Away Loss to North Carolina Review
Date: Saturday August 9, 2025
Result: North Carolina 2-1 Tampa Bay
Records: Tampa Bay Rowdies (17 pts 5W-2D-11L); North Carolina FC (29 pts 9W-2D-7L)
Standings: The Rowdies are 12th in the East and NCFC are 3rd.
After two away wins in the league in a row, a third was just out of reach for Tampa Bay. The unfortunate part is that it could’ve gone differently. Both goals scored by the home side came from silly mistakes – the second of these more contentiously. The real problem in the end was that the Rowdies couldn’t overcome the deficit over the whole of the second half. So now, despite good signs, the team now sits bottom of the overall table again.
Why couldn’t we maintain the lead?
Going away to North Carolina, it was true the Rowdies had a tough challenge in front of them. The hosts, even without a stellar recent record, are doing well in 2025. They are organized, with the majority of players knowing their roles and understanding what’s asked of them. This continued on Saturday night – right down to their 18-year-old central defender-cum-right back.
The visitors still started well. In a sign of continued progress on the training field, the Green and Gold looked more comfortable in the positions new manager Dominic Casciato is asking them to fill. The Rowdies will play it out from the very back, with keeper Ethan Bandre often finding the defenders in front of him with the ball only a few yards away. Attacks build from there.
Those defenders – Thomas Vancaeyezeele, Robert Castellanos, and Aaron Guillen this time – will suck in the opposition press. Playing around or through them should give more space and time to the players up top, in this case Woobens Pacius on the right and Luis Alvarez on the left. Those attackers are tasked with creating buildup by bringing in the fullbacks.
In these general roles, the Rowdies were doing well for large stretches. Those three deeper defenders mentioned earlier were helped immensely by the immediate options in front of them of Laurence Wyke, Danny Crisostomo, and Lewis Hilton. When in possession, the latter three would create passing options and triangles that allowed everyone to get the ball out of their feet before real trouble arrived.
Stepping in for Blake Bodily, who was unavailable this past weekend, Joey Skinner most often played alongside Alvarez and Hilton. This trio – with some help from Woobs – created the first goal in brilliant fashion. One-touch passes from Pacius to Hilton to Skinner to Alvarez and back to Hilton allowed the latter a one-touch finish past Jake McGuire. Now that was progress!
Following the goal, Tampa Bay didn’t give up on their gameplan. Unfortunately, the two goals North Carolina scored afterwards were just examples of some of the bad luck that happens in soccer. In a weird passage of play, a back pass from Alvarez went over the heads of his teammates. Instead, it fell for Evan Conway, who beat Castellanos for speed running toward net.
It’s the kind of thing that makes you wince as a fan. It wasn’t stupid, only slightly reckless. But, it hurts the team all the same. Within the five minutes of injury time, NCFC then took the lead. A set piece was headed back across the Rowdies’ six yard box, poorly dealt with along the way. Finally, a fall with a healthy flourish led the referee to point to the spot.
The Rowdies players all complained frantically. This writer would take their side, with all bias as a fan and a former defender. But without VAR, if a call is made, a call is given. Conway earned the penalty; but, Frenchman Louis Perez dispatched it. With seconds left in stoppage time it was a hammer blow before the halftime whistle blew.
Although North Carolina had the better chances in the second half, Tampa Bay could’ve leveled the score again. In particular, a miss in the 70th minute from within the six yard box demanded better. But, it could just as easily be said this was another example of the bad luck from earlier. The issue, of course, is the Rowdies now have precious little time to overcome such misfortune.
RBLR Man of the Match:
James: Lewis Hilton
Carlos: Lewis Hilton
