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Rowdies Claim Victory against Impact

By USLSoccer.com Staff, 02/25/17, 11:01PM EST

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Cole, Brown on target in 2-1 win to close out Suncoast Invitational


Photo courtesy Matt May / Tampa Bay Rowdies

ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. – The Tampa Bay Rowdies got goals from Joe Cole and Deshorn Brown as they closed the 2017 Rowdies Suncoast Invitational with a 2-1 victory against the Montreal Impact 2-1 in a tense and entertaining match at Al Lang Stadium on Saturday night.

Cole and Brown, a training guest with Tampa Bay, scored within six minutes of one another late in the first half. Montreal's lone reply came from the penalty spot in the 71st minute by Ignacio Piatti.

With a month still to go before the Rowdies lift the curtain on the 2017 United Soccer League regular season, the pieces are starting to fit together for Head Coach Stuart Campbell's side.

"It's nice to get a win, even though in preseason the result isn't the most important thing," Campbell said. "It's about the performance, the amount of work and improving the players' fitness. You could see how hard the players worked tonight. For many of them, it was their first 90 minutes of the preseason."

Getting the first win of preseason wasn't an easy task. With Major League Soccer's opening weekend just a week away, Montreal Impact Head Coach Mauro Biello fielded a full-strength lineup likely similar to that which will face the San Jose Earthquakes next week.

After a back-and-forth first half that showed flashes of quality but few clear-cut chances, the Rowdies opened the scoring in the 34th minute with a quickly-taken free kick. Rowdies winger Leo Fernandes drew a foul just outside the penalty area, and before Montreal could set up defensively the Rowdies took the free kick as Brown fed Cole wide, and his shot deflected past Impact goalkeeper Evan Bush off Laurent Ciman as Tampa Bay took a 1-0 lead.

Six minutes later Cole nearly added a second of the match with a shot from the right. Bush made a big save, only for Brown – a former PDL All-League selection with Reading United AC in 2012 – to pounce on the rebound and smash it with his left foot to double Tampa Bay's lead before halftime.

Despite the normal second-half substitutions that come standard in preseason matches, the Rowdies maintained control of the match save for Piatti's penalty in the 71st minute, sealing a positive result.

First-Half Goals Lead D.C. Past Union

ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. – D.C. United took its second consecutive win to conclude the 2017 Suncoast Invitational as three first-half goals led to a 3-2 victory against the Philadelphia Union on Saturday evening at Al Lang Field. Two goals three minutes apart midway through the opening half highlighted the win as the Union suffered ended the tournament with their first loss.

D.C. had the better of pressure early on, and Union goalkeeper Andre Blake had to make an excellent point-blank save from Sean Franklin to keep the game scoreless in the 12th minute. Two minutes later, though, Patrick Nyarko wove into the penalty area from the left and curled a shot home to give United the lead.

The Union tried to respond quickly, and Haris Medunjanin had a low shot from 25 yards toward the left corner turned with by D.C. goalkeeper Bill Hamid after a good interception and surge forward by Keegan Rosenberry. Chris Pontius then headed just wide after a near-perfect free kick routine that had seen Ale Bedoya knock the ball back across goal from the right.

United made it 2-0 a few minutes later, though, as a cross by Luciano Acosta found Jared Jeffrey for a first-time finish from close range. D.C. added a third in the 24th minute when a curling shot from long-range by Patrick Mullins from outside the penalty area found the left corner of the net.

The Union picked up the tempo in the second half, and pulled a goal back when center back Oguchi Onyewu finished from close range after his partner Richie Marquez’s header from a corner found him at the right post. Isinho almost added a second for the Union, only to spoon his finish over the bar midway through the half, but the Union did strike with four minutes to go as Marcus Epps drove home a shot from the edge of the penalty area into the right corner. United held on late, however, to take the victory.

Fire Torch Toronto to Wrap Up Perfect Preseason

ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. – The Chicago Fire capped off a perfect preseason with a 4-1 victory against Toronto FC in the opening game of Match Day 3 at the 2017 Suncoast Invitational at Al Lang Stadium. Michael de Leeuw scored twice as the Fire completed the preseason with a 6-0-0 record.

The Fire took the lead in the 10th minute when Juninho found space outside the penalty area and rifled home a shot into the top-left corner that gave Toronto goalkeeper Clint Irwin little change. Irwin then brought down de Leeuw just inside the right edge of the penalty area, and Nemanja Nikolic buried the ensuing penalty kick into the top-right corner.

Toronto got a foothold with some pressure as the half went on, but the Fire added to their lead six minutes before the break when a clever give-and-go released David Accam into the left side of the penalty area, and his low cross-shot was tapped home at the back post by de Leeuw.

Toronto threatened to get back into the game in the second half as Toronto FC II forward Ben Spencer forced a good save by Chicago goalkeeper Jorge Bava just before the hour-mark, but some loose play at the back was finally punished with 15 minutes to go as the Fire made it 4-0. A bad pass by TFC rookie Brandon Aubrey played in de Leeuw one-on-one with Irwin, and his finish to the top-right corner was clinical.

Tosaint Ricketts pulled a goal back for Toronto with an 89th-minute penalty kick, but that would be all for the defending MLS Eastern Conference champions as its preseason ended on a down note.

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