FC Tampa Bay opened the 2011 season with a bang, that bang coming off of the foot of Takuya Yamada giving the Rowdies the 1-0 win.
FC Tampa Bay controlled the possession and generated the majority of the scoring chances in the first half. In just the third minute, 2010’s leading scorer Aaron King took the team’s first shot. Shots from Tsuyoshi Yoshitake, Pascal Millien, and Tony McManus followed in the first half. Although the club had a number of chances, the two teams headed into halftime scoreless.
Montreal began putting more pressure on the FC Tampa Bay defense in the second half, forcing goalkeeper Daryl Sattler into 6 saves (out of 8 overall). However, the story of the match seemed as though it would be one of missed opportunities. In the 84th minutes, Montreal’s goal keeper pulled forward Warren Ukah down in the box providing FC Tampa Bay a chance to take the lead. Tsuyoshi Yoshitake stepped to the spot to take the kick, but didn’t get much on it and rolled it left of the goal keeping the game level at 0-0.
Despite the missed opportunity, the offense continued to press and responded quickly. It took until the 85th minute, but Takuya Yamada finally scored the first goal of the team’s season, taking a rebound and blasting it in from outside of the 18 yard box.
That score would hold until full time was called and the final score matched FC Tampa Bay’s record on the young season: 1-0.