Match info
Riverhounds (18-5-9) vs. Tampa Bay Rowdies (18-8-6)
Date: Saturday, Oct. 7
Time: 7:30 p.m.
Location: Al Lang Stadium, St. Petersburg, Fla.
Odds: Hounds +230 / Draw +230 / Tampa Bay +105 (FanDuel)
TV: KDKA+
Streaming: ESPN+ (national), KDKA+ (local)
Live statistics: USL Championship Match Center
Live updates: @RiverhoundsSC on Twitter
Match hashtags: #TBRvPIT and #HOUNDTAHN
(Oct. 6, 2023) — The Riverhounds have a chance to claim the Players’ Shield and lock up home field throughout the USL Championship Playoffs, but to do so this weekend, they will need to get a result at one of the tougher away venues in the league when they face the Tampa Bay Rowdies on Saturday at Al Lang Stadium.
Both teams enter the match in good form. The Hounds are unbeaten in their last six matches, and the Rowdies have only lost twice in their past eight matches, both of which came against fellow playoff side Memphis. The Rowdies last loss prior to those was the first meeting of the year between the two teams, Aug. 5, when the Hounds pounced on an early turnover to set up Albert Dikwa for the game’s only goal three minutes into a 1-0 win at Highmark Stadium.
Al Lang has been a historically tough venue for the Hounds, who are 1-4-1 there all-time, and the Rowdies have been strong but not invincible on home grass this season, where they are 11-3-2 entering their regular-season home finale this week.
For the second time this season, Dikwa will share the field with the player nearest to him in the Golden Boot race. Dikwa and his 19-goal total will be running at the opposite goal to Cal Jennings and his total of 17 for Tampa Bay, but that’s no guarantee of offensive fireworks. The last time the top two in the scoring race met — Dikwa and San Antonio’s Tani Oluwaseyi on Aug. 26 — the match ended with the two title contenders battling to a 0-0 draw.
Dikwa and Jennings also are finalists for the USL Championship Player of the Month award for September, and fan voting for the award will continue until noon Monday. Hounds fans can go cast their vote for Dikwa at USLChampionship.com.
But Dikwa’s scoring chase and Kenardo Forbes‘ bid to win the Championship’s assists title — Forbes enters the match tied for first with 10 — are secondary concerns to the Hounds’ chance to capture the first major prize in team history. A win would bring the Players’ Shield to Pittsburgh, while a draw would secure first place in the Eastern Conference for the first time since 2019. Even a one-goal loss would keep the Hounds in first place entering the final week, but that would open the door for either Tampa Bay or Sacramento to claim the Shield in the final week of the season.
If the Hounds are able to secure the Shield on Saturday, it would be a fitting honor to claim in head coach Bob Lilley‘s 200th match leading the club. A win also would equal the most regular-season wins ever by the Hounds, matching the 19 wins of Lilley’s 2019 team that topped the East.
There will be plenty of ways for fans to follow the action in Florida, none bigger than the team’s official watch party at Mike’s Beer Bar on the North Shore. The party begins at 7 p.m., and fans in attendance will have a chance to hang out with Amo and win big prizes, including tickets to the Hounds’ Eastern Conference Quarterfinal match on Oct. 21 and an autographed jersey.
For those who aren’t able to “Meet Us at Mike’s,” the match will be shown live on KDKA+, the local home of the Hounds. The game also will be streamed nationally on ESPN+.
Downloadable Game Notes
