Rowdies Fall, 2-0, in Detroit
USL Tampa Bay Rowdies

Rowdies Fall, 2-0, in Detroit

Published on August 23, 2025 under United Soccer League Championship (USL)
Tampa Bay Rowdies News Release


DETROIT, MI - The Tampa Bay Rowdies fell 2-0 on the road to Detroit City FC on Saturday night at Keyworth Stadium.

"We started the game without enough urgency, and I think that let Detroit get the momentum and kind of get on top of us with two goals," said Rowdies Head Coach Dominic Casciato. "Going into the second half, we had a bit more urgency, we played with more purpose, and we started to get on top of the game. But you obviously can't give teams two-goal head starts and expect to come back every time. So, it's disappointing. Making sure we have urgency from the first whistle to the last whistle is something we've got to focus on this week."

Detroit capitalized on an overwhelming 62-38 percent edge in possession during the first half to pull out to a two-goal lead and never look back. The hosts nabbed their first tally of the night at the half hour mark when Ates Diouf launched a curling effort from well outside the box that clipped the inside of the far post to sneak into the goal.

Detroit's leading scorer on the season Darren Smith doubled the advantage in the 39th minute, firing a low strike from the right edge of the six-yard box that scuffed the boot of defender Forrest Lasso and the leg of Goalkeeper Ethan Bandre to find its way into the back of the net.

Tampa Bay's first threat on net of the evening came four minutes into the second half. Wingback Blake Bodily lifted a cross to the back post for forward Manuel Arteaga, who redirected the service on frame with a header only to see the attempt cleared off the line by a defender.

Just as the Rowdies looked to be gaining a foothold in the match to mount a potential comeback, the match was paused in the 66th minute due to lightning in the area. Play resumed an hour and a half later, giving the Rowdies a fresh start to fight their way into the match. Substitute Luis Alavreze nearly pulled one back for the Rowdies in stoppage time with a rocket from outside the box that forced Detroit's Carlos Saldana to make a difficult save.

"We were on top at the time when the delay happened," said Casciato. "I think going out for that last 25 minutes or so, we were good and created a couple of chances. Maybe if one of those goes in we can get a second one, but it probably wasn't enough and probably too little too late."

Saturday's result is the Rowdies 12th loss of the USL Championship season. With only ten matches left to play in the regular season, the Rowdies can ill afford to waste a single point if they hope to clinch a playoff spot.

Next up, the Rowdies return to Al Lang Stadium to host Pittsburgh Riverhounds SC on Saturday, August 30, at 7:30 p.m. ET.

Scoring Summary

DET - Diouf (Hernandez-Foster), 30'

DET - Smith (Sheldon), 39'

Caution Summary

TBR - Bodily, Yellow Card, 29'

TBR - Wyke, Yellow Card, 46'

TBR - Arteaga, Yellow Card, 60'

Lineups

Rowdies: Bandre, Castellanos, Lasso, Guillen, Azocar (Alvarez, 88'), Crisostomo, Vancaeyezeele (Skinner, 66'), Bodily, Sharp (Wyke, 46'), Arteaga, Pacius

Rowdies Bench: Hamid, Wyke, Skinner, Moon, Hilton, Alvarez, Rodriguez

Detroit: Saldana, Sheldon, Bryant, Amoo-Mensah, Yamazaki, Williams, Hernandez-Foster (Obeid, 90+2'), Cedeno, Villanueva, Smith (Adebayo-Smith, 88'), Diouf (Diop, 88')

Detroit Bench: Herrera, Wiedt, Diop, Obeid, Gasso, Chapman, Adebayo-Smith, Guenzatti

Check out the Tampa Bay Rowdies Statistics

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



United Soccer League Championship Stories from August 23, 2025


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