by JAKE NUTTING

Tampa Bay Rowdies head coach Stuart Campbell says he isn’t one to dwell on results, instead he chooses to focus on the details from every match that need improvement, regardless of whether the team wins or loses.

But even he can’t deny the elation he felt the moment Matt Pickens smothered Tomi Ameobi’s penalty to secure the team’s first three-point result of the year. The massive air Campbell got on his celebratory jump was evidence enough of his supreme satisfaction.

“I know. One of my old coaches said he never saw me jump that high for a header in my playing days. I think I nearly pulled my calf,” Campbell joked.

The game-clinching moment was the payoff to a dogged attitude the team carried into the match after settling for two draws in their opening matches. They were motivated to do whatever it took to secure a full victory at home that night.

“Maybe it was tension,” Campbell admitted. “But what I sensed before the game was really a determination to go and get a result against Edmonton. You could just sense that we were determined to go and get the result. We spoke before the game about no hard luck stories at the end of 90 minutes. We didn’t want to be saying oh we were unlucky again, we should’ve done this, we should’ve done that. We spoke about that before and we said ‘No, we’re going out there and getting three points.’ It was a pretty determined performance.”

With the mental hurdle of claiming their first victory, as well as their first goal from open play, Campbell hopes they can create some momentum starting this weekend against the first-place Carolina RailHawks and establish themselves as contenders in the short Spring Season.

“I think overall the quality of the league is improved. On any day, anybody can beat anybody. Last week there were a couple of results that I think proved that. Any team that gets two wins under their belt early on, can go and build on that from a confidence standpoint. Confidence is such a big part of modern day soccer. So once they get one win and then the second win, you almost get on a bit of a roll.”

Pickens Coming Up Big

Pickens stepped into the spotlight this past week with his game-saving penalty stop, but he had maybe an even better save moments before at the end of stoppage time when he denied Sainey Nyassi point blank from close range.

His performance so far this year is a major reason why the Rowdies head into the weekend as the team with the fewest goals against.

“One of the biggest things about goalkeepers is their concentration,” said Campbell. “In the first half he had a couple of crosses and couple of shots to deal with, which he did comfortably. But then in the second 45 minutes I don’t think he had anything. It would’ve been easy for him to switch off because of the lack of action down in his end. His concentration levels were outstanding and that’s really something any aspiring goalkeeper should look at. Not just his gameplay, that’s easy to judge. Look at how intensely he’s focused on the game. He stayed in tune with the game without seeing the ball.”

Injury Update

Campbell is hopeful that midfielder Michael Nanchoff will be fit to for Saturday after he was subbed off late against Edmonton. So much of what the Rowdies do on both sides of the ball flows through Nanchoff, so his absence could have a big impact.

Left back Zac Portillos has also returned to full training after missing out on the last two weeks with a hamstring injury.

Scouting Carolina

The Rowdies will look to eliminate the wide play of Carolina’s Tiyiy Shipalane and Austin da Luz, who have combined for five goals so far. Campbell expects the RailHawks to come into Al Lang with the confidence to throw numbers forward, which he thinks could end up benefiting the Rowdies after facing three straight opponents who bunkered down in their defensive end for long periods.

“I don’t think they’re going to sit back,” he said. “I think they’ll come and have a go at this. Their confidence is sky-high, and rightfully so after three wins. They’ll come and look to attack us, which I think will help us actually.”

Riding Out Results Comfortably

As exciting as Pickens’ penalty save to clinch the win was, the Rowdies would like to avoid the stress of that kind of situation altogether. They’ll look to improve on their poise and composure with the ball if they’re fortunate to get another lead in the final stages.

“Unfortunately some things are out of our control. With five minutes to go, Edmonton have got nothing to lose so they commit lots of numbers forward in the area and they obviously got the penalty. We need to try to maintain possession better than what we did. They’re one-nil down with five minutes to go so they’re going to commit. If they’re going to do that then we’ve got to maybe pick them off on the counter attack.”

IMAGE, PATRICK PATTERSON