ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. – Wolfgang Prentice scored a second-half equalizer as Oakland Root SC earned a 2-2 draw against the Tampa Bay Rowdies on Saturday night at Al Lang Stadium as the visitors rallied twice for a point, ending the Rowdies perfect start to the regular season.
The Rowdies struck inside the opening three minutes when Russell Cicerone’s long-range effort wasn’t handled cleanly by Oakland goalkeeper Kendall McIntosh, allowing Marco Micaletto to put away the rebound. Tampa Bay’s MD Myers then hit the woodwork five minutes later, but Oakland responded with an equalizer in the 12th minute when Wolfgang Prentice’s low cross was turned into his own net by Rowdies defender Charlie Ostrem.
Tampa Bay regained the lead on the stroke of halftime, however, as Cicerone came in at the back post to put home Dion Acoff’s deep cross from the right for his second goal of the season. Roots hit back four minutes into the second half as Wolfgang Prentice produced a great piece of skill to control a long pass forward while eluding his defender before lifting a finish home past the advancing goalkeeper, and while the Rowdies pressured over the final half-hour they were unable to find a breakthrough, leaving honors even.
Takeaways
Tampa Bay Rowdies – The Rowdies’ perfect start to the season came to an end as the side was unable to find any late-game magic after twice letting leads get away. Tampa Bay had the better of the play overall, however, and will likely take positives from its first draw of the campaign.
Oakland Roots SC – Roots returned from a bye week and showed its resilience to equalize twice with Wolfgang Prentice’s individual finish for his third goal of the season the best the night had to offer. Having lost in each of their prior two visits to Al Lang Stadium without finding the net, the point on the road while holding off Tampa Bay’s pressure was a good result.