Friday, August 16, 2013
PLANT CITY, Fla. – VSI Tampa Bay FC rallied from a two-goal deficit, but were eliminated from contention for the USL PRO Playoffs as they drew 3-3 with the Charlotte Eagles on Friday night at Plant City Stadium. The draw also ensured the Charleston Battery and Harrisburg City Islanders would hold home-field advantage in the quarterfinals of the USL PRO Playoffs.
The Eagles had the better possession in the early going, but they opened the scoring with a good counter-attack as Christian Ramirez beat the offside trap and was able to get in one-on-one with Tampa Bay goalkeeper David Martin, and shot low into the right corner of the net. Ramirez came close to adding a second six minutes later, but wasn’t quite able to get on a good low cross from the left.
Tampa Bay came into the game in the final 20 minutes of the first half, but Charlotte doubled its lead a minute from halftime as Ramirez scored his second from close range off a cross by Drew Yates. A minute later, however, Mauricio Salles volleyed home a finish to pull Tampa Bay back within a goal at the halftime break.
VSI carried the momentum from the late goal into the second half, and Chad Burt forced a saved from Reed early in the second half as Tampa Bay pushed for an equalizer. The Eagles would add to their advantage on another counter-attack, however, as Stephen Okai played a good give-and-go and was played in behind the Tampa Bay defense before rounding Martin and finishing into an open goal.
Tampa Bay would hit back five minutes later as Douglas Dos Santos fired a shot that took a slight deflection before finding its way into the right corner. Burt then forced another good save from Reed in the 68th minute, with Andriy Budnyy shooting the rebound over the crossbar as VSI, needing victory to keep its playoff hopes alive, continued to press.
Charlotte would remain dangerous on the counter-attack, but Tampa Bay would grab a lifeline with three minutes to go as Burt was clipped down in the Eagles’ penalty area. Burt himself would step up and score from the penalty spot, but Tampa Bay was unable to find a winner in stoppage time as Josh Rife’s last-gasp header was saved by Reed.