ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. – The Tampa Bay Rowdies season came to an end in the Eastern Conference Quarterfinals of the 2026 USL Championship Playoffs on Saturday night at Al Lang Stadium, as the club fell 5-4 in a penalty shoot against Miami FC.
“Obviously the guys are super disappointed,” said Rowdies Head Coach Dominic Casciato. “The way the game ended was kind of carnage. That’s playoff football for you. The guys are disappointed. We didn’t want or expect that season to end tonight.”
Miami delivered the first blow of the night just past the half mark. Catching the Rowdies in transition, Miami’s Bachir Ndiaye threaded a pass into the final third for teammate Matias Romero, who deposited a low strike into the bottom left corner of Tampa Bay’s goal with his first touch at the top of the box.
“(Miami) leave numbers high, and in those transition moments where it gets a bit erratic, they tend to have good numbers against us in those situations,” said Rowdies Defender Nate Dossantos. “… (Miami’s opening goal) is a tough one. Coming into the game, we knew that’s how they were going to be and we did our best in terms of the game plan to kind of nullify that.”
It did not take long for the Rowdies to answer. As the halftime whistle neared, midfielder Sebastian Cruz charged forward into the final third and fired a strike past goalkeeper Eloy Room that hit the woodwork. The rebound fell for Rowdies Forward MD Myers, who deftly redirected the loose ball into the empty net with one touch.
The visitors probed Tampa Bay’s goal again in the second half. Rowdies Goalkeeper Jahmali Waite was up to the task on the early chance after the break, getting down low to his left to deny a strike from Denilson Milanes.
With neither side able to find another breakthrough moment in the second half, the match went into extra time. Milanes was on the doorstep of a go-ahead goal seven minutes into the first half of extra time, but Waite did well to smother his close-range effort in front of the Rowdies goal.
The Rowdies had an opportunity to pull ahead from the penalty spot when Myers was pushed from behind in the box by Miami’s captain Daltyn Knutson as the conclusion of extra time was nearing. Myers stepped up to take the penalty, his shot toward the left side of goal was denied by a diving save from Room.
Chaos ensued after Myers’ penalty was saved. Milanes, who had exited the match earlier, was shown a red card for kicking a ball onto the field in the leadup to the penalty attempt. After some tense moments on the field between players and coaches from both sides, the match eventually went to a penalty shootout to decide a winner.
Myers converted for the Rowdies in the first round of the ensuing penalty shootout, but midfielder Pedro Dolabella saw his penalty thwarted by Room in the second round. Miami gained a foothold in the shootout as they converted through the first four rounds. With the Rowdies season on the line, Waite stretched to his left to send Gerlad Diaz’s effort wide of the goal.
Waite got a touch on Tori Riyon’s attempt in the next, but it wasn’t enough to keep the ball out of the back of the net.
“(Penalties) are a bit of a lottery, I think we all know that,” said Casciato. “Jahmali makes a great save, almost makes a second one. Our job is to make sure in the future, when we’re in knockout competitions, that we take care of the job at 90, or if we need to 120.”
The deciding penalty came down Rowdies Defender Charlie Ostrem, who sent a low strike toward the right side of the goal that was stymied by Room, ending Tampa Bay’s 2026 season.
“It’s a plaoff football,” said Casciato. “Maybe the guys are a little bit tenser than they normally would be. It’s a tough way to go out, but the guys gave everything, and all I ever ask of them is that they leave everything on the field, and they did that tonight.”
As bitter as Saturday’s exit from the playoffs is for the Rowdies, the campaign mounted by the squad throughout the year as winners of the USL Championship Players’ Shield can’t be diminished.
“You work ten months, you work really hard to get to this point, and it just ends on a night like that,” said Dossantos. “So, I’m really disappointed for the boys. I know there’s a lot of boys in there that are really feeling it a lot today, but this is the game we play. We had a lot of highs this season. We got to celebrate, we got to lift one trophy, and I think that’s something we can reflect on and be really proud about. We have to reset, take some time off, and come back next year hungry to improve and get better.”
Scoring Summary
MIA – Romero (Ndiaye), 34’
TBR – Myers, 44’
Penalty Shootout
TBR: Myers (Converted), Dolabella (Saved), Schneider (Converted), Perez (Converted), Vivi (Converted), Ostrem (Converted)
MIA: Knutson (Converted), Tunbridge (Converted), Rogers (Converted), Rocha (Converted), Diaz (Saved), Tori (Converted)
Caution Summary
MIA – Sonora (Yellow Card), 45+2’
MIA – Da Costa (Yellow Card), 45+7’
TBR – Ostrem (Yellow Card), 54’
TBR – Wyke (Yellow Card), 69’
MIA – Romero (Yellow Card), 81’
TBR – Dolabella (Yellow Card), 87’
MIA – Tori (Yellow Card), 88’
MIA – Rocha (Yellow Card), 90+3’
MIA – Diaz (Yellow Card), 95’
TBR – Dossantos (Yellow Card), 101’
MIA – Al Zubaidi (Yellow Card), 105’
MIA – Knutson (Yellow Card), 120+1’
MIA – Milanes (Red Card), After Extra Time
Stats Summary: TBR / MIA
Shots: 17 / 12
Shots on Goal: 4 / 3
Saves: 2 / 3
Corner Kicks: 8 / 1
Fouls Conceded: 18 / 18
Offside: 4 / 0
Possession: 47.3 / 52.7
Lineups
TBR: Pack, Acoff (Rodriguez, 114’), Schaefer, Dossantos, Ostrem, Wyke (Archer, 114’), Schneider, Cruz (Dolabella, 56’), Micaletto (Perez, 46’), Cicerone (Vivi, 106’), Myers
TBR Bench: Pack, Archer, Rodriguez, Dolabella, Perez, Vivi, Conway, Henderlong
MIA: Room, Ndiaye (Al Zubaidi, 75’), Rogers, Knutson, Milesi, Romero (Yacoubou, 86’), Riyon, Sonora (Diaz, 75’), Da Costa (Tunbridge, 68’), Milanes (Medrana, 106’), Rocha
MIA Bench: Rodriguez, Calfo, Al Zubaidi, Yacoubou, Medranda, Tunbridge, Diaz
