The Tampa Bay Rowdies bounced back from their first loss of 2026 in convincing fashion with a 2-0 victory over Brooklyn FC at Maimonides Park on Saturday evening. Russell Cicerone and MD Myers botch notched goals in the result, helping the Rowdies secure their ninth win of the regular season.
“I think the guys came out well,” said Rowdies Head Coach Dominic Casciato. “Obviously getting two goals in the first half settled any nerves we might’ve had coming into tonight. The second half, I think we were unfortunate not to add one or two more.”
Cicerone put the Rowdies ahead just shy of the half hour mark. After an initial strike inside the box from Rowdies Wingback Dion Acoff was blocked by Brooklyn Goalkeeper Lukas Burns, Acoff collected the rebound at the edge of the box and looked up to deliver a cross to Cicerone for a close-range header into the back of the net.
The tally marked Cicerone’s third goal of the season and his first since going down with an injury in early May. The veteran attacker made two appearances off the bench for the Rowdies last week but Saturday was his first appearance in the starting lineup since the injury.
“We know how good Russell is,” said Casciato. “We know what he brings to the party, so we’re delighted that he’s back available, and he’s going to continue to help us win games moving forward.”
Cicerone also played a pivotal role in helping set up Tampa Bay’s second goal of the night. Four minutes after his go-ahead goal, Cicerone intercepted in errant pass in Brooklyn’s defensive third and quickly played the ball into the box for Myers, who was then clipped down by Malik Pinto. Myers stepped up and calmly converted Tampa Bay’s first penalty attempt of the year straight down the middle as Burns dove to his left.
Myers now leads the Rowdies in scoring with five goals in the regular season and eight goals across all competitions.
With Saturday’s shutout victory, the Rowdies have now matched the club’s win total from all last season. The Rowdies are also the first USL Championship team this year to surpass 30 points in the standings, as they currently sit first in the Eastern Conference and the Players’ Shield race with 31 points through their first 14 matches.
“The guys have been fantastic from day one of the preseason,” said Casciato. “They’ve bought into our ideas and done all that we’ve asked them to do. That’s led to us having a really good start to the season with one more match to go before the halfway point of the season. Now it’s about recharging the batteries a little bit over the mental health break, continuing to look at what we can do to get better. Because I think we’ve only scratched the surface of what we can do together as a team.”
The Rowdies take next weekend off as the squad takes its mandated mental health break, per an agreement between the league and USL Players Assocation. Tampa Bay will resume action at Al Lang Stadium for an Independence Day matchup with Lexington SC on Saturday, July 4 at 6 p.m. ET.
Scoring Summary
TBR – Cicerone (Acoff), 29’
TBR – Myers (Penalty), 33’
Caution Summary
TBR – Cruz (Yellow Card), 42’
BK – Frogson (Yellow Card), 45’
BK – Latinovich (Yellow Card), 56’
Stats Summary: TBR / BK
Shots: 13 / 11
Shots on Goal: 5 / 3
Saves: 3 / 3
Corner Kicks: 3 / 5
Fouls Conceded: 18 / 11
Offside: 0 / 2
Possession: 55.4 / 45.5
Lineups
TBR: Waite, Acoff (Dolabella, 46’), Archer (Leerman, 63’), Dossantos, Ostrem, Schneider, Cruz, Perez (Hilton, 82’), Oliveira, Cicerone (Conway, 63’), Myers (Henderlong, 70’)
TBR Bench: Kachurak, LeFlore, Leerman, Hilton, Micaletto, Dolabella, Conway, Henderlong
BK: Burns, Vancayezeele, Frogson, Latiovich, Alves, Pinto (Klein, 63’), McNamara (Romeo, 87’), Stojanovic (Kante, 63’), Servania (Mangione, 63’), Olney Jr., Obregon (da Silva, 77’)
BK Bench: Lee, Romeo, Mangione, Kante, Klein, da Silva, Hundal
