New York Red Bulls II will travel to face the Tampa Bay Rowdies on Saturday, October 15, at Al Lang Stadium.
The two clubs will meet for the 14th time in their history, with Tampa Bay holding a slight 6-4-3 edge in the all-time series. The 14 matches for an opponent rank third-most among active USL Championship clubs (Pittsburgh Riverhounds SC, Charleston Battery).
Five of the last six meetings between New York and Tampa Bay have been decided by one goal or less. The two sides played to a 1-1 draw in their last meeting on April 23 at MSU Soccer Park. Only two of the last seven matches between the sides have been played at Al Lang Stadium.
AJ Marcucci will start in net for the first time since September 3 for Red Bulls II. The goalkeeper has made 13 starts on the season and logged 1,125 minutes.
The backline for New York will consist of Omar Valencia, Yostin Salinas, Davi Alexandre, and Erick Ruiz.
Jesús Castellano will return to the lineup for the first time since September 21, joining Henry Wise in the defensive midfield.
New York’s attacking options will be Curtis Ofori, Jonathan Filipe, Stiven Plaza, and Jordan Adebayo-Smith. Plaza is coming off Sunday’s match at Memphis, where he scored his first goal with the club.
Adebayo-Smith is on loan from the Rowdies. The striker leads Red Bulls II with seven goals on the season to go along with three assists.
The bench will have Arian Recinos, Daniel De Leon, Michael Knapp, John Murphy, Bento Estrela, and Nathan Worth. Alan Rutkowski will serve as the backup goalkeeper.
Kickoff is set for 7:30 p.m. ET, with coverage on ESPN+.
