ST. PETERSBURG, Fla (October 18, 2025) – The Tampa Bay Rowdies remain alive in the hunt for the final playoff spot in the USL Championship Eastern Conference after pulling off a 3-2 win over Hartford Athletic at Al Lang Stadium on Saturday night.
The victory was a strong response from the Rowdies following last week’s tough defeat in Rhode Island that left the club’s playoff hopes on life support.
“I thought we were the better team from start to finish,” said Rowdies Head Coach Dominic Casciato. “We spoke to the guys a lot this week about the response to last week, and making sure last week was just a blip, because we’ve made a lot of progress. I think everyone can see that progress tonight.”
Manuel Arteaga opened the scoring early on for the Rowdies in the 8th minute. Spying Arteaga with acres of space in front of him, Midfielder Alex Mendez launched a pass from deep in Tampa Bay’s defensive end. Arteaga took the brilliant service in stride, pushing forward in the final third before slotting a pass through the legs of a defender and into the back of the net.
The Rowdies remained relentless in their press after going ahead, resulting in a second tally in the 25th minute. Arteaga timed a tackle perfectly to strip the ball off a Hartford defender not too far from the box, allowing Paul Marie to collect the ball and drive toward goal. The Frenchman laid off a pass that was powered into the back of the net by Woobens Pacius for his team-leading 13th goal of the season.
Hartford pulled one back moments before the halftime whistle when Michee Ngalina was left all alone on the back post to tap his side’s first shot on target of the night past Rowdies Goalkeeper Bill Hamid.
Mendez doubled the hosts’ lead again with a wonder-strike in the 56th minute. After swiping the ball off a Hartford player, Mendez moved forward into space and sent a curling, left-footed effort from more than 35 yards out that clipped the inside of the far post before nestling into the back of the net.
Since Mendez made his debut for the Rowdies seven matches ago, the club has recorded 18 goals. Before that, the Rowdies had only netted 22 goals through 24 league matches.
“I think we’re starting to understand each other,” said Mendez following the win. “I didn’t come in too long ago, but I feel like, at least from what I’ve seen, everyone’s understanding each other. I think that’s a big part of what we’re doing on the field. I just think with that chemistry we’re able to do a lot of good things offensively, and defensively also. Credit to the coaches, because we’re working hard on those things. We’re proud of that as a team.”
Longtime Rowdies Captain Aaron Guillen entered the match as a substitute to help secure the three points after an injury to Laurence Wyke. With his appearance off the bench, Guillen became the Rowdies Modern Era Appearances record holder with his 196th appearance for the club across all competitions. He also surpassed 20,000 regular season minutes played in the USL Championship.
“I’m just super thankful and grateful to the club and the city, to my teammates, to everyone that’s been a part of the journey for the last six years,” said Guillen. “I’ve been blessed to be able to wear this jersey and hopefully I can continue to wear it for many more games.”
The Rowdies remained in control over the remainder of the match, but still found their lead cut down to one again in added time. Ngalina grabbed his brace to make the final moments interest, slipping past the back line and shaking off Hamid in the center of the box to bury his chance. The scoring sequence was Hartford’s only chance on net in the second half.
Detroit City FC managed to earn a 1-1 draw against the Charleston Battery on Saturday, leaving them three points ahead of the Rowdies for the last playoff spot in the East. The Rowdies will have their chance to overtake Detroit via tiebreaker next week at Al Lang Stadium in the regular season finale next Saturday, October 25, at 7:30 p.m. ET.
“We’re going into next week with the right mentality,” said Mendez. “Everyone understands that it’s do or die, but I’m sure all the guys are going to bring out the best that we’ve got.”
Scoring Summary
TBR – Arteaga (Mendez), 8’
TBR – Pacius (Marie), 25’
HFD – Ngalina (Panayotou), 45+2’
TBR – Mendez, 56’
Caution Summary
TBR – Wyke, Yellow Card, 61’
TBR – Castellanos, Yellow Card, 90+2’
TBR – Arteaga, Yellow Card, 90+8’
Lineups
Rowdies: Hamid, Wyke (Guillen, 62’), Lasso, Castellanos, Azocar, Mendez, Crisostomo, Skinner, Marie(Vancaeyezeele, 90+1’), Arteaga, Pacius (Moon, 81’)
Rowdies Bench: Bandre, Guillen, Vancaeyezeele, Moon, Alvarez, Sharp, Rodriguez
Hartford: Siaha, Diz Pe, Scarlett, Presthus, Anderson, Panayotou (Jimenez, 56’), Hairston (Njie, 66’), Samadia, Careaga, Ngalina, Obalola (Barry, 56’)
Hartford Bench: Berner, Njie, Farrell, Makangila, Barry, Jimenez, Moreira
