In an alternate timeline, Russell Cicerone chose to lace up skates rather than kick a soccer ball for a living.
The Tampa Bay Rowdies Forward and Michigan native grew up playing both hockey and soccer at a high level, idolizing Tampa Bay Lightning legend Martin St. Louis as one of his favorite hockey players. As he weighed his options after high school, Cicerone was still seriously considering pursuing a career in hockey. Instead, he decided that a scholarship offer to play soccer for the University at Buffalo was an opportunity he couldn’t pass up.
We’ll never know what kind of hockey player Cicerone could have been, but if he approached the sport with the same tenacity and relentless nature that has defined his career in soccer, chances are he would have been quite good.
This past Saturday, Cicerone became just the 11th player in USL Championship history to record 100 regular season goal contributions in his career with 71 goals and 29 assists.
“I think it’s a pretty cool milestone, I mean, I’ve been in the league for a while now, so I think it’s about time I hit that mark,” says Cicerone. “I love to get goals, and I love to get assists, so 100 is pretty cool.”
If Cicerone sounds slightly nonchalant about hitting the milestone, it might be because he’s not keen to focus on his individual stats. That doesn’t mean he’s not constantly looking for ways to find the back of the net. After all, you don’t net 71 league goals over your career without a passion for doing so. But his desire to score is in service of the larger goal of winning.
“Good things are going to happen when the team is winning,” he says. “Whatever I can do to make that happen is what I’m going to do. “There’s been plenty of games in my career where I’ve thought I was playing amazing and I didn’t get on the scoresheet or get an assist, but because of the presence I’m bringing out there or the attention that I’m drawing we’re able to find spaces and spots in other areas of the field.”
Cicerone comes from a family of athletes. His older sister played college soccer, while his mom was a decorated basketball player and high school coach for nearly 40 years in Michigan. However, he admits that he’s the most competitive member of the family.
“If we didn’t win and I didn’t score, I was crying, ripping up grass, being as dramatic as possible,” Cicerone says of his early days of youth soccer at five years old. “I think I’m still the same in that regard.”
Only three of Cicerone’s career goal contributions have come as a member of the Rowdies, but they have special meaning for the veteran attacker. Along with being his first goal contributions for his new club, they were also his first recorded with his daughter in attendance. Shortly before arriving in Tampa Bay this offseason, Cicerone and his wife Meredith welcomed their first child, a baby girl named Roma.
“I mean, to see my wife holding my baby in the stands and scoring goals in front of them and playing good on a great team like we have is truly something special.”
Like all players, Cicerone has experienced highs and lows throughout his career. Originally drafted by the Porland Timbers in the 2017 MLS SuperDraft, he ended up making his pro debut that year with Portland Timbers 2 in USL. He only tallied two goals and one assist through his first two seasons as a professional and didn’t notch double digit goals in a single season until 2021.
Today, ten seasons into his USL career, Cicerone is considered one best attackers in the league.
“You have to have a really strong mindset, because the seasons are long,” he says. “You play a lot of games and it takes a toll on your body, just how much time you spend in season. It’s a grind, and you’ve got to love it, and I do love it. I mean, I’ve definitely grown a lot throughout my career. I’m starting to find new ways to get goals and assists each season.”
Cicerone’s persistent production over the years has helped him climb the league’s all-time scoring leaderboard. His next goal will be the 72nd of his career, which would put him in a tie for the 10th most in league history. With Hartford Athletic’s Augustine Williams the only active player ahead of him in the top 10, Cicerone could make some siginfigant strides up the scoring ranks this year with a strong campaign in Tampa Bay.
“I definitely want to get there and just really cement my legacy as one of the best players in this league,” he says. “With the group that we have and the way things are going, we’re looking extremely strong and I think I’m playing extremely well, so things are looking good on that front.”
