Post-Streak Slump, Midseason Malaise, Out of Routine Rout, or Something Superstitious?

The Rowdies fell to their second home defeat of the season in their July 4th matchup with Lexington SC. The match was ugly. A performance that the Rowdies players would want to forget – and forget quickly. But, one that the team and coach Dominic Casciato should hold on to as a prime example of what not to do in the remainder of the season.

The Rowdies were out-hustled, outmatched physically, and were unlocked by Lexington passing time and time again.

The lineup looked strong on paper; a second start for the returning Leland Archer, a midfield tandem of season standouts Max Schenider and Sebastian Cruz, and first choice attackers across the front four.

So, what has happened to the formerly undefeated Rowdies in the last month? They looked decent enough in their first loss to Hartford. Then rebounded with a professional win at Brooklyn. Then had the fortune of a midseason bye-week ahead of the Lexington match. It is possible that their undefeated run, which did have a number of close margin victories, was covering up some of the cracks that we have seen exposed in recent losses. But it felt like a bit more than that last Saturday night. 

The team felt off. Effort and energy were major components in each of the four goals conceded against Lexington. Soft tackles, slow runs tracking back across all levels of the formation, and exasperated hands thrown up in the air as players watched another goal hit the back of the net. The speed of the back line that we have seen throughout the season wasn’t there. The wide backs were exposed on many occasions especially but they were not alone. The typically tight 2 by 2 central midfield and centerback box that has broken up countless attacks was wide open and beaten by one-two passing over and over on the night. It just felt like there was space everywhere on the pitch and Lexington were able to find it whenever they wanted.

On the flip side of the field, the Rowdies’ attack really struggled to click. The slowness they were showing in defense carried into the offense play too. MD Myers was isolated. Russell Cicerone struggled to beat his defender with pace or skill. Louis Perez and Mattheus Oliveira weren’t their normal elegant selves. Longballs from the holding midfielders and defenders weren’t connecting for most of the game. It felt very un-Rowdies like during the Casciato era. 

With all of the poor play we saw during the game, the real question is why? Why were they so slow out of the gates to start the game? Why did they look like a shell of themselves? Why did it take them so long to react and make even the slightest attempt to get back into the game?

Why, why, why?

Well there were a number of theories in the stadium ranging from potential legitimate factors to highly unlikely and borderline joking. Something that was talked about on the RBLR Rowdies podcast a couple of weeks ago was the response to their first defeat. “Was it a strong enough response to go to Brooklyn and come away with a 2-0 win?” was the question.

It ultimately felt like a good response without being a fully “we’re back” game. The match ended up being a tale of two halves. The Rowdies took their chances in the first half, then sat back a bit deeper in the second half and conceded some chances that a better team than Brooklyn could have punished them for.

But I think there is something to be said about the potential mentality change after suffering that first loss. This group hadn’t really faced adversity and may be struggling to find the confidence they were riding with their record breaking streak to start the season.

People also threw around ideas that the early kickoff time threw off the players’ pre-match routines and led to their slow start. That feels more like excuse making than anything as Lexington are also more used to 7 or 7:30 kickoff times and the 5,000 home fans in attendance should have been enough to boost the Rowdies energy early on in the match.

Other hypotheses were heat related given many of these players are new to the heat of a Florida summer and what it takes to cope with. Or that the loss in match playing momentum from the bye-week actually hurt the Rowdies coming into the match. Or that a midseason slump was inevitable given the minutes some of the core members of the team have played as the Rowdies coped with early season injuries in certain positions.

The most farfetched of the ideas thrown out was that the Rowdies new Stars and Hoops kit is, in fact, cursed. Or that allowing another team to wear green in Al Lang is cursed – Lexington with green accents after Hartford went full green kit in the last match at Al Lang.

Regardless, it was the second time the Rowdies donned their new third kit and it was their second loss of the season. Fans thought that this was enough evidence to attribute a curse to the jersey. Many even called for a change of jerseys at half time. However unlikely that would have been, there is a precedent for it as Manchester United swapped their first half kits in 1996 after being down 3-0 at halftime, sound familiar? The Rowdies are slated to wear their red, white, and blue kit one last time in their next match at Al Lang against FC Naples in the USL Cup on July 11th. A loss there may fully seal it as cursed, but hopefully we won’t have to get to that point.

Regardless of the cause for the disappointing 4th of July performance, Casciato and the Rowdies have too strong a roster and have shown too much chemistry for this to become the new norm. Rowdies fans lived performances like that too many times in the 2025 season and I’m confident all Rowdies from the players to the coaches to the front office staff to the fans will do everything in their power to ensure we are back to the 2026 league leading standard for the remainder of the season.