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Having faced the Puerto Rico Islanders twice on the road this season, the Tampa Bay Rowdies host the Islanders for the first time this season at Al Lang Stadium in St. Petersburg, Florida. The Rowdies haven’t beaten the Islanders in six meetings since the start of the 2011 NASL season.

The hosts are coming off of a 1-0 win versus FC Edmonton. Luke Mulholland scored the winner in the 89^th minute for the shorthanded Rowdies, who were down a man for almost an hour after Tsuyoshi Yoshitake was controversially sent off in the first half.

The Islanders were the latest scalp to be claimed by an invigorated Atlanta Silverbacks side. Eric Wynalda and his new-look side got the better of Adrian Whitbread and co., pulling off a 2-1 victory at Silverbacks Park. Down by two, Gregory Richardson finally got the Islanders on the board in the 86^th minute, but it was nothing more than a consolation goal as the Silverbacks held firm to prevent the Islanders from finding the equalizer. 

In the previous encounter, the Islanders won a hard-fought match by two goals to nil in Bayamon, Puerto Rico. Rowdies’ goalkeeper Jeff Attinella made several saves including denying David Foley from the penalty spot, but couldn’t prevent late goals by Jay Needham and Jarad vanSchaik. A win from either side would mean that team goes to the top of the table ahead of the San Antonio Scorpions, for an hour at least.

Tampa Bay has lost just once at Al Lang Stadium this season, and owns a home regular season mark of 12-5-5 (W-T-L) since the start of the 2011 season. In fact, the Rowdies have lost just twice in their last 15 regular season home games. Tampa Bay’s five home wins in 2012 are tied for second-most in the league and its one loss at home is tied for the fewest in the NASL.

Tampa Bay has won five of its last six matches, including three come-from-behind wins during that stretch.

Tampa Bay Rowdies vs. Puerto Rico Islanders

Saturday, July 21, 2012— 7:30 P.M. EDT

Al Lang Stadium

St. Petersburg, FL

Webcast: NASL on ustream

2012 Series:  Puerto Rico, 2-0-0, 6 points

2011 Series: Puerto Rico, 3-1-0, 10 points

                                              Tampa Bay                         Puerto Rico

Head Coach                        Ricky Hill                             Adrian Whitbread

2012 Records                    3^rd: 8-3-6, 27 points         2^nd: 8-4-5, 28 points                        

Last Five Games               W W W L W                         T L T W L

Goals Leader                     Tsuyoshi Yoshitake (6)    Nicholas Addlery (6)      

Assists Leader                  Mike Ambersley (5)         Jonathan Faña (5)

QUICK FACTS

Tampa Bay

• Tsuyoshi Yoshitake, the NASL Player of the Month for June, misses the match through suspension after receiving a straight red card last week against Edmonton.
• Goalkeeper Jeff Attinella, NASL’s Defensive Player of the Week, leads all goalkeepers with 76 saves and has played every minute this season.
• Defenders Takuya Yamada and Frankie Sanfilippo have played every minute of the Rowdies 17 matches this season.

Puerto Rico

• After winning five of their first 8 matches, the Islanders have won just three of their last 8.
• Last season, the Islanders won both of their away matches versus Tampa Bay, 2-0 and 2-1.
• The Islanders
• Islanders’ players have picked up a total of 38 yellow cards in 17 games, tied for the league most with Atlanta Silverbacks.