Russell Cicerone wins USL Championship Goal of the Week after brace

Russell Cicerone’s Week 22 strike was voted the USL Championship Select America Goal of the Week, putting another spotlight on a forward who has been finishing at exactly the right time for the Tampa Bay Rowdies. The official USL Championship account shared the winning highlight after Cicerone’s brace helped drive a 5-4 comeback over Louisville City FC in St. Petersburg, Florida.

The goal award followed a bigger individual honor as well. On Aug. 4, USL Championship named Cicerone its Week 22 Player of the Week after his two-goal performance in the Rowdies’ rally, and the league said it was the third Player of the Week selection of his USL Championship career. The recognition came out of a match USL later described as one of the wildest regular-season games in league history, a nine-goal classic at Al Lang Stadium that turned into one of the season’s defining results.

For Cicerone, the award was more than a highlight package win. Tampa Bay said the forward became the 11th player in USL Championship history to reach 100 regular-season goal contributions, a marker that places his production in rare company and explains why his latest finish carried extra weight. The Rowdies’ own social post celebrated the award by noting that Cicerone’s blast won Week 22 Goal of the Week, and the league’s vote gave the moment national traction beyond one chaotic night in St. Petersburg.

The more revealing question is what the goal says about Tampa Bay right now. Cicerone’s brace came inside a comeback that produced five Rowdies goals against a Louisville side that still pushed the match to the edge, which suggests Tampa Bay’s attack is generating both volume and volatility. The Rowdies have a forward in form, and they have a result that can travel around the league all season: a 5-4 win, a 100-contribution milestone, and a goal of the week that came out of one of the Championship’s most frantic games.