ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. – On Tuesday, Tampa Bay Rowdies Forward Russell Cicerone was named USL Championship Player of the Week for Week 22 of the season following his brace in Tampa Bay’s 5-4 comeback victory over Louisville City FC at Al Lang Stadium.
“I think every player in the second half showed up and put forward a very good, if not the best, version of themselves,” Cicerone said following the match. “We came together as a collective. We’re pretty unbeatable when we do that.”
Cicerone is the first Rowdies player to earn Player of the Week honors this season. Forward MD Myers picked up Player of the Round honors in Round 2 of the Prinx Tires USL Cup earlier this year. Cicerone also earned a Team of the Week selection back in Week 3 of the regular season campaign.
Down three goals to Louisville at halftime, Cicerone sparked Tampa Bay’s rally three minutes into the second half with a sensational left-footed strike from 25 yards out that clipped the underside of the crossbar on its way into the goal. Teammates Marco Micaletto and MD Myers then aided the comeback effort with goals of their own over the next six minutes to put the Rowdies back on level terms.
Louisville managed to pull ahead once again just past the hour mark to make it 4-3 through a long-range shot from Jake Morris. As the match neared the 90th minute, though, Cicerone stepped up to deliver a stunning equalizer with a curling strike from the top-left edge of the box past the outstretched hands of Louisville Goalkeeper Hugo Fauroux. Two minutes later, Myers converted the winning goal on a chance in the box.
Saturday’s second-half brace brings Cicerone’s total on the season to six tallies, which ranks second on the squad behind Myers’ eight goals. With three goals in the last two league matches, the veteran attacker is also now tied for eighth most regular-season goals in league history with 75 total goals over his career.
“I felt in the first half I wasn’t getting myself in great positions to create and have good scoring chances,” said Cicerone. “We changed some things up a little bit. I was able to find the ball in spaces I’m a little bit more comfortable in. I think of myself as a leader on this team and one of our top players. You need top players to pull through, and all over the field we did that in the second half.”
Tampa Bay’s epic victory against Louisville City allowed the club to maintain its eight-point lead in the Eastern Conference standings and four-point lead over Orange County SC for the top spot in the race for the USL Championship Players’ Shield. This Saturday, the Rowdies travel across the country for a chance to extend its lead in the Players’ Shield race with a head-to-head matchup with Orange County. Kickoff for the match is set for 10 p.m. ET.
