Rowdies try to keep their momentum

There's a change in atmosphere around a team that can only happen when it ends a long winless streak.

That has been the case this week for the FC Tampa Bay Rowdies, who are on a high after their 2-0 victory against Miami FC last Sunday and eager for tonight's game against the Portland Timbers at Steinbrenner Field.

"There's a new energy," forward Aaron King said. "The win, the new players coming in, the energy's raised, the level's raised and we're believing we're that team that started the season."

King scored the second goal against Miami, his fifth in USSF Division II this season, and his attitude is indicative of the way things have been at practice this week. The victory and the addition of midfielders Jonny Steele and Ricardo Sanchez have seen the team look sharp in their practices and appear to be having fun again.

Rowdies captain Julian Valentin, who for the past two seasons was with the Los Angeles Galaxy, said the energy from the addition of Steele and Sanchez has played a part in the team snapping out of the funk that saw it go eight games without a win.

"They've just fit in so well with the group," Valentin said. "The other thing it does, midseason you can fall into a bit of a lull. (Galaxy coach) Bruce Arena used to call it the coma of the season in the middle of the summer when it starts to drag on and get a little droll at times. But they've injected a bit of life into us and hopefully that will continue."

After taking four points from the first three games of a four-game homestand, three points tonight would give the Rowdies a chance to start moving up the standings ahead of three games in eight days on the road beginning next Saturday.

The team hopes the poor stretch of play is behind them and they can make their move.

"Everybody has a more optimistic outlook on things," Valentin said. "We try to stay optimistic the whole time, but at the same time it kind of creeps in that we haven't scored in a while and we haven't won.

"We're feeling good now, and we think we can score and we can continue to go forward."