Rowdies Best Sarasota, 2-0, in Prinx Tires USL Cup
USL Tampa Bay Rowdies

Rowdies Best Sarasota, 2-0, in Prinx Tires USL Cup

Published on April 25, 2026 under United Soccer League Championship (USL)
Tampa Bay Rowdies News Release


ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. - The Tampa Bay Rowdies hit the ground running in their opening match of the Prinx Tires USL Cup, knocking off in-state foes Sarasota Paradise 2-0 on Saturday night at Al Lang Stadium. Rowdies Forward Karsen Henderlong nabbed a goal in each half to open his scoring account for the club and secure all three points.

"I thought our mentality going into the game was excellent," said Rowdies Head Coach Dominic Casciato. We spoke about making the most of this opportunity, because in cup competitions there's obviously less games. If you start slowly, you can't catch up. I think how we started the game and how we controlled the game once we scored the first one and then the second one was really pleasing."

Henderlong's go-ahead goal came just past the half hour mark. The Indiana native pounced on a rebound opportunity in the box, collecting the loose ball and tapping it past keeper Alex Sutton after an initial save to deny a long-range effort from Rowdies Captain Lewis Hilton.

The visitors looked to get back on level terms with their most promising scoring chance of the evening in the 41st minute when a transitional opportunity turned into a chaotic moment in Tampa Bay's box. A Sarasota shot took a couple of deflections off Rowdies defenders before bouncing toward goal and into the right post. Rowdies Goalkeeper was then in position to thwart the follow up blast from a Sarasota attacker.

In the end, it was a fairly comfortable evening for Waite, who only faced two shots on frame from eight shot attempts on way to a clean sheet.

Henderlong completed his brace in the 59th minute to cap off an impressive passing sequence in the final third. USL Academy signing Alex Rodriguez - making his first start of the year - slipped a pass into the box for teammate Mattheus Oliveira. The Brazilian did well to then deliver a sliding pass to Henderlong, who smashed a left-footed strike between the keeper and the near post.

The tallies were Henderlong's first for the Green and Gold since arriving via transfer from FC Naples last December. Henderlong was making his first start since the opening match of the USL Championship regular season.

"As a striker, confidence is everything," said Henderlong. "Seeing the ball go into the back of the net is everything. To be able to do that once and then twice tonight just gives me confidence to keep going. I don't know, I feel like once you score one you feel like you can score anything. It's a great feeling."

Tampa Bay sits atop Group 7 after Round One of the Prinx Tires USL Cup group stage thanks to a tiebreaker of Miami FC, who dispatched Sporting JAX 1-0 on Saturday night. Miami could overtake the Rowdies on Wednesday when the club hosts Miami FC in their next group stage match. The Rowdies are slated to face Miami in their next round of the competition on Saturday, May 16.

Next up, the Rowdies resume league play with a home matchup against Indy Eleven on Saturday, May 2 at 7:30 p.m. ET.

Scoring Summary

TBR - Henderlong, 31'

TBR - Henderlong (Oliveira), 59'

Caution Summary

TBR - Dolabella (Yellow Card), 22'

SRQ - Pettersen (Yellow Card), 26'

TBR - Oliveira (Yellow Card), 53'

TBR - Hilton (Yellow Card), 85'

SRQ - Sogaard (Yellow Card), 87'

Stats Summary

Lineups

TBR: Waite, Rodriguez (Acoff, 77 ‚¬Â²)), Schaefer, Dossantos, Ostrem, Hilton, Dolabella (Myers, 62 ‚¬Â²), Oliveira (Schneider, 62 ‚¬Â²), Perez, Conway (Cicerone, 62 ‚¬Â²), Henderlong (Micaletto)

TBR Bench: Pack, Acoff, Tita, Micaletto, Schneider, Vivi, Cicerone, Myers

SRQ: Sutton, Burlew (Karani, 69 ‚¬Â²), Valentine, Watters, Sogaard, Walker, Rodriguez (Bolanos, 45 ‚¬Â²), Bryant (Roed, 45 ‚¬Â²), Pettersen, Rosa (Backstrand, 62 ‚¬Â²), McLaughlin (O'Dwyer, 80 ‚¬Â²)

SRQ Bench: Lapkes, Stretch, O'Dwyer, Roed, Karani, Bolanos, Kend, Backstrand, Brulinksi

Check out the Tampa Bay Rowdies Statistics

Share: Facebook | Twitter/X | LinkedIn | Reddit | Email



United Soccer League Championship Stories from April 25, 2026


The opinions expressed in this release are those of the organization issuing it, and do not necessarily reflect the thoughts or opinions of OurSports Central or its staff.

OurSports Central