NCFC defeated the Tampa Bay Rowdies by a score of 4-2 on Wednesday night at Sahlen’s Stadium. The win moved NCFC from fifth in the table up to second, tied on points and wins with Tampa but ahead on goal difference.
“Huge three points for the group,” NCFC head coach Dave Sarachan said. “I thought the first 20 minutes we were quite good, in terms of our spacing and our movement. We get the first goal, they get their goal kind of against the run of play….We had some conversations at half time about some things and I thought the second half was good.”
The team was led by a combined effort from midfielders Steven Miller, who netted twice, and midfielder Dre Fortune, who added to his two goals and one assist tally from Saturday with another goal against Tampa. Fortune also had a hand in Miller’s first goal but did not receive an assist for his effort.
Forward Justin Rennicks turned provider in the 20th minute with the forward making a beautiful play, stopping the ball with his backheel after overrunning it, spinning his defender and cutting the ball back to a waiting Dre Fortune who blasted an effort from just inside the 18. The shot hit the keeper in the hands but it was too strong and still found the back of the net.
For Rennicks, the assist was his first for NCFC coming in just his fourth appearance for the side since joining on loan from the New England Revolution on August 1.
“I am still learning Justin [Rennicks],” Sarachan said. “I think he is still trying to figure out the group. Tonight you saw a glimpse of his ability to get behind a defensive line, get in between the seams a little bit. He’s got some clever movements in the box as you saw tonight and I think the end product, meaning whether it is a goal or an assist, I think its there we haven’t seen it consistently… But he is getting more confidence.”
The lead did not last long for NCFC, however, with the Rowdies equalizing in the 32nd minute. Kwadwo Poku slipped Sebastian Guenzatti in behind the NCFC backline and the forward hit a shot from a tough angle. The shot looked to have deflected off of NCFC’s Aaron Guillen, who attempted to block the shot with a slide tackle, through the legs of NCFC goalkeeper Alex Tambakis and into the back of the net.
The two teams entered the half locked at 1-1 but the Rowdies were the happier of the teams going into the half with NCFC winning the possession battle with 57% and outshooting its opponents 7-4. The Rowdies had more shots on target, however, with three compared to NCFC’s two.
“We made a couple of tactical adjustments to adjust to how they were looking to press us,” Fortune said. “We came back out just looking to move the ball a little bit faster and get guys into different spots a little bit quicker and that kind of unlocked them a little bit and allowed us to go one and score a couple more.”
Midfielder Steven Miller put NCFC back in the lead in the 50th minute with his eighth goal of the season, a team high. Fortune whipped in a low corner which found the midfielder who lashed at the ball with a half volley which the keeper never saw.
NCFC added an insurance goal in the 77th minute through an own goal. The mistake was caused by some brilliant play by former NC State men’s soccer player Manny Perez who made a darting run down the wing, cutting in and beating one defender before playing a low cross into across the six, which was deflected in by a Tampa defender.
“Before the injury, Manny was an important piece to our team,” Sarachan said. “The ability to get up and down the flank and be dangerous, I think the key to Manny now is just confidence. Just putting the injury behind him, getting confidence each game he’s played and tonight he showed me that the confidence is rising for him.”
Miller then put it out of question two minutes later with his second goal of the game. Right back D.J. Taylor made a great run into the box before cutting it back to the waiting Miller. The captain then slotted it with precision into the bottom left corner of the goal, sealing the game.
“Earlier in the season, I scored a few from there as well, seems to be my lucky spot,” Miller said. “We work on that, balls cut back, D.J. did a great job on the second one getting to the end line. Getting his head up, I’m yelling for the cutback, Donovan [Ewolo] pulls the whole backline with his run. I’m wide open, pretty simple finish from there.”
The Rowdies came into the game with the joint best defense in the league, having conceded just 16 goals on the season. NCFC have the Rowdies number however with two of the three games where the Rowdies have conceded multiple goals in a game coming against NCFC.
The Rowdies pulled one back in the 89th minute from a corner but it was too little too late for the away team to mount any sort of a comeback.
NCFC’s next game is away at Louisville City on Saturday at 3 p.m.
NCFC midfielder and captain Steven Miller deflects a pass from Pittsburgh Riverhounds SC on Saturday, Aug. 17 at WakeMed Soccer Park. Miller assisted on one of NCFC’s goals as they beat Pittsburgh 5-0.
