News

Lockhart Stadium is the venue for the second Florida Derby of the season as the Fort Lauderdale Strikers host their oldest rivals the Tampa Bay Rowdies Saturday night. The rivalry has taken a heavy tilt in the Rowdies favor, the Tampa Bay side not having tasted defeat to their South Florida rivals since the formation of the new NASL teams.

Both Florida sides are coming into this match off of disappointing defeats after crashing out of the U.S. Open Cup in the midweek. The Rowdies were dealt a heavy 3-1 loss to the Colorado Rapids at Al Lang, while the Strikers were victims of a second-half comeback on the road against the San Jose Earthquakes, losing that match 2-1. Both teams can now shift their focus solely on regular season play following their unfortunate cup exits.

In the last match between the two sides, the Rowdies defeated the Strikers 3-1 at Al Lang Stadium on April 28^th to extend their unbeaten streak against the Strikers to nine.

Fort Lauderdale Strikers vs. Tampa Bay Rowdies

Saturday, June 2, 2012— 7:30 P.M. EDT

Lockhart Stadium

Fort Lauderdale, FL

Webcast: NASL on ustream

2012 Series: Rowdies, 1-0-0

2011 Series: Rowdies, 3-1-0

                                              Fort Lauderdale                Tampa Bay

Head Coach                       Daryl Shore                          Ricky Hill

2012 Records                   2-4-3, 10pts                          3-3-3, 12pts

Last Five Games              L D L L D                                W L L W D

Goals Leader                    Mark Anderson (3),              Daniel Antoniuk (4)

                                             Aly Hassan (3),

                                             Andy Herron (3)

Assists Leader                 Walter Restrepo (4)             Mike Ambersley (2),

                                                                                               Keith Savage (2)

QUICK FACTS

Fort Lauderdale

• The Strikers are winless in their last five league matches (0-2-3), after starting the season with a 2-2-0 record.
• Matt Glaeser has blocked more shots than any other goalkeeper this season with a total of 40 saves.
• The Strikers have recorded the fewest shots on goal this season with just 38 of their 117 shots on target.

Tampa Bay

• The Rowdies are undefeated against the current generation Strikers since Tampa Bay started league play during the 2010 season (5-4-0).
• Rowdies captain Frankie Sanfilippo is the reigning NASL Defensive Player of the Week.
• No team has taken more shots than the Rowdies who have 117 shot attempts this season.