Sporting JAX (3-3-3) headed to the Bluegrass State for a Halloween showdown with league-leading Lexington SC (4-0-5), ultimately falling 4-2.
Lexington has been the class of the Gainbridge Super League so far this season, and things weren’t any different on Friday. Lexington got out to an early advantage, taking a 1-0 lead into the half.
Despite trailing at the break, Sporting JAX was still within reach of their talented opponents. This task became all the more difficult when Emina Ekic stretched the lead to 2-0 off of a deflection in the 53rd minute.
Lexington continued their aggressive attack, padding the advantage yet again in the 75th minute courtesy of prolific scorer Catherine Berry. Things looked grim for Sporting JAX, but the team soon came to life.
A spark began to light for the visitors, culminating in Paige Kenyon finding the back of the net to cut the deficit to two. It was late, but there was still life. This was soon followed by Lexington’s fourth goal of the evening, all but sealing the deal.
In an interesting turn of events, league-leader in goals Ashlyn Puerta struck to reduce the hole back to two goals. With this taking place in the 96th minute, it was too little, too late. Puerta spoke to what was missing in the earlier stages of the match.
“I think we struggled to play our game throughout,” Puerta said. “We struggled to find our flow consistently in the defensive and middle thirds.”
This marks Puerta’s eighth goal of the season, along with a quick impact following her stint with the U.S. Under-20 Women’s National Team during the international break. While the result isn’t what was wanted, the team’s players remain optimistic heading forward.
“This team is super tight-knit, so l think leaning on those relationships will allow us to bounce back,” Kenton said. “We truly support each other on and off the field, so it allows us to grow from results like this one rather than dwell on individual mistakes.”
Sporting JAX will look to rebound against Dallas Trinity FC in another road match next Saturday, November 8 at 5:00 PM. It will be seeking revenge from a 1-0 loss against the Texas side in September.
“We are obviously disappointed in the loss, but there’s a lot of lessons to take from the game,” Sporting JAX head coach Stacey Balaam said. “We can look back at things we need to improve on, and come back stronger next week.”
