ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. (August 11, 2018) — The Tampa Bay Rowdies started hot but weren’t clinical enough in front of goal Saturday night at Al Lang Stadium, falling to a 2-0 defeat at the hands of North Carolina FC.

As the Rowdies’ legs faded from an energetic high-pressing first half, Marcel Kandziora and Daniel Rios scored goals in the 65th and 78th minutes, respectively, to beat the Rowdies.

“I’m not going to be too hard on the players in terms of them giving their all and they were dead on their feet,” Rowdies Head Coach Neill Collins said. “In the last 15 minutes, we looked like a team that played Wednesday night and we played a high press in the first half. … I think up to the first goal, we were the far better team, but that means nothing. It means absolutely nothing because we don’t score, lose a goal, miss chances to equalize and then the second goal killed us.”

The Rowdies (7-10-6, 27 points) now head into an extended break before a midweek contest on the road against the Pittsburgh Riverhounds on Wednesday, August 22. It will give Tampa Bay a chance to regroup from a frustrating loss.

The Rowdies came flying out of the gates from the opening whistle with admirable intensity and desire. Only two minutes into the match, Kwadwo Poku played a bending through ball for Junior Flemmings on the top of the box, but North Carolina goalkeeper Alex Tambakis came off his line well to shut the play down.

Two minutes later, Martin Vingaard had a shooting chance, but didn’t connect well as he lost his footing.

Once the opening 10 minutes passed though, North Carolina (8-8-6, 30 points) steadied itself and the match started to even out.

Flemmings was on the attack again in the 26th minute, picking up the ball 30 yards from goal and racing toward the box before unleashing a left-footed shot that was saved by Tambakis.

The final chance of the first half also fell to Flemmings, who laced a shot on frame from 25 yards, only for Tambakis to make the save again.

Zac Portillos, filling in as captain for the night in his first appearance since May 26, smashed a shot in the 53rd minute that Tambakis palmed over his crossbar to keep the match level at 0-0.

North Carolina turned the tables in the 65th minute with Kandziora nodding a Steven Miller cross past Cody Mizell and into the side netting for a 1-0 lead for North Carolina.

Tampa Bay would respond in the 67th minute with Vingaard blasting a header off the underside of the cross bar, but the ball just wouldn’t bounce the Rowdies’ way.

The visitors took advantage of that and put the game away 12 minutes from time with Rios’ simple finish from a low Kyle Bekker cross. Rios is now second in the Golden Boot race with 12 goals on the season. Bekker is tied for the league lead with 10 assists.

“Goals change games and we really needed to get (Vingaard’s 67th minute chance),” Portillos said. “It’s just been a tough year. It’s been the story of the year so far that we’re playing well, but we just can’t get that goal to get us over the top.”

Tampa Bay now faces plenty of time to bounce back before a big week with a visit to Pittsburgh on August 22 and then a home match against FC Cincinnati on August 25. For tickets, call (727) 222-2000 or click here.