Tackled in Tampa: Rowdies hand United a 3-0 defeat
Apr. 27—Saturday was definitely no day at the beach for New Mexico United.
The host Tampa Bay Rowdies were off and running early at Al Lang Stadium and United never caught up in a 3-0 defeat.
New Mexico (4-2-1) had its three-game USL Championship winning streak snapped in emphatic fashion. The Rowdies (3-0-4) rolled up an 18-10 shot advantage (7-2 in shots on goal), pressed the action and appeared a step quicker through most of the nationally televised match.
United did a better job holding its own in the second half, outshooting the Rowdies and allowing just two shots on goal (one a converted penalty kick). But the tone for the match was set early as Tampa Bay pressed NMU's back line and cashed in on two early opportunities to take command.
"We hurt ourselves," United coach Eric Quill said in a postgame phone interview. "We gave up two early goals on mistakes. When you're playing a good team in a packed stadium, you can't do that. It gave them a good mindset and made us question ourselves. We never really recovered."
Tampa Bay's two big guns, Cal Jennings and Manuel Arteaga, accounted for all three goals. Jennings scored twice and now has six goals on the season, while Arteaga has five.
Arteaga put United on its heels immediately, firing a hard shot just wide of the right post off a defensive turnover in the first minute. Five minutes later, NMU would not be as fortunate.
United defender Arturo Astorga was forced to knock a ball over his end line after a blocked shot by goalkeeper Alex Tambakis rolled through the box. On the ensuing corner kick, Forrest Lasso headed a ball from the far post toward the center where Jennings collected it and zipped a low shot between defenders for a 1-0 lead.
"We were a little soft in our marking on that set piece," Quill said, "and that got the crowd into it."
The Rowdies punished United's defense for another mistake in the 17th minute. Tambakis rolled a soft pass to defender Talen Maples left of the penalty area, where Arteaga blocked Maples' pass attempt and collected the ball. He quickly centered to Jennings for a tap-in goal and a 2-0 lead.
"Entirely our mistake," Quill said.
New Mexico did not have many quality scoring chances, but the visitors did put one together in the 26th minute. Nicky Hernandez crossed a ball to an attacking Dayonn Harris for a one-on-one opportunity in front of the net. But Tampa Bay goalkeeper Jordan Farr managed to get a hand on Harris' low shot and keep it out of the net.
"That was our big opportunity," Quill said. "A goal there could've changed the momentum and gotten us back in the game."
Trailing 2-0 at halftime, Quill changed his team's formation and began pressing more aggressively. The changes seemed to create more chances for United, but the Rowdies got an insurance goal after NMU's Marco Micaletto took Arteaga down in the penalty area in the 56th minute.
Arteaga buried the resulting PK for a comfortable 3-0 lead.
It was United's fourth trip to the Eastern time zone in its first seven matches, and the club was without regulars Harry Swartz and Daniel Bruce, who sustained "soft-tissue" injuries this week. Nonetheless, Quill was dissatisfied with the way his team played Saturday.
"I don't want to make excuses for losing games," he said. "We had a great opportunity to introduce ourselves to a national audience, play New Mexico United soccer and we didn't do that. Just a disappointing performance. Time to watch some unpleasant video, look at ourselves in the mirror and hopefully come out better for it."
