ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. – The USL Championship announced the Team of the Week for Week 32 of the 2026 season on Tuesday, with Tampa Bay Rowdies Midfielder Sebastian Cruz earning a spot for his performance in the club’s 3-1 win over Indy Eleven.
This marks Cruz’s second USL Championship Team selection of the season. He also earned a spot on the Team of the Week back in Week 4 of the season.
Cruz notched the winning goal in the comeback effort, helping to erase a one-goal deficit as the Rowdies tallied three unanswered goals in the final 20 minutes of the match. Shortly after Forward MD Myers put the Rowdies back on level terms with his team-leading 13th goal of the regular season, Cruz put his side out in front with a right-footed crack from the top of the box that took a deflection off a defender on its way into the back of the net.
The tally in Indy marked Cruz’s fourth goal for the Rowdies across all competitions this year. Cruz recently returned to the Rowdies lineup after being sidelined for over a month with an injury. The California native has earned 23 appearances throughout his first regular season campaign in Tampa Bay.
Last Saturday’s win in Indy put the Rowdies on the doorstep of clinching this year’s USL Championship Player’s Shield as the best team in the regular season. A win at home this Saturday versus Detroit City FC or in the regular season finale against Sporting JAX next Saturday, on October 24 would see the Rowdies lift the Players’ Shield.
The Rowdies have already guaranteed hosting rights for the opening round of the playoffs, set to be played at Al Lang Stadium on Friday, October 30. Capturing the Players’ Shield would guarantee home field advantage for the Rowdies throughout the playoffs.
USL Championship Team of the Week – Week 32
GK – Kendall McIntosh, Oakland Roots SC
D – Owen Mikoy, Pittsburgh Riverhounds SC
D – Kevon Lambert, Louisville City FC
D – Talen Maples, Colorado Springs Switchbacks FC
M – Charlie Dennis, New Mexico United
M – Charles Ahl, Pittsburgh Riverhounds SC
M – Sebastian Cruz, Tampa Bay Rowdies
M – Ricky Ruiz, El Paso Locomotive FC
F – Niall Reid-Stephen, New Mexico United
F – Eddy Davis III, Loudoun United FC
F – Ihsan Sacko, Phoenix Rising FC
Coach – Pah-Modou Kah, Phoenix Rising FC
Bench – Joey Batrouni (SA), Lucas Piras (LDN), Jacob Greene (LEX), Sebastian Lletget (MB), James Murphy (LDN), Amando Moreno (ELP), Greg Hurst (NM)
