On Tuesday night, the 2023 Lamar Hunt US Open Cup continued into the Second Round with the Tampa Bay Rowdies hosting Nona FC. Traveling from the Orlando region, Nona hoped to spark an upset after beating another amateur team in the First Round. However, with the clubs separated by two divisions, the gulf could not be overcome and the Rowdies came out 2-0 winners on the night. Local legend Lucky Mkosana had a hand in both goals for the team from Florida’s west coast.
It marked their third straight opening round home win over an amateur team from USL League Two’s Southeast Division. The last two years, they defeated The Villages SC.
The Rowdies welcomed into their starting lineup offseason signing Connor Sparrow, who had been out due to injury, while generally maintaining a strong XI from their prior games in 2023. Nona kept many of the players from their first match of the Open Cup, including two players with former professional experience. Hopes were pinned on Jeanderson, a defender previously on the books of the Portland Timbers, and William Eyang, a former Pittsburgh Riverhounds (USL Championship) player. Eyang had also scored the goal that put Nona into the second round.
Starting the game, Nona didn’t look out of place playing a team both in season and in the professional ranks. Trying to break up Rowdies possession, they racked up chippy fouls and seemed to be keeping the opposition at bay. Then, in the 25th minute, JJ Williams broke the deadlock when he turned away from a defender and put the ball past Rafael Santos following a pass from Lucky Mkosana. Lucky would then become the beneficiary as Dayonn Harris found him in the 32nd minute.
For Mkosana, it was his eighth career US Open Cup goal, and his fourth as a member of the Rowdies. His four goals with Tampa Bay ties the club record with Georgi Hristov.
In between these two chances that the Rowdies converted, Nona had a clear shot on net that would have drawn the game level. Unfortunately, Eyang was not up to the task this time around, and whiffed entirely on what seemed like a sure-fire goal. It’s a miss that could haunt him long afterwards, as the only other real opportunities for the team from Orlando came late in the first half, including a very ambitious shot from around the halfway circle.
Coming in from the halftime break, Nona defender Anouar Adam could be heard yelling, “BELIEVE!” Whether or not he took inspiration from Ted Lasso we might not know. But, the loudest fans on the night were often a pocket of roughly twenty Nona FC academy players behind the Rowdies bench. All this goodwill and all this cheering couldn’t get the team rolling again in the second half, though. Following a couple substitutions, it was all one way traffic.
Tampa Bay’s Lewis Hilton, who was also just returning from injury, went off after a very busy 45 minutes of football for Yann Ekra. He stepped in and, along with the rest of the midfield, thoroughly shut down Nona for the rest of the night. Without having possession statistics, we can only speculate. But, it seemed like the Rowdies edged near 60-70% in the second half of this game. Further substitutions for both teams slowed the flow of the game from the first half. Tampa Bay seemed content to let it play out and only try to push forward when the lanes really opened up for them.
With Nona increasingly agitating to get back into the game, more chippy fouls occurred and the yellow cards started flying. In the 50th, 55th, 71st, and 77th minute, a mixture of frustration and desperation led to bookings for the team from Orlando. The home crowd grew more angry at seeing their players writhing in pain, while Nona likely grew more angry at having the game further delayed. The match was mercifully brought to an end before the Rowdies’ anthem, a song from the team’s original days in the 1970s, started up on the loudspeaker. Nearly 2,023 fans got to go home happy and awaiting the draw for the third round. The roughly 30 fans who have to drive the hour-plus to Orlando will also have a good night to think about – even if they might rue missed chances that little bit more.
