Sporting Club Jacksonville (7-3-4) ascended to the top of the Gainbridge Super League table on Saturday night with a 3-1 win over Tampa Bay Sun FC (1-6-7).
It was a night full of holiday cheer as Sporting JAX closed out the first half of its inaugural season. The first half began with heavy Sporting JAX possession, but Tampa Bay had their chances. One moment came in the 5th minute when Sporting JAX goalkeeper Kaitlyn Parks had to make a diving stop. Things haven’t gone Tampa Bay’s way this season, but they were looking to end the first half on a positive note and build momentum heading into the break.
“They came out pressed us,” Sporting JAX captain Sophie Jones said. “We weren’t expecting it, and I think first 15 minutes, we had to kind of weather that storm, but I think it just comes down to trusting ourselves and our composure on the ball.”
The home team’s press eventually culminated in the opening goal in the 28th minute. Phenom Ashlyn Puerta’s return from injury came full circle when she sent one past the keeper, her 11th of the season, to give Sporting JAX a 1-0 lead.
This score held through the halftime break. An underlying storyline of the match was taking place thousands of miles away in Dallas, Texas. League-leading Lexington SC drew with Dallas Trinity FC, giving Sporting JAX the chance they’d been waiting for. If the result held at Hodges Stadium, the Gainbridge Super League would have a new face in first place.
The second half got off to a non-ideal start as Puerta earned a yellow card in a dangerous position. It didn’t take long for the tides to change, though, as Sporting JAX’s Katie Sullivan continued her upward trajectory with the night’s second goal, her second in as many matches.
Now leading 2-0, the outlook was bright for Sporting JAX. That outlook took a hit quickly, as Tampa Bay fired back with a Jordan Fusco goal to cut the deficit in half. The score remained into the latter minutes of the match, where Andrea Fernandez came on in the 88th minute. No one knew what was in store.
Just one minute later, Fernandez scored to balloon the lead back to 3-1. Try as they might, Tampa Bay couldn’t come back from this one. The final whistle sounded and Sporting JAX officially climbed to the top of the table. There’s perhaps no better time to make this move, as the league enters its midway break. For reference, Sporting JAX doesn’t play another Gainbridge Super League match until January 31.
This closes out the first half of Sporting JAX’s inaugural season. It has been wildly successful for the only expansion club, who has now defeated Tampa Bay Sun FC in all four of their meetings in addition to its new status as league leaders.
“I think it’s something that maybe we all didn’t expect, because we were a new team, and we’re definitely a younger team, but we work so hard and every day in practice, and we knew we could do it,” Sullivan said. “We just had to be able to produce those results in games, and now they’re coming our way, so I think seeing all of our hard work come to fruition is something that’s really great.”
Sporting JAX Head Coach Stacey Balaam added to the positive sentiment, expressing pride in her team’s effort and results to this point.
“I think that we just had realistic expectations of us being brand new club and having a lot of young players that were navigating through the professional environment for the first time,” Balaam said. “We knew how competitive the league was, and our goal was to just try and be in the top four by this point and stay in the top four, but never imagined us being at the top of the league at Christmas, so credit to the ladies, credit to the staff, and everything that they’ve done to help us get to this point.”
It may be a ways out, but fans can secure their seats for the return of Sporting JAX soccer to Hodges Stadium on January 31, when they face Carolina Ascent FC.
