COLUMBUS, Ohio — The Rowdies, playing without captain Tamika Mkandawire (illness), crashed out of the U.S. Open Cup on Wednesday, falling 4-0 to the Columbus Crew of MLS.
In the first half, the match was scoreless when weather caused a delay of almost two hours. When the match resumed, it was all Crew. It got goals from Justin Meram, Cristian Martinez, Ethan Finlay and Marshall Hollingsworth to advance to the fifth round of the Open Cup.
"I'm not happy with the result at all, and it's a tough one for us to swallow," Rowdies coach Stuart Campbell said. "We never really got started when the restart came, and the Crew scored with their first shot of the match.
"We knew they would be clinical, but unfortunately for us, they were very clinical tonight."
It was the first time Tampa Bay played without Mkandawire since Oct. 25, 2014. He had played 3,870 consecutive minutes.
Up next for the Rowdies: Their NASL fall season opener against Jacksonville at 7:30 July 2 at Al Lang Stadium.