Rowdies' season ends in penalty-shootout loss to Miami FC in playoff opener
The Players' Shield winners fell 5-4 on penalties after a 1-1 draw through extra time at Al Lang Stadium.
The Tampa Bay Rowdies' 2026 season ended Friday night at Al Lang Stadium in St. Petersburg, where Miami FC won an Eastern Conference quarterfinal of the USL Championship playoffs 5-4 in a penalty shootout after the teams played to a 1-1 draw through extra time.
Miami's Matias Romero scored first in the 34th minute, finishing a pass from Bachir Ndiaye, according to the club's match report. The Rowdies answered in the 44th minute when Sebastian Cruz's shot hit the woodwork and MD Myers redirected the rebound into an open net.
Tampa Bay had a chance to win it late in extra time when Myers was pushed in the box and the Rowdies were awarded a penalty, but Miami goalkeeper Eloy Room made a diving save. The club said Miami's Denilson Milanes, who had already left the game, was shown a red card for kicking a ball onto the field before the attempt.
Room then made two more saves in the shootout, according to the USL Championship, which sent the league's No. 1 seed out of the playoffs.
(Penalties) are a bit of a lottery, I think we all know that. — Rowdies head coach Dominic Casciato
The loss closes a season in which the Rowdies won the USL Championship Players' Shield, the league's prize for the best regular-season record.
Sources: Tampa Bay Rowdies match report, Oct. 31, 2026; USL Championship playoffs page, which lists the match as completed Friday, Oct. 30, at 7:30 p.m.