Paradise Fall Short in Round One of the USL Cup against Rowdies
Published on April 27, 2026 under United Soccer League One (USL1)
Sarasota Paradise News Release
Sarasota Paradise suffered a loss in their first match of the USL Cup group stage on Saturday, losing to USL Championship team Tampa Bay Rowdies 2-0.
Paradise opened the game under pressure, as the Rowdies forced keeper Alex Sutton into his first save just two minutes into the game. Sutton's early saves, along with Sarasota's stout defense, helped to keep the game scoreless throughout the first thirty minutes. "We felt like we had a very good game plan," said head coach Mika Elovaara when speaking postgame about the start to that first half. "We felt like it was presenting some questions to them [the Rowdies] ...but mistakes were made." Those mistakes showed as Paradise allowed Karsen Henderlong to put the ball into the net just past the half-hour mark to give Tampa Bay a 1-0 lead. Paradise nearly leveled the game in the 41st as the ball found Jørgen Pettersen, whose shot struck the post and into the arms of the goalkeeper, denying them an equalizer.
The Paradise were unable to break through the Tampa Bay defense in the opening minutes of the second half. Henderlong made it two goals on the day when he slotted the ball past Sutton to extend the Rowdies' lead to 2-0. Sarasota continued to look for ways back into the match but were unable to break through as the final whistle sounded, bringing an end to the match.
Up Next:
The Paradise return home to Premier Sports Campus next Saturday, May 2, to take on Forward Madison FC as they look to make it two league wins in a row.
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- Paradise Fall Short in Round One of the USL Cup against Rowdies - Sarasota Paradise
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