What a difference a year can make.
At this time last year, the Tampa Bay Rowdies playoff hopes were dwindling as the club sat 10th in the Eastern Conference standings, five points out from the final postseason spot. Today, the Rowdies are the first team to book their place in the 2026 USL Championship playoffs with seven matches left to play in the campaign.
“The group has just been so good this year and so committed to our values and the way we want to play,” Rowdies Head Coach Dominic Casciato said following his side’s playoff-clinching victory over Brooklyn on Saturday. “They’ve made it a joy, and I’m really pleased for them with achieving this milestone. But there’s a lot left in the tank for these guys, and I can’t wait to see what they do the rest of the season.”
Last year’s squad fell just short of qualifying for the postseason on the final matchday of the regular, marking the first time the Rowdies missed out on the playoffs since 2019. That humbling end to the season set the stage for a significant roster overhaul, with over 20 new players making their way to Tampa Bay.
A total of 23 players have made their Rowdies debut in 2026. Given that amount of turnover in the locker room, it wouldn’t be a surprise to see the squad show some growing pains. Yet that hasn’t really been the case for the Rowdies this year. The Rowdies opened the season with four straight victories and remained unbeaten through their first 15 matches across all competitions.
Rowdies Defender Nate Dossantos credited the thought and careful consideration that went into constructing this year’s roster for the success the team has enjoyed so far this year. Beyond the obvious quality each individual player offers, the club wanted to fill the locker room with players with high character and valuable experience within the league.
“The research done by the coaches and the job they did bringing in the right players,” Dossantos explained. “Even though it’s a lot of new guys, only a couple returning guys, it’s a lot of players that know each other from other previous clubs, or university, so we have a lot of good connections within the group already. We have players that have been there, have won trophies, and that are hungry for more.”
It shouldn’t be discounted how beneficial the timing of Casciato’s hire midway through last season helped lay the foundation for this year’s resurgence in the standings. Those extra four months allowed him to assess the squad, gain a better understanding of the league, and get a head start on planning for his first full season at the helm.
“I think the players deserve all the credit in the world,” said Casciato. “But if you look beyond the players, the job (Head of Soccer Operations) Nico Castillo did in terms of getting deals across the line for not just good players but also top people to make sure we had a really cohesive locker room was excellent. Nico deserves all the credit in the world for that. I think it goes through every level of the organization, from Nico to (President) Ryan Helfrick, to the new ownership group led by Ken Babby. All of these guys have really supported us to put a great product on the field and long may that continue.”
When the Rowdies opened training camp in early January, the standards and expectations for everyone coming in were clear from the outset. After spending almost all of the 2025 season near the bottom of the table, Casciato and crew set out to restore the Rowdies reputation as one of the most competitive outfits in the USL Championship.
Playoffs? That’s the bare minimum standard for the Rowdies, according to Dossantos.
“We’re in a great position obviously as the first team to secure that playoff spot, but I think we have our sights set further forward,” he said. “Obviously, we’re going to take it a game at a time, but I think that’s the bare minimum for us here. There’s a lot of expectation that comes with this club wearing this jersey, so that’s our mentality.”
With seven matches left to play, the club is in the driver’s seat for the top seed in the Eastern Conference and in the hunt for the USL Championship Players’ Shield. Saturday was a meaningful step forward for the Rowdies when it comes to achieving their loftier ambitions, but clinching a playoff spot is just the start. With that task done, the focus is now on securing home field advantage in the playoffs and claiming the club’s second Players’ Shield as the top team in the regular season.
Midfielder Louis Perez, who notched the winning goal against Brooklyn to lock up the playoff berth, noted that Saturday’s win only added fuel to the squad’s desire to finish the job down the final stretch of the regular season and head into the playoffs on strong footing.
“We want to be first seed, we want to be the top of the East, we want to be the top of the league,” Perez explained. “It’s an objective that makes us hungry every day. We’re happy, but we’re not satisfied. We want to keep going. We put the Rowdies back where they belong, but we also know and we feel that they belong also much higher than just making playoffs. We’re on the right path, game after game, training after training.”
