(NashvilleSC.com, 09.18.18)

NASHVILLE — Nashville SC returned to action for the first time in 10 days and dropped a back-and-forth affair 2-1 to the Tampa Bay Rowdies at First Tennessee Park on Tuesday.

Nashville owned over 56% of possession on the night but could not find a winner or an equalizer late in the match. Now, Nashville will turn its sights to Charleston on Saturday to keep pace in the USL Eastern Conference playoff race.

90 in a nutshell

The opening minutes were not kind to Nashville SC. Just six minutes in, Matt Pickens committed a foul in the box, and Tampa Bay’s Georgi Hristov converted the penalty to put the Rowdies up 1-0. From there, Nashville SC recovered in a big way. The home side owned possession and finally found the back of the net in the 20th minute. Kosuke Kimura chipped the ball from the wide area to Lebo Moloto, who knocked the ball in to equalize the match.

The two sides went back-and-forth until the halftime whistle. In the second half, Tampa Bay got to the attack early and pressured towards goal, but Nashville kept the Rowdies from high-danger areas. Nashville had a good chance to take the lead off a Moloto header and a Liam Doyle free kick, but both were cleared. On an ensuing possession for Tampa Bay, a ball whipped into the box by Junior Flemmings ricocheted off of London Woodberry’s head into the net for an own goal to give the Rowdies the 2-1 lead.

In the dying moments, Nashville had a golden chance to equalize. Brandon Allen had a neat deflection that Tampa Bay keeper Daniel Vega lunged to stop and a rebound attempt by Moloto went high.

Quotables

Nashville SC head coach Gary Smith

“There are too many moments that are squandered, and it’s really been a feature of our group all year. We’ve made enough moments throughout games. We’ve limited teams to enough moments at the other end. But, the big difference tonight was that they were clinical when it mattered, or we made a mistake, and they didn’t.”

Key Stat

300. This was Matt Pickens’ 300th professional appearance, and he was honored before the match, alongside Kimura, who played his 300th professional match 10 days ago at North Carolina FC.

Eastern Conference Update

There were no other USL teams in action tonight, so Nashville SC remains locked in ninth place for now. Charlotte Independence can move within one point of Nashville SC in the standings with a win tomorrow night against Charleston Battery.

Up Next

The Nashville SC homestand continues on Saturday when the club continues to battle for playoff position against the Charleston Battery. Kickoff is scheduled for 7:30 p.m. at First Tennessee Park.