ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. – The Tampa Bay Rowdies made it three straight wins to start the 2026 USL Championship season with a convincing 3-1 win over Loudoun United FC on Saturday night at Al Lang Stadium. With the win, the Rowdies are off to their best start to a campaign since 2021.
“It’s a testament to the preseason, to the effort we put in to get to know each other,” said Rowdies Midfielder Max Schneider. “… I think there is a lot of potential to still unlock that we can get to. We try to focus on that. The wins are obviously a byproduct of that, but we haven’t reached our ceiling, so that’s very exciting.”
Tampa Bay kept the visitors under pressure throughout most of the opening half. It started early with a probing shot from Rowdies Forward Russell Cicerone that forced keeper Adam Beaudry to parry the ball out for a corner kick. Sebastian Cruz nabbed the go-ahead goal on the ensuring corner kick. Midfielder Marco Micaletto’s initial corner kick was headed out of the box by a Loudoun United defender, but Cruz was waiting to pounce on the ball. Taking one touch to push the ball into empty space, Cruz used his next touch to rocket a right-footed effort into the top right corner.
“I want to thank the coaches for trusting me to be on top of the box to either get the rebound or attack the ball first,” said Cruz. “Once I saw the ball, I just took a touch and my only goal was to hit it on target. Luckily, I did that.”
Micaletto looked to double the advantage in the 24th minute, finishing off a pass to the center of the box from Cicerone. However,the goal was waived off as his teammate Pedro Dolabella was judged to have made an impact on the play in an offside position as the shot zipped by him.
The Rowdies had other near misses in the first half as they outshot Loudoun 10 to 1 in the first half. Dolabella came inches away from a goal in the 29th minute with a header that hit off the woodwork.
Loudoun’s only shot on target of the evening was enough to get them back on level terms just three minutes into the second half. Thorleifur Úlfarsson perfectly placed a free kick off the underside of the crossbar to sneak one past the Rowdies.
The Rowdies wasted no time regaining the lead. In the 52nd minute, Loudoun failed to adequately clear a long throw in from Rowdies Defender Brian Schaefer from the right flank, allowing Rowdies captain Lewis Hilton to keep the ball in the final third. Hilton’s header found its way to teammate Max Schneider, who picked the ball out of the air with an audacious volley from distance that clipped the crossbar before hitting off the back of the keeper and crossing the line for an own goal.
“You have to know how to navigate those choppy waters when you have difficult times in games and throughout the season,” said Rowdies Head Coach Dominic Casciato. “I think we did that well. The second half started, they got a free kick, and all of a sudden the ball is in the back of the net. We could have been three or four nil in the first half and then you’re thinking are we going to drop points tonight. I’m really pleased with how the guys bounced back. They showed a lot of resilience to do so.”
Substitute MD Myers put the match away for Tampa Bay in the 80th minute. Myers combined with fellow substitute Evan Conway in Loudoun’s defensive third to set up late tally. Myers passed it off to Conway and then continued his run into the box, and Conway responded in kind with a flicked pass through the defensive line for Myers to convert. Myers did just that, giving him two goals in his first two appearances for the Rowdies.
“The guys did a great job in the first half and probably could have had a few more goals,” said Myers. “I just wanted to come in and help raise the level in any way I can. I make my runs and I trust guys will find me. Evan had a great pass on my goal tonight. It was aweseome, really.”
Next up for the Rowdies is a trip up the road their first compeitive meeting against USL Championship newcomers Sporting Jacksonville. The two Sunshine State rivals will square off at Hodges Stadium on Saturday, April 4 at 7:30 p.m. ET.
“We’re just focused on being the best version of ourselves and getting better,” said Casciato. “Tonight was good, it can be better. That has to be our focus. I don’t think anyone should be looking at the table right now three games in. Right now the table doesn’t really give you a really good sense of where you’re at, or anybody elese. I think ten games in you can look at the table and the league starts to take shape.”
Scoring Summary
TBR – Cruz, 7’
LDN – Ulfarsson, 48’
TBR – Beaudry (Own Goal), 52’
TBR – Myers (Conway), 80’
Caution Summary
TBR – Cicerone (Yellow Card), 27’
LDN – Akinyode (Yellow Card), 49’
TBR – Schaefer (Yellow Card), 60’
TBR – Hilton (Yellow Card), 73’
LDN – Murphy (Yellow Card), 85’
Stats Summary: TBR / LDN
Shots: 20 / 6
Shots on Goal: 9 / 1
Saves: 0 / 6
Corner Kicks: 8 / 3
Fouls Conceded: 14 / 11
Offside: 1 / 1
Possession: 53.4 / 46.6
Lineups
TBR: Pack, Acoff (Myers, 46’), Schaefer, Dossantos, Ostrem, Hilton, Schneider, Micaletto (Perez, 57’), Cruz, Cicerone (Henderlong, 90’), Dolabella (Conway, 70’)
TBR Bench: Finnerty, Leerman, Rodriguez, Tita, Oliveira, Perez, Conway, Henderlong, Myers
LDN: Beaudry, Aman, Adnan (Santos, 64’), Essengue, Akinyode, Awuah, Panayotou (Niyongabire, 64’), Murphy, Young, Dias (Amoh, 79’), Ulfarsson
