the box that Smits punched away with no challenge. The clearance, though, fell right to Shriver just outside the box. He brought the ball down well with his chest, let it bounce off the ground once and then blasted a shot that was only ever going into the upper 90. The goal was his first since August of last year and only his third in a Rowdies shirt.

Only a few minutes after Shriver’s volley, Laing dashed the hopes of another Rowdies clean sheet on a moment of individual moment of brilliance of his own. Right back Darnell King and forward Robert Hernandez were got off guard when the left-footed Laing turned toward the center of the field, allowing the winger ample time to pick his spot. Pickens appeared to have no chance at stopping the superbly taken right-footed curl.

Despite that hiccup, the Rowdies defense was solid throughout and center back Gale Agbossoumonde hardly seemed rusty in his first competitive match in over a year. Captain Tamika Mkandawire provided some cover in some instances, but no more than is expected in a center back partnership. Agbossoumonde was a dominating presence in the air and had a perfectly timed tackle to squash a dangerous counter in the 55th minute. Regrettably, the defender had to exit the match after what looked like a possible shoulder separation late in the match.

“The whole team excelled, but the two guys with probably the least amount of playing time were Brian Shriver and Gale Agbossoumonde. I’m really happy those two guys came to play and performed well,” said Rongen. “Brian getting the winning goal was awesome to see. These guys never quite on themselves. They never quit on their teammates. When their number was called they were there to play. When you can go 16, 17, 18 deep and get that, it’s an awesome feeling for a coach. You know that there is a good vibe in the locker room from 1-26 and that will go a long way.”

Hernandez nearly extended the Rowdies lead only three minutes after Laing’s effort. The speedy Venezuelan blew past Edmonton defenders all night in one on one situations and did so in the 68th minute by shaking off two defenders and curling a 20-yard shot that just clanged off the outside of the post for a corner.

Rowdies fans can be forgiven for not feeling comfortable with only a 2-1 goal lead in the final minutes after last week’s late collapse to draw 2-2 in Indy. However, with no ejections this time around and a few crucial tackles from Tam and left back Ben Sweat in the dying minutes, the Rowdies managed to hold on and record their third victory at Al Lang this year.

The win also keeps the club’s small hopes at the Spring title and the playoff spot that comes along with it alive. They will have to win next week against Atlanta by a wide margin and have the New York Cosmos lose by a wide margin, though, if they are to bridge the gap and win on a tiebreaker. The Cosmos sit in first place with 19 points and a goal differential of nine, while the Rowdies have 16 points and a goal differential of three.

IMAGE, TAMPA BAY ROWDIES