St. Petersburg, FL — The 2025 USL Championship Regular Season comes to a close as Detroit City Football Club and Tampa Bay Rowdies share the points on Saturday evening with a 1-1 draw. Isaiah LeFlore scored his first goal for Le Rouge in the 58th minute, but a Tampa Bay equalizer in the 81st minute resulted in the hosts earning a point for the evening.
Danny Dichio’s final starting XI of the 2025 regular season would see few changes from the one that took the field last time out in Charleston. Carlos Herrera once again got the start in goal, and the three defenders in front of him were Devon Amoo-Mensah, Michael Bryant, and Shane Wiedt. Isaiah LeFlore, Jay Chapman, Ryan Williams, Haruki Yamazaki, and Jeciel Cedeño made up the midfield. Ates Diouf and Darren Smith would be the two attackers on the evening.
It was a very familiar first half for Detroit City, as the first 45 minutes played out much like last week’s match against the Charleston Battery. Detroit City controlled the possession, but both sides struggled to get any attacking opportunities in the attacking third.
The first yellow card of the match was shown to Ryan Williams in the 42nd minute for a late tackle in the midfield.
Although Detroit City dominated possession in the first half, Tampa Bay grew into the game late and started getting chances in the attacking third in the final ten minutes of the first half.
Coming out of the halftime break, the tempo of the match for both sides would pick up, as a scoreless game wasn’t sustainable for either side if they wanted to qualify for the playoffs.
On a Detroit attacking opportunity in the 55th minute, a reckless tackle by Tampa Bay’s Forrest Lasso would see him pick up their first yellow card of the match.
The 58th minute would see Isaiah LeFlore force a turnover at the halfway line. He would rise from the tackle and go on the counterattack. After passing to Cedeño, he would one-touch it back to LeFlore, who would run up to the top of the box, take a shot that would deflect off Lasso, and roll into the back of the net, giving Detroit City a 1-0 lead.
For LeFlore, it was his first goal for Le Rouge since joining the club back in August.
Detroit City would make its first change of the night in the 66th minute as Kobe Hernandez-Foster entered the match for Jeciel Cedeño.
Michael Bryant would pick up Detroit City’s second yellow card of the night in the 71st minute for a late tackle.
Haruki Yamazaki would come close to scoring a second for DCFC in the 80th minute, as he would be on the receiving end of a cross into the box, and his header would force Tampa keeper Bill Hamid into a save to deflect the ball away.
A cross into the box in the 81st minute from Tampa Bay would find Woobens Pacius in the middle of the box, and he would launch a shot into the top center of the net, leveling this game at 1-1.
Off the game-tying goal, Detroit City would make two changes, with Stephen Carroll and Jordan Adebayo-Smith entering the match for Haruki Yamazaki and Ates Diouf.
One final change would come in the 89th minute as Abdoulaye Diop entered for Jay Chapman.
Six minutes of second-half stoppage time would give both sides ample time to find a winner in this match and change their hopes of a playoff game next week. Tampa would have three consecutive corners to start stoppage time, but couldn’t get a shot on target. Detroit City tried to capitalize on goalkeeper Bill Hamid being in the attacking half, but couldn’t complete the final pass.
Devon Amoo-Mensah would be shown a yellow card in the final minute of stoppage time, and it would be moments later that the final full-time whistle of the 2025 season would be blown. For Detroit City, they await the result of the Orange County-Indy Eleven match to see if DCFC will claim the final Eastern Conference spot.
For more information about Detroit City FC, visit detcityfc.com and follow @DetroitCityFC on X and Facebook and @detroitcityfootballclub on Instagram.
Detroit City Starting XI – Carlos Herrera, Devon Amoo-Mensah, Michael Bryant, Shane Wiedt, Isaiah LeFlore, Jay Chapman (88’), Ryan Williams, Haruki Yamazaki (82’), Jeciel Cedeño (66’), Ates Diouf (82’), Darren Smith
Detroit City Substitutes – Stephen Carroll (82’), Abdoulaye Diop (88’), Matt Sheldon, Kobe Hernanzez-Foster (66’), Sebastián Guenzatti, Carlos Saldaña, Jordan Adebayo-Smith (82’)
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