ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. – The Tampa Bay Rowdies nabbed a stoppage-time equalizer in Wednesday’s contest against the Charleston Battery to finish 2-2 against their No Quarter Derby rivals, preserving the club’s record-setting unbeaten start to the season.
Tonight marked the first time all year the Rowdies have trailed in a match. The Green and Gold rose to the challenge.
“I’m really proud of the guys for the way they came back after letting in that second goal,” said Rowdies Head Coach Dominic Casciato. “A lot of teams would have thrown in the towel. We didn’t do that. We kept pushing and had two or three big opportunities and scored a great goal to get back into the game. So we’re proud of that. We know we can learn and get better this team still has a long way to go.”
Originally scheduled to kick off at 7 p.m., Wednesday’s matchup didn’t end up starting until 8:45 pm due to a heavy thunderstorm passing over Al Lang Stadium shortly before gates opened. Once the rain passed, the grounds crew and front office staff got to work on the field to ensure it was playable.
“What an unbelievable effort from all our staff to get the game on given the amount of rain we had before the game,” noted Casciato. “To see so many people, from the front office to the back office, working to get the game on is incredible. So, I want to say a big thank you to all of those guys for doing that. That was huge.”
Once the ball eventually did start rolling in St. Petersburg, the Rowdies were in control. Midfielder Louis Perez opened the scoring at the half hour mark in style with a rifling shot to cap off a counterattack opportunity sparked by teammate Dion Acoff. After the Rowdies nullified a corner kick, Acoff picked up the ball in Tampa Bay’s defensive third and dribbled through a crowd of defenders up the field and into Charleston’s defensive third. Acoff fired off a shot from inside the box that was blocked and cleared directly to Perez, who took a couple of touches before sending a rocket past goalkeeper Luis Zamudio.
The tally was Perez’s fourth across all competitions for the Rowdies this year.
“Dion can create moments of magic for himself and for the team like that,” said Casciato. “We’re lucky to have him. He’s a great player. Same for Louis Perez. What a finish from him. I know he enjoyed that one. He’s been scoring a lot of goals lately and long may that continue.”
Charleston gradually gained a foothold in the match following the halftime break. A cross sent in from the right flank took an unfortunate deflection off Rowdies Defender Laurence Wyke, falling favorably for Charleston’s attacker Maalique Foster in front of net to bury across the line in the 55th minute. The visitors would go on to find a go-ahead goal in the 81st minute when a strike from Miguel Berry just outside the box deflected off the shoulder of his teammate Colton Swan, sending the ball past Rowdies Goalkeeper Jahmali Waite.
Finding themselves down for the first time in 2026, the Rowdies found a moment of magic from Brazilian Mattheus Oliveria in the first minute of stoppage time. Wingback Charlie Ostrem helped set up the scoring sequence with a sublime touch to trap a long ball sent into the final third by defender Brian Schaefer. Ostrem deftly controlled the service, dribbled through two defenders, and centered a pass for Oliveira to convert with a left-footed strike to beat Zamudio.
“Charlie Ostrem’s touch for the goal as well leading into Matthues’ shot was outstanding,” said Casciato. “Both those players were excellent tonight. Mattheus has got great quality. You see that week in, week out. He obviously missed a couple of games with a concussion, but now that he’s back in, we’re delighted. He can produce in big moments like you saw tonight.”
The dramatic equalizer moves to the Rowdies to 12 matches unbeaten in the regular season and 15 matches overall without a loss.
Next up, the Rowdies are back in action at Al Lang this Saturday, June 13 to host Hartford Athletic at 7:30 p.m. ET.
Scoring Summary
TBR – Perez, 30’
CHS – Foster
CHS – Swan (Berry), 81’
TBR – Oliveira (Ostrem), 90+1’
Caution Summary
CHS – Ycaza (Yellow Card), 24’
TBR – Acoff (Yellow Card), 30’
TBR – Schneider (Yellow Card), 71’
TBR – Cicerone (Yellow Card), 73’
TBR – Dossantos (Yellow Card), 90+6’
Stats Summary TBR /CHS
Shots: 12 / 11
Shots on Goal: 5 / 5
Saves: 2 / 2
Corner Kicks: 5 / 3
Fouls Conceded: 20 / 10
Offside: 1 / 1
Possession: 54.6 / 45.4
Lineups
TBR: Waite, Acoff (Dolabella, 82’), Schaefer, Wyke (Leerman, 60’), Dossantos, Ostrem, Schneider, Cruz, Perez (Oliveira, 60’), Micaletto (Cicerone, 46’), Myers (Myers, 75’)
TBR Bench: Pack, Leerman, LeFlore, Rodriguez, Dolabella, Mattheus, Cicerone, Conway
CHS: Luiz Zamudio, Martinez, Smith, Akpunonu, Messer, Suber, Allan (Pakhomov, 46’) Foster (Swan, 62’), Ycaza, Kelly (Hughes, 90+6’), Berry (Cabrera, 82’)
CHS Bench: Berner, Blackstock, Wayne, Pakhomov, Held, Hughes, Cabrera, Swan
