by JAKE NUTTING

Hey Tampa Bay Rowdies, it’s not that we’re mad. We’re just disappointed because we don’t think you’re living up to your full potential. We all know you’re better than last night’s result and you can be so much more.

Favorable conditions help Rowdies pack Al Lang

How about we start off on a positive note?

The Rowdies finally lucked out with beautiful weather for a home match and it showed in the stands, with 5,948 showing up to catch last night’s action. While the Rowdies have drawn bigger crowds in the past, the number is encouraging because it’s 200 more than the crowd that showed up for the home opener against Indy Eleven.

Teams almost always have difficulty matching the gate from opening night, but after last night the Rowdies are the only NASL team to actually pull in a higher attendance number than their their opener (technically Carolina did it as well, but they had an increase of only 50, so that seems negligible. Take that, RailHawks!).

Last night’s attendance is a hopeful sign that last week’s number of 4,429 for Edmonton was only a blip and the Rowdies are still trending upward. The weather factor cannot be understated here. Walk ups still account for a healthy chunk of sales, likely being the difference between the team cracking the 5,000 threshold or not.

In short, way to show up last night, Tampa Bay fans. But you can always keep pushing. You came so close to 6,000 last night. Heck, after that a thousand more bodies to make it a full blown sell out seems like nothing. Please keep showing up because I don’t think my soul can take any NIMBY people or local officials bloviating about attendance numbers when expansion talk starts up.

Shoot the ball (on net)!

Last night’s stats show that the Rowdies actually outshot the RailHawks 10-4. The telling caveat there, though, is that the Rowdies only managed to guide two of those ten on frame. Tam Mkandawire’s one-timed volley was the only consolation the Rowdies attack took from the match, and when your center back delivers your best strike on goal of the night, you might be in trouble.

The Rowdies may have dominated in most areas last night, but none of it matters if the opposition outclasses you with their finishing. Carolina absorbed everything the Rowdies threw at them and capitalized on the sparse chances they were given, sending three of their four shots on net across the line.

You can’t win consistently in this league if you aren’t going to produce enough serious chances on net. I don’t mean half chances, I mean full-on chances where the opposing keeper has to actually break a sweat.

Tighten it up, guys.

I still love you, defense, but come on… Part of why Carolina was so lethal on only a few opportunities is because Tampa Bay’s defense completely shut off in the closing minute of the first half and the opening minute of the second half.

Carolina struck first when Paul Black was left unchecked on the left side of the box to cross for Alex Perez to the far post, and they doubled the lead straight out of the halftime break after defenders completely lost James Marcelin on his run into the box to connect with a cross.

I’d like to chalk some of this up to bad luck and credit Carolina, but you can’t make excuses when your opponent is squashing every single chance at the other end. Stuart Campbell and captain Tam were both critical of the defensive lapses in those moments and they still looked composed throughout, so I have hope this won’t become a bad habit.

Not Gold Stars for Honest Efforts

An unfortunate truth of the sport is that the squeaky wheel usually gets the penalty call.

There were almost identical sequences at either end in the second half that could have drawn the referee’s whistle, but only one of them did.

After being quiet all night, Tiyi Shipalane outpaced Ben Sweat into the penalty area and went down when the defender briefly wrapped his arm around him to slow his momentum. The whistle blew, and Brian Shriver converted the penalty with ease.

Tommy Heinemann had the chance to do something similar, but chose to stay on his feet and saw his attempt saved by Fitzgerald. The contact on Heinemann’s play was technically outside of the area, but the defender would have seen at least a yellow, maybe even a red, for pulling a forward down on a break like that.

I’m not even saying I want Heinemann to dive, or that Shipalane should be chastised for what he did. It’d just be nice if whether or not an attacker ends up on the ground wasn’t the ultimate determination on the referee blowing his or her whistle.

What do you guys think the linesman was thinking about right before he completely blew this offside call in the second half? I mean, he had to have been focusing on something else entirely to miss that Eric Avila was still a yard onside even after the ball had left Hritsov’s foot, right? There’s no other explanation.

So what was it? Did he catch a matinee of Batman v. Superman: Dawn of Justice (they really went with this title?) yesterday afternoon and got lost trying to figure what the hell the motivation was for any of Lex Luthor’s actions were? Or was he still traumatized by Zack Snyder’s choice to execute one of Superman’s best buddies, Jimmy Olsen, with a bullet to the head (I’m not sorry for the spoiler. It’s over a month old and you need to be prepared for that going in).

Or maybe I’m not giving him enough credit. Maybe he’s environmentally conscious, caught a look of the gorgeous view of the bay and his mind got lost worrying about the profound way we have screwed this planet’s oceans (Okay, I am sorry for that getting real on that one. That’s probably more of glimpse of where my mind wanders).

You know what? On second thought, I don’t care what he was thinking. Do your job, man.