Penn FC 2- Tampa Bay Rowdies 1
When a star player bids farewell to a side it is almost expected at this point that the team will rally around them and deliver one last win to go out on. While the Tampa Bay Rowdies were unable to deliver the Hollywood ending that Marcel Schafer deserves they certainly gave him an effort that the former VFL Wolfsburg midfielder will appreciate, falling to Penn FC 2-1.
In the first 45 appeared as if Schafer might just get that picturesque send-off forward Leon Taylor scored in the 34th minute to give the Rowdies the 1-0 advantage. But the second half was a different story for the Rowdies. Lucky Mkosana leveled the score for Penn with his goal in the 49th minute giving Penn a bit of hope entering the final 40 minutes. Penn became a bit more emboldened just two minutes later when Taylor was sent off for an elbow towards Penn FC ‘s Haari Hawkins. With a man advantage Penn FC continued to press the Rowdies for the match-winner, finding it in the form of a Mkosana shot in the 67th minute.
With the win Penn FC (5-6-4, 21 points) stretch their unbeaten run to four matches (3-0-1, 10 points).
As for Tampa (5-4-6, 21 points) the loss stretched their winless run to eight matches (0-5-3, 3 points). That would get extended to nine on Wednesday as they drew 2-2 with the Charlotte Independence. But there is hope on the horizon as the club has signed midfielder Kwadwo Poku (formerly of New York City FC and Miami FC) and forward Dominic Oduro (formerly of FC Golden State Force who recently made a deep run into the U.S. Open Cup).
On hand to cover the match was Prost Amerika photographer Nelson Lucindo. Enjoy some of his photos from the match below and make sure to give him a shout out on Twitter.
USL
Tampa Bay Rowdies
