RECAP: ROWDIES HAND RGV FC SECOND HOME LOSS BEHIND A BRACE BY JENNINGS

EDINBURG, Texas (Saturday, May 20, 2023) – Rio Grande Valley FC (2-3-5) hosted the first-ever meeting against Eastern conference side Tampa Bay Rowdies (5-4-2) on Saturday night at H-E-B Park. The visiting side claimed a convincing 3-0 victory after a second half flurry of goals.

The first shot on target for the either side came via a header by Wilmer Cabrera at the 24-minute mark as he placed a floating header to center of goal, but no real threat was given as Connor Sparrow calmly received it at the line, 0-0.

A penalty was conceded to Tampa Bay at the 62^nd minute as Taylor Davila was called on the foul inside the box; on the ensuing try Charlie Dennis struck a hard ball into the net to claim the lead for the visiting side, 1-0.

A foul was conceded just outside the 18-yard box, creating a direct free kick try for Tampa Bay; on the ensuing try, the ball was struck right into the RGV wall and the threat was ended to keep the match at 1-0.

Charlie Dennis locked in the brace after putting away a crossing pass inside the box; he received the ball and quickly redirected past Tyler Deric to extend the Rowdies lead to 2-0 at the 85-minute mark.

In the closing minutes of the match, Cal Jennings scored a goal from the left end of the box to pad the visiting lead in the 86^th minute, 3-0.

The Toros were unable to find an answer to the second half offensive surge by Tampa Bay and were handed their second home loss of the campaign.

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