ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. – With the work the Tampa Bay Rowdies had put in so far this season, the side had yet to be rewarded with a positive result to show for it, but that changed on Saturday night when a pair of first-half goals saw the side take a 2-1 victory against Major League Soccer’s Montreal Impact in the finale to the 2017 Rowdies Suncoast Invitational at Al Lang Stadium.

Taking on one of last season’s Eastern Conference Finalists in the 2016 Audi MLS Cup Playoffs, Rowdies Head Coach Stuart Campbell knew his side would face a major test against what was a full-strength starting lineup from their visitors, but even as the intensity increased in the final half-hour as the Impact looked to get a result out of the game, the Rowdies held firm.

“That’s one of the best teams in MLS,” said Campbell. “I think if you finish above Montreal you’re not going to be far away from winning the overall championship. They’re a really good team, and I was pleased with how our players stuck at it and stood up to the physicality of the game with the speed and quality Montreal have.”

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Joe Cole opened the scoring while Deshorn Brown – who is currently training with the club – notched the second to give the Rowdies a two-goal halftime lead. Ignacio Piatti converted a penalty kick in the second half for the Impact, but the Rowdies’ defense proved up to the task late on as it withstood Montreal’s efforts to earn a draw.

“We wanted to go out and get a result, but really we wanted to put on a good performance,” Campbell said. “It's fantastic to go out there and beat an MLS team that had a very good year last year and will no doubt have another very good year this year.”

The contest also saw a return to action for Rowdies veteran Georgi Hristov, who has been working his way back from a nagging groin injury throughout the offseason. The forward came on with 17 minutes to go, and was pleased to be back among his teammates after some good training sessions.

“It means a lot, if not everything, because outside of your family that’s the more important place for me,” Hristov said. “It’s always good to play in front of these fans, especially against a very good MLS team. We could have gotten a result against a good Orlando side two weeks ago, but we’ve been playing really good and it was just a matter of time before we got a good result. I’m happy that we did it, now we’ve got to keep working hard.”

Campbell was also pleased to see Hristov back on the field, with the club’s modern-era goal-scoring leader likely to play an important role in the upcoming USL season.

“There’s nothing better than getting out here and playing, and it’s great to play on our pitch and great to play in front of our fans, once again tonight they were superb,” said Campbell. “I’m really happy for Georgi, he’s worked hard and he went out there and I thought he’s done pretty well.”