Good and frustrating.
That about sums it up.
Everything you want to know about the Tampa Bay Rowdies’ opener Saturday night was etched in the final 0-0 score. The goaltending was solid on those few occasions it needed to be. The defense was superb. Still, the Rowdies were unable to score, which led to bits of frustration for the Rowdies at the start.
Despite several chances, the Rowdies were unable to take advantage of a game in which it clearly had the upper hand. According to NASL.com, the Rowdies outshot the Indy 11 12-6 and had an 8-3 shot advantage inside the box. Still, the Rowdies were unable to convert its chances.
“I’m frustrated that we didn’t get three points, but overall there’s a lot more positives than negatives,” Tampa Bay Rowdies Head Coach Stuart Campbell said. “I think we moved the ball really well at times and at the end of it, a point is a point … The only thing — and it’s a big thing — is that we didn’t score. We didn’t turn the domination that we had in possession into goals.”
“We started slow in the first 15 minutes, but once we got a foothold in the game, I thought we dominated the first half. We created a couple of chances but didn’t take them and at halftime, I just asked them to start the second half how we finished the first, and I think we did.”
Besides the scoring chances, the Rowdies also had moments where it passed itself out of a goal opportunity by not being aggressive enough.
“We know that we’re capable of beating every team in this league at home,” goaltender Matt Pickens said. “It’s important that we start off on the right foot. We didn’t get (a win,) but we didn’t lose. … We can pick apart a lot of the game and find a lot of positives. We didn’t give up a lot of chances.”
The Rowdies play in Miami Saturday night before returning home the following week to play FC Edmonton.
