After being delayed nearly two hours by rain and lightning, the host FC Tampa Bay Rowdies and the Miami FC Blues played the second game of their inaugural four-game Coastal Cup series to a 1-1 draw in USSF Division 2 Pro League play Sunday at Steinbrenner Field in Tampa.
Jeremy Christie, in his first game back with Tampa Bay since playing for New Zealand in the 2010 FIFA World Cup in South Africa, scored an unassisted goal in the 82nd minute to open the scoring, but Miami’s Edward Santeliz converted a pass from Bryan Dominguez into a 89th minute game- and series-tying goal.
The series is now knotted at two draws each with Tampa Bay hosting the next game July 25 and Miami hosting the last game August 14 at Lockhart Stadium in Fort Lauderdale.
The Blues are 2-4-8 with 14 points and are in fifth place in the NASL Conference. Miami is two points behind Crystal Palace Baltimore (4-7-3, 15) for fourth place, four behind the Montreal Impact (4-5-5, 17) for third and five points behind the Carolina RailHawks (4-2-6, 18) for second place.Miami next hosts the Portland Timbers this Saturday.
Tampa Bay, winless in their last six games and on a five-game losing streak, are 5-5-4 with 19 points for fifth place in the USL Conference, two points behind the Portland Timbers (5-5-5) and the NSC Minnesota Stars (6-9-2), both with 20 points, for third place and six points back of the Rochester Rhinos (7-3-4, 25) for second place. The Rowdies are at the Stars Saturday.
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