San Antonio FC Hosts League-Leading Tampa Bay Rowdies on Saturday
The short version
- San Antonio FC (9-6-10, 37 points) host the league-leading Tampa Bay Rowdies (15-4-6, 51 points) at Toyota Field, Saturday at 7:30 p.m.
- SAFC moved from seventh to sixth in the Western Conference after a 0-0 draw at Sacramento Republic FC.
- Tampa Bay has clinched a playoff berth, leads the USL with 13 clean sheets and has scored 45 goals.
- San Antonio has scored once in its last four matches but has three clean sheets in that span.
- Forwards Diogo Pacheco, Andres Paredes and Christian Sorto are returning from injury for SAFC.
SAFC, chasing a Western Conference playoff spot, welcome the USL Championship's best team to Toyota Field for a 7:30 p.m. kickoff.
San Antonio FC face the toughest test on their schedule Saturday, hosting the Tampa Bay Rowdies at Toyota Field with kickoff set for 7:30 p.m. The Rowdies arrive with the best record in the USL Championship at 15-4-6 and 51 points, while SAFC sit at 9-6-10 with 37 points.
San Antonio enters the match off a 0-0 road draw against Sacramento Republic FC on Sunday. That result moved the club from seventh to sixth in the Western Conference as it tries to track down the teams above it.
The gap is tight. Colorado Springs Switchbacks hold third place in the West with 38 points, Lexington SC are fourth with 37 and FC Tulsa fifth, also on 37. With five matches left in the regular season, SAFC are chasing all three.
Tampa Bay has already secured a playoff berth and leads the Eastern Conference by eight points over the second-place Charleston Battery with five games remaining. The Rowdies have scored 45 goals, second most in the league, with forward Matt Myers accounting for 12 of them, among the top seven scorers in the circuit.
Defensively, Tampa Bay has been the league's standard. The Rowdies lead the USL with 13 clean sheets and have conceded 23 goals, the third-lowest total. Goalkeeper Jahmali Waite is tied for the league lead with 11 clean sheets to go with 50 saves.
SAFC coach Carlos Llamosa acknowledged the difficulty of breaking down the Rowdies but pointed to recent form as a possible opening. Tampa Bay has won only two of its last five matches, though it shut out Birmingham Legion FC 4-0 last Saturday.
"It's not an accident that they are atop of the league," Llamosa said. "They're a very good team on both sides of the ball and they're a tough team to breakdown and create chances against. But as I say, we're training. We're doing a lot of good things yet to try to break their block. Only thing is we just need one goal."
Scoring has been San Antonio's problem, with just one goal over its last four matches. Forward Diogo Pacheco, who returned from injury in Sacramento, said the team must convert its opportunities at home. He, Andres Paredes and Christian Sorto are all coming back from injuries and could factor in; the Sacramento match was Paredes' first appearance of the season after he signed with the club in August.
At the other end, SAFC have kept clean sheets in three of their last four matches, the exception a 2-1 loss at Colorado Springs on Sept. 11. Goalkeeper Joey Batrouni has 59 saves, tied for seventh in the league, and his five-save performance in Sacramento was his seventh clean sheet of the year. Defender Alex Crognale said the club must keep that defensive foundation while rediscovering a finishing edge.
Games to watch
