ST. PETERSBURG, Fla (September 20, 2025) – The Tampa Bay Rowdies conceded in the dying minutes of Saturday’s matchup with North Carolina FC at Al Lang Stadium to finish knotted 2-2 and settle for a point.
“We absolutely dominated the game, especially in the second half,” said Rowdies Head Coach Dominic Casciato. “[North Carolina] were dead on their feet. They looked like the team that had to play on Wednesday and travel back on the same day, not us. So, I’m really proud of the guys for the performance. There were a couple of moments where we switched off and we got punched. I think we’ve got to do a better job of seeing the game out in the end.”
North Carolina took the lead in the 14th minute off a counterattack chance. Rowdies Defender Forrest Lasso stood up North Carolina’s Thomas Roberts IV outside of the box, but the ricochet fell favorably for Evan Conway to collect in the final third and slip a strike through the legs of Rowdies Goalkeeper Bill Hamid.
Outside of North Carolina’s early tally, Tampa Bay held the edge in possession and attacking chances throughout most of the match. The home side finally answered with their own goal in the 38th minute. Defender Laurence Wyke helped kick off the scoring sequence with a perfectly weighted long ball down the right win for teammate Paul Marie. The Frenchman took the service in stride, driving into the box before sliding a pass back for forward Manuel Arteaga to smash into the back of the net with a low strike.
Rowdies Midfielder Alex Mendez aimed for a go-ahead goal six minutes into the second half. Making his first start since joining the club last week, Mendez found a pocket of space to launch a long-range effort on frame to force goalkeeper Oliver Semmle into a diving save. Midfielder Danny Crisostomo nearly scored on the ensuring corner kick, flicking a ball sent into the box by Arteaga on target that was only denied by the fingertips of Semmle.
The Rowdies continued to keep the visitors under pressure throughout the second half until leading scorer Woobens Pacius broke through in the 82nd minute. Marie aided in the buildup by deflecting a 50-50 challenge near midfield into the path of Pacius, who used the space in North Carolina’s defensive half to charge forward and fire a missile straight into the goal past a helpless Semmle for his 10th goal of the USL Championship season.
Pacius’ tally was Tampa Bay’s 9th goal through three games played over the last week. Prior to this past week, the Rowdies had netted just 24 goals through 22 matches. The two draws and one win over the last week is also the club’s longest unbeaten streak of the season.
“This is what we’ve been working on the whole time, it just takes time,”said Casciato. “It takes time, and we’re obviously a long way from the finished article right now. But we’re making tremendous progress, and if we keep doing what we’re doing we’re going to be just fine. Tonight hurts because you might habe thought the game was in the bag and we probably should have one or two more goals to finish them off. It’s a lesson for us to take into next week.”
As the final whistle neared in the fifth minute of added, North Carolina found an equalizer off of another counterattack. This time, Raheem Sommersall fed substitute Oalex Anderson with a well-weighted pass over Tampa Bays defensive line, forcing Hamid to rush off his line toward the top of the box. However, Anderson beat him and Rowdies captain Aaron Guillen to the ball and calmly deposited his shot into the empty net.
The draw leaves the Rowdies four points back of Rhode Island FC for the final playoff spot with five matches left to play in the regular season. Next up, the Rowdies head to Virginia for a meeting with Loudoun United FC on Sunday, September 28 at 5 pm ET.
Scoring Summary
NC – Conway, 14’
TBR – Arteaga (Marie), 38’
TBR – Pacius, 82’
NC – Anderson (Sommersall), 90+5’
Caution Summary
NC – Sommersall, Yellow Card, 40’
TBR – Arteaga, Yellow Card, 44’
TBR – Marie, Yellow Card, 62’
TBR – Alvarez, Yellow Card, 87’
Lineups
Rowdies: Hamid, Wyke, Lasso, Guillen, Azocar, Mendez (Vancaeyezeele, 90’), Crisostomo, Bodily, Marie (Skinner, 86’), Arteaga (Alvarez, 86’), Pacius
Rowdies Bench: Bandre, Castellanos, Skinner, Vancaeyezeele, Alvarez, Rodriguez, Sharp
North Carolina: Semmle, Servania (Forbes, 77’) Washington, Donovan, Sundstrom, Burner, Roberts (Maldonado, 29’), Perez (Da Costa, 77’), Sommersall, Dolabella (Anderson, 85’), Conway
