Rowdies finally earn a victory

For almost two months, the FC Tampa Bay Rowdies believed it was just a matter of time before their performances would be rewarded by wins.

On a sweltering Sunday afternoon when the heat index at kickoff was 102 degrees, their belief was proved correct. Goals by Julian Valentin and Aaron King earned the Rowdies a 2-0 victory against Miami FC, as a youthful lineup snapped an eight-game winless streak in the USSF Division II match at Steinbrenner Field in front of a crowd of 3,226.

With eight players absent due to a combination of injury, suspension and travel, the Rowdies (6-7-5) started 10 outfield players who boasted an average age of 23 years old. But Long Tan, who finished with a team-high seven shots, Mozzi Gyorio, Chad Burt and Drew Yates rose to the occasion.

Tan almost gave the Rowdies the lead in the 35th minute after good work by Yates, only for his shot to be saved by Miami's Caleb Patterson-Sewell. The Blues' goalkeeper couldn't do anything to prevent Valentin's finish from the resulting corner, though, as Gyorio found the Rowdies' captain at the far post for a free header into the left corner of the net. It was the Rowdies' first goal in 314 minutes and their first in the first half since Aaron Wheeler's score against Puerto Rico on May 29, the last time Tampa Bay won.

"It was definitely a boost," Valentin said, "and as much as you don't want to admit that it wears on your mind a little bit not scoring goals, it does. We got the one and now we're confident they'll start coming in pairs and numbers, so it definitely was a sigh of relief and we can go from here."

After his mistake had led to a stoppage-time goal Thursday that gave Rochester victory in their last outing, Rowdies goalkeeper Daryl Sattler had an excellent performance. He made a spectacular save to deny former Clearwater High standout Brian Shriver from 15 yards in the 55th minute when it seemed the Blues would equalize. It was the best of his three saves.

"It's an unbelievable, world-class save," Rowdies coach Paul Dalglish said. "There's not many goalkeepers as athletic as Daryl who could get to that."

Miami (2-7-9) thought it had earned an equalizer from the ensuing corner kick, with Abe Thompson heading in from close range, but the referee's assistant ordered the corner be retaken, saying the ball was moving when the restart had been taken.

That, and an excellent block of Christian Gomez's shot by Gyorio after the former Major League Soccer MVP had made Sattler go to the ground, were nervous moments, but the nerves disappeared when King scored his team-high fifth league goal of the season in the 66th minute. After Pascal Millien was played in down the right, he held possession and passed back to Burt, whose angled cross into the penalty area was met by King's head 10 yards out and buried into the left corner.

That took some of the wind out of Miami's sails and allowed Tampa Bay to earn its first victory against its in-state rival and one it desperately needed as it pursues a place in the playoffs.