2012 Tampa Bay Rowdies season

Tampa Bay Rowdies
2012 season
Owners	Andrew Nestor
Head coach	Ricky Hill
Stadium	Al Lang Stadium
NASL	2nd
NASL Playoffs	Champions
U.S. Open Cup	Third Round
Ponce De Leon Cup	Winners
Coastal Cup	Winners
Top goalscorer	League: ; Mike Ambersley; (8); All: ; Mike Ambersley; (11)
Highest home attendance	4,710; (July 4 v. Fort Lauderdale)
Lowest home attendance	2,194; (April 12 v. Carolina)
Average home league attendance	3,116
Home colors	Away colors
	← 2011 2013 →

The 2012 Tampa Bay Rowdies season was the current Tampa Bay Rowdies' third season of existence, and second in the North American Soccer League. Including the original Rowdies franchise and the Tampa Bay Mutiny, this was the 25th season of a professional soccer team fielded in the Tampa Bay region.

Background

After their first season, the FC Tampa Bay Rowdies were forced by Classic Ink to discontinue use of the "Rowdies" name, resulting in their name being FC Tampa Bay. Before the 2012 season began, however, the team came to terms with Classic Ink to purchase the "Rowdies" name.^[4]

In the previous season, the Rowdies rallied to a third-place finish before bowing out in a first-round playoff match against eventual NASL Champions NSC Minnesota Stars. In 2012, the Rowdies finished second in the league with a 12–9–7 record. In the 2012 playoffs, they first defeated Carolina RailHawks FC, 5–4, on aggregate in the semifinals to advance to the Soccer Bowl. There they avenged the previous season's playoff loss by defeating defending champion, Minnesota, in the NASL Championship Series. They won the title in dramatic fashion, 3–2, on penalty kicks, after making up a two-goal aggregate deficit in regulation, and then surviving 30 minutes of extra time while short-handed.^[5] For the region of Tampa Bay, it was the first North American Soccer League championship since the original Rowdies won Soccer Bowl '75.^[6]

Club

Roster

as of August 25, 2012^[7]

No.	Position	Player	Nation
1	GK	Jeff Attinella	United States
2	DF	Daniel Scott	United States
3	DF	Andres Arango	Canada
4	MF	Stuart Campbell	Scotland
5	DF	J. P. Rodrigues	Guyana
6	FW	Matt Clare	United States
7	DF	Frank Sanfilippo (captain)	United States
8	FW	Luke Mulholland	England
9	FW	Dan Antoniuk	United States
11	MF	Shane Hill	England
13	DF	Thurstan Johnson	United States
14	DF	Draymond Washington	United States
15	FW	Mike Ambersley	United States
18	MF	Dan O'Brien	United States
19	DF	Eddie Ababio	United States
20	FW	Evans Frimpong	Ghana
22	MF	Keith Savage	United States
23	FW	Fabrice Picault	United States
24	GK	Andrew Fontein	United States
25	FW	Carl Cort	Guyana
28	MF	Raphael Cox	United States
32	MF	Takuya Yamada	Japan

Squad information

Match results

Win Tie Loss

Friendlies

March 3, 2012 Intra-Squad Scrimmage	Orange Team	5–3	White Team	Tampa, Florida
12:00 p.m.	25' (o.g.) Hill 41' Hofstetter 41', 58' Gray 54'	Report	Ambersley 20', 46' Yamada 51'	Stadium: Monroe Middle School

March 10, 2012 Preseason 1	Tampa Bay Rowdies	3–0	Eckerd Tritons	Lakewood Ranch, Florida
6:30 p.m.	Mulholland 17' Hofstetter 65' Gray 68'	Report	Hobbis 45' Duffy 59'	Stadium: Premier Sports Campus

March 14, 2012 Preseason 2	Tampa Bay Rowdies	2–0	Tampa Spartans	St. Petersburg, Florida
7:30 p.m.	Mulholland 33' Hill 55' Perucica 73'	http://www.rowdiessoccer.com/news/detail/lang/EN/uuid/1c3ta6igpyoto1tnepjrrgflna/rowdies-post-2-0-victory-over-ut#.U9EgUuDDPHg TBR Report] [https://www.newspapers.com/image/314762596/?terms=Rowdies	Fekete 73'	Stadium: Walter Fuller Complex

March 17, 2012 Preseason 3	FGCU Eagles	0–1	Tampa Bay Rowdies	Fort Myers, Florida
2:00 p.m.		Report	Savage 45'	Stadium: FGCU Soccer Complex

March 21, 2012 Preseason 4	Tampa Bay Rowdies	Cancelled	UCF Knights	Tampa, Florida
7:00 p.m.		Report		Stadium: Ed Radice Sports Complex
Note: Cancelled due to inclement weather.

March 24, 2012 Preseason 4	USF Bulls	0–1	Tampa Bay Rowdies	Tampa, Florida
7:30 p.m.		Report	Clare 1' Mulholland 79'	Stadium: Corbett Soccer Stadium

March 28, 2012 Preseason 5	Tampa Bay Rowdies	4–0	Saint Leo Lions	Clearwater, Florida
7:00 p.m.	Yoshitake 25' Arango 38' Yamada 83' Clare 84' Mulholland 85'	Report		Stadium: Countryside Sportsplex

March 31, 2012 Preseason 6	Tampa Bay Rowdies	3–4	Fort Lauderdale Strikers	Auburndale, Florida
	Yoshitake 11' Ambersley 64', 84' Yamada 82'	Report	Herron 16' Lorenz 27' Hassan 46' Shanosky 59' Anderson 84'	Stadium: FYSA Auburndale Complex

North America Soccer League

All times from this point on are Eastern Daylight Time (UTC-04:00)

Standings

Pos	Team v t e	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification
1	San Antonio Scorpions (X)	28	13	8	7	46	27	+19	47	Playoff semifinals
2	Tampa Bay Rowdies (C)	28	12	9	7	37	30	+7	45	Playoff semifinals
3	Puerto Rico Islanders	28	11	8	9	32	30	+2	41	Playoff quarterfinals
4	Carolina RailHawks	28	10	10	8	44	46	−2	40
5	Fort Lauderdale Strikers	28	9	9	10	40	46	−6	36

Source: NASL Standings
Rules for classification: 1) points; 2) goal difference; 3) number of goals scored.
(C) Champions; (X) Commissioner's Cup (regular season champion)

Results summary


Overall								Home						Away
Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD
28	12	9	7	37	30	+7	45	7	5	1	18	8	+10	5	4	6	19	22	−3

Last updated: September 23, 2012.
Source: Match reports

Round	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	18	19	20	21	22	23	24	25	26	27	28
Stadium	A	H	H	A	H	A	H	A	H	A	A	A	H	H	H	A	A	H	H	A	H	A	H	A	H	A	H	A
Result	L	W	D	D	W	L	L	W	D	L	L	W	W	W	W	L	W	W	W	D	D	L	D	W	D	W	D	D

Updated to match(es) played on September 19, 2012. Source: Match results
A = Away; H = Home; W = Win; D = Draw; L = Loss

Match results

Win Tie Loss

April 7, 2012 Match 1 Ponce De Leon Cup	Puerto Rico Islanders	1–0	Tampa Bay Rowdies	Bayamon, Puerto Rico
7:30 p.m. EDT	Addlery 21' Delgado 25' Fojo 43' Cunningham 59' Addlery 69'	Report	Hill 45' Yamada 68' Sanfilippo 90'	Stadium: Bayamon Sports Complex Attendance: 952 Referee: Javier Santos

April 14, 2012 Match 2	Tampa Bay Rowdies	1–0	FC Edmonton	St. Petersburg, Florida
7:30 p.m. EDT	Yamada 20' Hill 82'	Report	Joseph-Augustin 26' Oppong 67' van Leerdam 78' Hatchi 84' Saiko 90+2'	Stadium: Al Lang Stadium Attendance: 3,129 Referee: Fotis Bazakos

April 18, 2012 Match 3	Tampa Bay Rowdies	1–1	Carolina RailHawks FC	St. Petersburg, Florida
7:30 p.m. EDT	Yoshitake 70'	Report	Shriver 65'	Stadium: Al Lang Stadium Attendance: 2,288 Referee: Armando Villarreal

April 21, 2012 Match 4	Atlanta Silverbacks	1–1	Tampa Bay Rowdies	Atlanta, Georgia
7:30 p.m. EDT	Robertson 73' Navia 87'	Report	Antoniuk 70' Mulholland 84'	Stadium: Atlanta Silverbacks Park Attendance: 3,261 Referee: Ismail Elfath

April 28, 2012 Match 5 Ponce De Leon Cup	Tampa Bay Rowdies	3–1	Fort Lauderdale Strikers	St. Petersburg, Florida
7:30 p.m. EDT	Clare 27' Ambersley 62' (pen.) Rodrigues 63' Savage 90+'	Report 1 Report 2	Ståhl 42' Restrepo 90'	Stadium: Al Lang Stadium Attendance: 3,536 Referee: Kevin Terry, Jr.

May 5, 2012 Match 6	San Antonio Scorpions FC	2–0	Tampa Bay Rowdies	San Antonio, Texas
8:30 p.m. EDT	Kling 44' Denissen 53' (pen.) Cochrane 61' Pitchkolan 66'	Report	Arango 52'	Stadium: Heroes Stadium Attendance: 9,536 Referee: Hayer Reyes

May 12, 2012 Match 7	Tampa Bay Rowdies	1–2	San Antonio Scorpions FC	St. Petersburg, Florida
7:30 p.m. EDT	Antoniuk 55' Ramírez 78'	Report	Campos 53', 90+4' Scott 61' Hill 63'	Stadium: Al Lang Stadium Attendance: 3,166 Referee: Javier Santos

May 19, 2012 Match 8	Atlanta Silverbacks	2–3	Tampa Bay Rowdies	Atlanta, Georgia
7:30 p.m. EDT	Davis 51' Moroney 64', 89' Carr 80'	Report	Antoniuk 12', 37' Yamada 60' Ambersley 78'	Stadium: Atlanta Silverbacks Park Attendance: 5,000 Referee: Marcos de Oliveira

May 25, 2012 Match 9	Tampa Bay Rowdies	0–0	Minnesota Stars FC	St. Petersburg, Florida
7:30 p.m. EDT	Campbell 69'	Report		Stadium: Al Lang Stadium Attendance: 3,182 Referee: Ted Unkel

June 2, 2012 Match 10 Ponce De Leon Cup	Fort Lauderdale Strikers	3–1	Tampa Bay Rowdies	Fort Lauderdale, Florida
7:30 p.m. EDT	Thompson 53' (pen.) Anderson 54' Stewart 86' Orozco 88' Restrepo 90+2'	Report	Mulholland 33' Ambersley 62'	Stadium: Lockhart Stadium Attendance: 3,255 Referee: Kevin Terry

June 9, 2012 Match 11 Ponce De Leon Cup	Puerto Rico Islanders	2–0	Tampa Bay Rowdies	Bayamon, Puerto Rico
7:30 p.m. EDT	Fojo 40' Rivera 73' Needham 81' vanSchaik 90+4'	Report	Picault 30' Arango 51'	Stadium: Bayamon Sports Complex Attendance: 1,012 Referee: Jesus Angel Delgado Lebron

June 16, 2012 Match 12	Minnesota Stars FC	1–2	Tampa Bay Rowdies	Blaine, Minnesota
8:30 p.m. EDT	Nuñez 8' Nuñez 25' Kallman 90+1'	Report	Yoshitake 45+1' Hill 45+1' Savage 85' Ambersley 89'	Stadium: National Sports Center Attendance: 2,908

June 23, 2012 Match 13	Tampa Bay Rowdies	3–2	San Antonio Scorpions FC	St. Petersburg, Florida
7:30 p.m. EDT	Yoshitake 39', 90' Mulholland 88'	Report	Greenfield 31' Bayona 52' Pitchkolan 59' Harmse 71'	Stadium: Al Lang Stadium Attendance: 2,559 Referee: Christina Ibañez

June 30, 2012 Match 14	Tampa Bay Rowdies	2–0	Minnesota Stars FC	St. Petersburg, Florida
7:30 p.m. EDT	Ambersley 55' Yoshitake 88'	Report		Stadium: Al Lang Stadium Attendance: 2,594 Referee: Kevin Terry

July 4, 2012 Match 15 Ponce De Leon Cup	Tampa Bay Rowdies	3–1	Fort Lauderdale Strikers	St. Petersburg, Florida
6:30 p.m. EDT	Ambersley 30' Yoshitake 67' Antoniuk 85' Rodrigues 86' 90'	Report	Herron 19', 67' Orozco 26' 79'	Stadium: Al Lang Stadium Attendance: 4,710 Referee: Ismail Elfath

July 12, 2012 Match 16	Minnesota Stars FC	2–1	Tampa Bay Rowdies	Blaine, Minnesota
8:30 p.m. EDT	Nuñez 30' Dias 37' Takada 44' Venegas 64'	Report	Ambersley 78'	Stadium: National Sports Center Attendance: 2,164

July 15, 2012 Match 17	FC Edmonton	0–1	Tampa Bay Rowdies	Edmonton, Alberta
4:00 p.m. EDT	Hatchi 36' Lam 70'	Report	Yoshitake 33' Mulholland 88'	Stadium: Clarke Stadium Attendance: 1,688

July 21, 2012 Match 18 Ponce De Leon Cup	Tampa Bay Rowdies	2–0	Puerto Rico Islanders	St. Petersburg, Florida
7:30 p.m. EDT	Sanfilippo 57', 72' Ambersley 85'	Report		Stadium: Al Lang Stadium Attendance: 3,207

July 28, 2012 Match 19	Tampa Bay Rowdies	1–0	FC Edmonton	St. Petersburg, Florida
7:30 p.m. EDT	Antoniuk 44'	Report	Arguez 20' Barthélémy 33'	Stadium: Al Lang Stadium Attendance: 3,149

August 4, 2012 Match 20	Carolina RailHawks FC	3–3	Tampa Bay Rowdies	Cary, North Carolina
7:00 p.m. EDT	da Luz 21' Zimmerman 43', 49' Garey 52' Stockley 59'	Report	Hill 17' Mulholland 86' Yamada 90+2'	Stadium: WakeMed Soccer Park Attendance: 5,002

August 11, 2012 Match 21	Tampa Bay Rowdies	0–0	Atlanta Silverbacks	St. Petersburg, Florida
7:30 p.m. EDT	Mulholland 84' Arango 90'	Report	Willis 54' Randolph 70'	Stadium: Al Lang Stadium Attendance: 3,027

August 19, 2012 Match 22	San Antonio Scorpions FC	4–0	Tampa Bay Rowdies	San Antonio, Texas
8:30 p.m. EDT	Ramírez 8' Campos 17', 29' Sattler 56' Bayona 90+2'	Report	Sanfilippo 45' Hill 49' Mulholland 52' Ambersley 56'	Stadium: Heroes Stadium Attendance: 7,024

August 25, 2012 Match 23 Ponce De Leon Cup	Tampa Bay Rowdies	0–0	Puerto Rico Islanders	St. Petersburg, Florida
7:30 p.m. EDT	Cox 54' Mulholland 68'	Report	Nurse 34' Ibeagha 83'	Stadium: Al Lang Stadium Attendance: 3,125 Referee: Ted Unkel

September 1, 2012 Match 24 Ponce De Leon Cup	Fort Lauderdale Strikers	0–3	Tampa Bay Rowdies	Fort Lauderdale, Florida
7:30 p.m. EDT	Laing 1' Tetteh 19' Ståhl 53'	Report	Arango 21' Picault 53' Sanfilippo 59' 82' Cox 80' Scott 88' Cort 90+4'	Stadium: Lockhart Stadium Attendance: 5,629

September 8, 2012 Match 25	Tampa Bay Rowdies	1–1	Atlanta Silverbacks	St. Petersburg, Florida
7:30 p.m. EDT	Yamada 42' Ababio 53' 67'	Report	Horth 30' Carr 87'	Stadium: Al Lang Stadium Attendance: 3,754

September 16, 2012 Match 26	FC Edmonton	0–3	Tampa Bay Rowdies	Edmonton, Alberta
4:00 p.m. EDT	Barthélémy 45' Rago 87'	Report	Antoniuk 21' Ambersley 39' 43' Mulholland 51'	Stadium: Clarke Stadium Attendance: 1,376

September 19, 2012 Match 27	Tampa Bay Rowdies	1–1	Carolina RailHawks FC	St. Petersburg, Florida
7:30 p.m. EDT	Arango 13' 22'	Report	Shipalane 61'	Stadium: Al Lang Stadium Attendance: 2,194

September 22, 2012 Match 28	Carolina RailHawks FC	0–0	Tampa Bay Rowdies	Cary, North Carolina
7:00 p.m. EDT		Report	Frimpong 68' Hill 90'	Stadium: WakeMed Soccer Park Attendance: 7,310

Playoffs

October 6, 2012

7:00 p.m. EDT

Semifinals - 1st Leg

Carolina RailHawks	1–2	Tampa Bay Rowdies
Shriver 78' (pen.) Lowery 86' Franks 89'	Report	Ambersley 64' 90+' Arango 77' Attinella 83' Antoniuk 85'

WakeMed Soccer Park, Cary, North Carolina

Attendance: 3,183

Referee: Matthew Foerster

October 13, 2012

7:30 p.m. EDT

Semifinals - 2nd Leg

Tampa Bay Rowdies	3–3	Carolina RailHawks
Hill 40' (pen.) Ambersley 65' Mulholland 84' 90+2'	Report	Shriver 14' Shipalane 18' Agbossoumonde 35' Zimmerman 86' (pen.)

Al Lang Stadium, St. Petersburg, Florida

Attendance: 4,132

Referee: Robert Sibiga

Tampa Bay won 5–4 on aggregate and qualified for the NASL Championship Series.

October 20, 2012

8:30 p.m. EDT

Championship Series - 1st Leg

Minnesota Stars FC	2–0	Tampa Bay Rowdies
Walker 67' Takada 84' Nuñez 90+4'	Report	Ambersley 48'

National Sports Center, Blaine, Minnesota

Attendance: 4,642

October 27, 2012

7:30 p.m. EDT

Championship Series - 2nd Leg

Tampa Bay Rowdies	3–1 (a.e.t.)	Minnesota Stars FC
Cort 25' 58' Ambersley 26' Savage 51' Mulholland 82' Antoniuk 86' 90+' Hill 90'	Report	Davis 32' Bracalello 45+' Rodríguez 52'
Penalties
Mulholland Cox Picault Cort	3–2	Hlavaty Del Do Altman Bracalello Rodríguez

Al Lang Stadium, St. Petersburg, Florida

Attendance: 6,208

3–3 on aggregate; Tampa Bay won the 2012 NASL Championship on penalty kicks.

U.S. Open Cup

Tampa Bay entered with the other U.S.-based teams from the NASL and USL Pro in the second round. The first two rounds were drawn on May 1, 2012.

May 22, 2012 Second round	Jacksonville United	0–3	Tampa Bay Rowdies	Jacksonville, Florida
19:00 EST	Donaldson 51'	Report	Ambersley 2' Antoniuk 19' Savage 65'	Stadium: Patton Park Attendance: 925

May 29, 2012 Third round	Tampa Bay Rowdies	1–3	Colorado Rapids	St. Petersburg, Florida
20:00 EST	Antoniuk 19' Washington 56' Clare 90+2'	Report	Edu 17' (pen.) Akpan 33' Thompson 55' Marshall 57' Hill 90+1' Ceus 90+2'	Stadium: Al Lang Stadium Attendance: 3,086

Ponce De Leon Cup

The Ponce De Leon Cup was a fan-based derby and trophy that was created in 2006. Participants were originally United Soccer Leagues first division teams (later USSF-D2, then NASL teams) based in lands that Spanish explorer, Juan Ponce de León, had visited; namely Florida and Puerto Rico. It was awarded to the club with the best record in league games versus the other participants. The trophy itself was purported to have been destroyed in 2010 in a warehouse fire. 2012 was the final year that the cup was awarded, as the Puerto Rico Islanders ceased operation following the NASL season.

Pos	Team	GP	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts
1	Tampa Bay Rowdies	8	4	1	3	12	8	+4	13
2	Puerto Rico Islanders	8	3	3	2	8	6	+2	12
3	Fort Lauderdale Strikers	8	2	2	4	9	15	-6	8

Honors

Individual honors

NASL Coach of the Year

Ricky Hill

NASL Best XI

Jeff Attinella, Takuya Yamada, Luke Mulholland

Transfers

In

Out

Loan in

Loan out

References

^ (Box score)
^ (Box score)
^ Attendance
^ "FC Tampa Bay Acquire the Rights to "Rowdies" Name | IMS Soccer News". Archived from the original on January 11, 2012. Retrieved May 9, 2012.
^ "Rowdies Win 2012 NASL Soccer Bowl After Penalty Shootout". Rowdiessoccer.com. October 27, 2012. Archived from the original on November 3, 2012. Retrieved October 28, 2012.
^ Burns, Bryan (October 28, 2012). "Rowdies beat Minnesota for NASL title". Tampa Bay Times. Retrieved October 28, 2012.
^ "Roster | Tampa Bay Rowdies". Archived from the original on April 19, 2012. Retrieved May 9, 2012.

[1] (Box score)

[2] (Box score)

[3] Attendance

[4] "FC Tampa Bay Acquire the Rights to "Rowdies" Name | IMS Soccer News". Archived from the original on January 11, 2012. Retrieved May 9, 2012.

[5] "Rowdies Win 2012 NASL Soccer Bowl After Penalty Shootout". Rowdiessoccer.com. October 27, 2012. Archived from the original on November 3, 2012. Retrieved October 28, 2012.

[6] Burns, Bryan (October 28, 2012). "Rowdies beat Minnesota for NASL title". Tampa Bay Times. Retrieved October 28, 2012.

[7] "Roster | Tampa Bay Rowdies". Archived from the original on April 19, 2012. Retrieved May 9, 2012.

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2012 Tampa Bay Rowdies season

Background

Club

Roster

Squad information

Match results

Friendlies

North America Soccer League

Standings

Results summary

Match results

Playoffs

U.S. Open Cup

Ponce De Leon Cup

Honors

Individual honors

Transfers

In

Out

Loan in

Loan out

See also

References