NAPLES, Fla. – Woobens Pacius and Manuel Arteaga scored either side of halftime as the Tampa Bay Rowdies took a 2-0 victory against FC Naples on Friday night at the Paradise Coast Sports Complex to move to the top of Group 6 in the USL Jägermeister Cup.

After withstanding pressure from the hosts, the Rowdies took the lead seven minutes before halftime as Pacius put home the side’s first good chance of the game off an assist by Luis Álvarez. Arteaga doubled the lead on the hour-mark, heading home a cross by Blake Bodily, while Nicolás Campisi notched a pair of saves in the Rowdies’ net for the shutout.

Here are three things we took away from the contest.

1. Luis Álvarez gave a glimpse of why the Rowdies acquired him

In truth, the Rowdies had done very little to threaten the Naples back line for the majority of the first half. Over the first 35 minutes, the visitors had recorded only two touches inside the Naples penalty area as attempts to connect after Tampa Bay entered the final third went consistently astray.

In the opening half’s decisive moment, however, Luis Álvarez offered an example of why the Rowdies broke the Championship’s transfer record for a player from USL League One earlier this season. The Colombian’s cushioned touch at the top of the penalty area on Laurence Wyke’s lifted pass set up Woobens Pacius for a chance the Rowdies’ leading goalscorer was unlikely to pass up, and the Canadian was clinical with Tampa Bay’s second shot of the night.

Álvarez had some ups and downs in the first half, but on the plus side he was consistently looking for pockets of space around the top of the penalty area. That paid off with his second assist for Tampa Bay in as many games with the promise of more to come.

2. FC Naples’ creativity was positive, but lacked quality, good fortune in box

Having weathered the Rowdies’ high defensive pressure early, FC Naples was the more incisive of the sides over good stretches of the first half. Shifting play through midfield, the likes of Marc Torrellas and Jayden Onen combined play well, including linking up with center forward Karsen Henderlong as he joined the buildup to get the hosts into some dangerous open play positions. The challenge for the hosts, however, came in the final third where their efforts foundered on well-timed challenges by the Rowdies or mistimed finishes.

The hosts missed out on what would have been a deserved opening goal just before the half-hour mark when Henderlong strayed into an offside position to head home Julian Cisneros’ flick on of Andrés Ferrín’s low cross, and had another goal disallowed due to a foul in the box nine minutes into the second half as Brecc Evans’ potential equalizer was chalked off. By contrast, the Rowdies had only six shots to Naples’ 14 on the night, but put their two efforts on target in the back of the net, and that ended up making the difference between the sides.

3. Rowdies take control of their USL Jägermeister Cup journey

However it came about, getting all three points was imperative for the Rowdies on Friday night. With a second consecutive victory, Tampa Bay is now in control of its path into the knockout stage of the USL Jägermeister Cup with seven points from three games to sit on top of Group 6 with each team in the group having one game to play.

Manuel Arteaga’s goal on the hour mark sealed the result, and made it a four-team race for first with Greenville Triumph SC,  Miami FC and South Georgia Tormenta FC also remaining in contention. Winners of three of their past four games overall – showing potential signs of a turnaround going into the second half of the USL Championship regular season – the Rowdies will head to face a Charleston Battery side that cannot advance out of the group knowing a victory in regulation would send it through.

With seven goals from its opening three games, a penalty shootout victory might also be enough for Tampa Bay. Sitting a point behind, Greenville has notched four goals in its first three encounters and would need to run up the score against this Naples side to grab the goals scored tiebreaker. If the Rowdies fail to take victory at Patriots Point, however, everything could be up for grabs and the good work the side has put in over its past two group games would be squandered.