Sporting JAX (3-2-3) fought back late to force a draw against Tampa Bay Sun FC (0-3-5) on Saturday night at Hodges Stadium.
Things got off to a quick start, with a pair of corner kicks making an early appearance. Following this, though, chances were hard to come by. This all ended in the 18th minute when Tampa Bay struck with a goal courtesy of Sydny Nasello.
Right out of the gates, Paige Kenton ripped a shot that went just wide. Following the exciting start after the break, it looked like the earlier struggles might carry over throughout the second half. As time ticked down, Sporting JAX’s unbeaten streak did as well.
In a story that’s well familiar by now, Sporting JAX phenom Ashlyn Puerta struck electricity into the match when she scored the equalizing goal, her league-leading seventh of the season, in the 83rd minute. All of a sudden, things had changed. Sporting JAX’s focus quickly shifted from salvaging one point to grabbing three.
Following the match, the 18-year-old spoke to the team’s efforts to come away with a point.
“I think it took us a little while to get into it, but once we got into it, we were finding passes and playing around them,” Puerta said. “We had a lot of opportunities, but we just lacked the final pass.”
This all culminated in a dramatic moment at the end of stoppage time. As the final seconds floated away, Meg Hughes sent a cross into the box, where Baylee DeSmit fired a shot towards the goal. As all of Hodges Stadium held its breath, Tampa Bay came up with the most important block and clearance of the night.
While a win is always the goal, there were positive takeaways tactically from the evening, something that midfielder Sophie Jones mentioned post-match.
“Other than the first 15 minutes, we were super attacking-minded,” Jones said. “We talked in the huddle and we think it was one of our best performances, even though the end result wasn’t what we wanted.”
This could be seen in the statistics, with Sporting JAX controlling 72% possession while firing 15 shots. The strong-willed offensive performance was impressive following the quick turnaround after Tuesday’s defensive-minded win against DC Power FC.
“We were asked different questions today to try and flip the switch,” Sporting JAX Head Coach Stacey Balaam said. “We were a bit wasteful in the final third, [but] credit to them to show the character to come back and equalize and at least get the point.”
The match ended 1-1, but it was a hard-fought effort that resulted in one more point. This result keeps Sporting JAX fourth in the Gainbridge Super League standings, with a break before its next match at Lexington SC on October 31.
