NAPLES, FLA (April 16, 2025) – The Tampa Bay Rowdies survived a thriller in the Third Round of the Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup on Wednesday night, advancing past USL League One’s FC Naples after 10 rounds of penalties at Paradise Coast Sports Complex to book their spot in the Round of 32 next month.
“It’s not perfect by any stretch of the imagination but it’s important to build momentum to win games like tonight, said Rowdies Interim Head Coach Steve Coleman. “This game, in our week of three games in seven days, might be one of the toughest one to be honest with you.”
Tampa Bay came out of the gate with a promising chance in the 12th minute when Thomas Vancaeyezeele redirected a corner-kick delivery to the near post onto frame with a glancing header that goalkeeper Edward Delgado managed to swat away at the last moment.
Niyongabire eventually put the Rowdies out in front in the 26th minute with a nifty assist from Manuel Arteaga. After midfielder Cammy MacPherson launched a long ball into Naples’ defensive third, Arteaga got his on the service to play it into the box for Niyongabire. The Burundi international took the pass in stride before burying a strike into the back of the net.
Tampa Bay’s lead was short lived. The hosts got back on level terms just two minutes later when Jayden Onen delivered a cross from the left flank for Luka Prpa, who took a touch and deposited the equalizer past keeper Ethan Bandré.
The match remained in a deadlock through the next 45 minutes of the second half, and then another 30 minutes of extra time, although it took a heroic moment from Rowdies defender Forrest Lasso to get to extra time. In the third of five stoppage minutes, Naples broke through the Rowdies defensive line for a counterattack, setting up Andres Ferrín for a right-footed shot in the center of the box. Lasso, though, anticipated the moment and stood firm with a goal line clearance to deny Ferrín and keep the Rowdies Open Cup hopes alive.
“Just doing my job honestly,” said Lasso. “The Open Cup is magical. It’s chaos, there’s opportunities left and right. Every team brings something they have, and you saw Naples tonight, they are a quality squad. I think they’ve won seven up to this point. They’re doing really well in the league, and you could see that tonight. They created, they had the place rocking. It’s the cruelestlest part about football; one team’s gotta win, one team’s gotta lose, especially in the Open Cup. But I’m just happy to be out there and contributing, doing my job.”
Both sides fought to find a winning goal in extra time, with the Rowdies earning two credible threats on net. In the first half of extra time, youngster Endri Mustali clipped the post. MacPherson then fired a half volley in the closing half of extra time from outside the box through a crowd of defenders toward goal that forced Delgado into a diving save.
Tampa Bay’s Ollie Bassett and Naples’ Karsen Henderlong both converted on the attempts in the first round of penalties. The Rowdies fell behind in the second round though when Leo Fernandes’ strike to the bottom left corner was smothered by Delgado. Bandré gave the Rowdies a lifeline in the fourth round with diving effort to thwart Christopher Heckenberg.
The Rowdies and Naples then traded penalty conversions until the 10th round. After Lasso calmly converted the his attempt from the spot, Naples defender Julian Cisneros sent his effort into the crossbar to seal Tampa Bay’s spot in the next round.
“The message [before penalties] is very simple: be where your feet are, take a deep breath and be courageous to stick with the decision of where you’re going to go,” said Coleman. “At the end of the day, where else would you rather be on a Wednesday night than in a place like this, playing the game of football we love? For me, the message was we’ve worked really hard to get to this point, we’ve scrapped before, it’s not been perfect but we’re still here and let’s make sure we have something to show for it in the end.”
Tampa Bay will learn their opponent in the next round of the Open Cup on Thursday, April 17. That match will be played on either May 6 or 7. In the meantime, the Rowdies return to Al Lang Stadium this Saturday for a pivotal matchup against Louisville City FC at 7:30 p.m. ET.
Scoring Summary
TBR – Niyongabire (Arteaga), 26’
NAP – Prpa (Onen), 28’
Penalty Shootout Summary
TBR: Converted (Bassett), Saved (Fernandes), Converted (MacPherson), Converted (Crisostomo), Converted (Pacius), Converted (Mustali), Converted (Castellanos), Converted (Skinner), Converted (Vancaeyezeele), Converted (Lasso)
NAP: Converted (Henderlong), Converted (Onen), Converted (Dengler), Saved (Heckenberg), Converted (Cerros), Converted (Pasnik), Converted (Evans), Converted (Torrellas), Converted (Fernandes), Missed (Cisneros)
Caution Summary
TBR – Guillen, Yellow Card, 2’
NAP – Onen, Yellow Card, 10’
NAP – Cisneros, Yellow Card, 69’
NAP – Torellas, Yellow Card, 102’
TBR – Basset, Yellow Card, 106’
Lineups
Rowdies: Bandre, Vancaeyezeele, Castellanos, Guillen (Lasso, 46’), Skinner, Niyongabire (Fernandes, 61’), MacPherson, Worth (Basset, 61’), Crisostomo, Pacius, Arteaga (Mustali, 80’)
Rowdies Bench: Campisi, Lasso, DeJesus, Fernandes, Bassett, Mustali
Naples: Delgado, Glasser (Fernandes, 98’), Dengler, Evans, Cisneros, O’Connor (Torrellas, 69’), Heckenberg, Prpa (Cerro, 80’), Ferrín (Pasnik), Henderlong, Onen
Naples Bench: Serrano, Sulia, Fernandes, Pasnik, Cerro, Rubinstein, Torrellas
