ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. – The USL Championship announced the Team of the Week for Week 3 of the 2026 USL Championship season on Tuesday, with Tampa Bay Rowdies Head Coach Dominic Casciato and forward Russell Cicerone both earning honors following the club’s 3-0 win over Pittsburgh Riverhounds SC.
Rowdies Forward MD Myers was also named to the Team of the Week bench after recording a goal and an assist in his club debut as a late substitute against Pittsburgh.
Cicerone bagged the opening goal and provided the assist on Tampa Bay’s second tally of the night to help the Rowdies knock off the defending league champions. The winning goal was the 70th regular season goal of Cicerone’s career, while the assist moved the veteran attacker to 29 total regular season assists.
Saturday’s Home Opener at Al Lang Stadium was the first chance that this year’s crop of Rowdies newcomers had to suit up in the Green and Gold in front of the home supporters. With a zealous crowd of 6,267 in the stands rooting them on, the occasion did not disappoint.
“It makes it so easy to run and fight for the team when you have that kind of support,” said Cicerone. “I’m just glad we could play some entertaining football for them… The energy in (Al Lang Stadium) is amazing. Driving up to park my car in the parking lot, you could feel that. Walking through the tunnels you could feel it was a matchday. It’s very special to play in a place like that.”
Casciato’s selection as Coach of the Week marks his first time earning the honor since he took the helm in Tampa Bay last July. Under Casciato’s leadership, the Rowdies retooled the squad in the offseason with 20 total new additions and are now off to the club’s best start to a campaign since 2021. With two shutout victories through their first two outings, the Rowdies stand as the only team in the league that has yet to concede a goal.
“If you look at preseason up to what we’ve been doing now, we’ve been building this identity, and I think we’ve done that really well,” Casciato said following the win over Pittsburgh. “Credit to the guys for buying into it and for executing tonight. It’s easy when the lights are on and the crowd are there to maybe drop your level and maybe be a little more conservative, but the guys didn’t do that tonight. They came out with all guns blazing and that’s what we want to do. We want to give the fans a team they can be proud of, and I think there were glimpses of that tonight.”
The Rowdies are back at Al Lang Stadium this Saturday, March 28 to take on Loudoun United FC at 7:30 p.m. ET.
USL Championship Team of the Week – Week 3
GK – Antony Siaha, Hartford Athletic
D – So Nishikawa, Brooklyn FC
D – Danny Barbir, San Antonio FC
D – Sebastian Anderson, Hartford Athletic
M – Bruno Rendón, Indy Eleven
M – Emilio Ycaza, Charleston Battery
M – Wolfgang Prentice, Oakland Roots SC
M – Owen Damm, FC Tulsa
F – Jorge Hernandez, San Antonio FC
F – Russell Cicerone, Tampa Bay Rowdies
F – Jansen Wilson, Louisville City FC
Coach – Dominic Casciato, Tampa Bay Rowdies
Bench – Adam Beaudry (LDN), Aodhan Quinn (IND), Joey Akpunonu (CHS), Barry Coffey (HFD), Jojea Kwizera (RI), Markus Anderson (BKN), MD Myers (TBR)
