Dallas Trinity FC led for more than half an hour, held the ball for most of the night, and still opened the Fall 2026 season with a draw. Tori Zierenberg turned in a cross in the 93rd minute to level it 1-1, and a Cotton Bowl crowd of 2,041 fell silent as Tampa Bay Sun walked off with a point the run of play had not promised them.
It was Lee Nguyen‘s first match as a head coach, a homecoming for the Richardson native in the stadium where he played in Dallas Cup as a youth.
In 99-degree heat at kickoff, with the Golden Girls in their sunrise maroon Illuminate home kit, it ended the way several Trinity home matches ended a year ago, with a late goal conceded and a lead let slip.
“When you get the lead like that, and there was only a couple of minutes left, it’s disappointing not to be able to close out that game,” Nguyen said afterward. “But I’m proud of the girls. There were a lot of positives to take from the game.”
Brave from the back
Nguyen set his side in a 4-2-3-1 that became a back three whenever Trinity had the ball. Neeku Purcell started in goal and held a high line at the edge of her box. Sophia Braun, the captain, and Sydney Cheesman stayed central, Cyera Hintzen tucked in from the left, and Drew Coomans pushed up the right.
Carissa Boeckmann and Jamie Shepherd screened in front of them, with Sofía Cedeño at the No. 10, Onyeka Gamero and Seven Castain wide, and Jasmine Hamid leading the line and dropping in as a false nine.
“I want to control the game with the ball,” Nguyen said. “That requires being able to bring the ball up the field. It’s going to require bravery.” Braun, a midfielder for most of her career and now a center back for Trinity, said the demand suits her. “It’s difficult, but for me, that’s the best part. I love how our coaches want us to play.”
Trinity did control it, at least by the numbers: 64 percent of the ball and 530 passes to 277. For long stretches, though, the possession did not become chances.
A physical, level first half
Denise Schilte-Brown‘s side, the 2024-25 champions who fell to eighth a year ago, started quicker. Shea Connors dragged shots wide inside the opening quarter-hour, and Sydny Nasello forced Purcell into a save in the 10th minute.
Tampa Bay set an early tone with its challenges as well. Darya Rajaee was booked in the eighth minute, Kelsey Hill in the 20th, and Nasello in the 39th, three first-half yellow cards in a match that stayed chippy throughout. Schilte-Brown kept offseason signing Cristina Roque on the bench and started Liz Beardsley in goal.
Trinity’s best early looks came late in the half: a Braun header off a set piece that drifted wide in the 40th, and a Hamid shot from the center of the box that Beardsley saved on the stroke of halftime. The sides were level at the interval, with Tampa Bay ahead on expected goals, 0.4 to 0.1, per the match data.
At the break, Hamid pointed to her goalkeeper. “She’s a leader on the back line,” Hamid told the broadcast of Purcell. “She tells us what to do, and if we do it right, we won’t get scored on.”
Boeckmann’s tackle, Castain’s finish
The breakthrough came four minutes into the second half, and it started with a tackle. Boeckmann won the ball in midfield and drove a pass roughly 30 yards into space for Castain, who ran onto it, carried into the box, beat Beardsley and finished across goal in the 49th minute.
It was the first professional goal for the 22-year-old, on loan from Orlando Pride in the NWSL after a record-setting career at TCU, and it came in her Trinity debut. The league’s scoring listed the goal as unassisted, though Boeckmann’s pass sprung her.
“I was pretty blank in that moment,” Castain said. “I saw the ball come through and I was like, finally. That was the ball I was looking for all game, and Carissa found it.”
The last ten minutes
The goal changed how Trinity played. Nguyen’s side sat deeper, defended in numbers and looked to break. Purcell protected the lead with saves off Leah Scarpelli in the 75th minute and Erika Zschuppe in the 80th, finishing with three on the night. Bookings for Boeckmann in the 60th and Cedeño in the 65th hinted at the strain.
Nguyen went to his bench, sending Camryn Lancaster on for Shepherd in the 59th and into the No. 10 role with Cedeño dropping alongside Boeckmann, then Ally Cook for Hamid and a triple change in the 83rd.
Trinity carried the lead toward the final whistle. Schilte-Brown’s substitutes took it away in stoppage time. Jordan Zade, on at halftime, crossed for Zierenberg, on in the 89th, and Zierenberg finished from close range into the top corner in the 93rd minute. Trinity forced two more corners and a scramble in the box in the closing seconds, with Felicia Knox and Castain both blocked, but the equalizer stood.
Tampa Bay finished with 17 shots to Trinity’s 10, though only four found the target and 11 missed it. Trinity had the game’s lone big chance and the better of the ball, but not the game management its players and coach kept returning to afterward. “We had the win,” Braun said. “We just have to get a little better at closing out games.”
Castain framed the week ahead the same way: cleaning up the final third, more patience, “and game management.” Nguyen echoed both. “I still want to see us manage the game a little bit better,” he said.
What comes next
For Nguyen, the night carried its own weight even without the result. A former MLS MVP candidate and U.S. international, he made his managerial debut just a few miles from where he grew up. “Growing up, I played youth soccer here,” he said. “To coach in this stadium, in this environment, and see the support from the fans tonight, it feels full circle.”
The first win will have to wait at least another week. The Golden Girls stay home next Saturday, August 22, when they host Carolina Ascent FC, last season’s beaten finalists, at the Cotton Bowl at 7:30 p.m.
Around the league
The Trinity–Tampa Bay draw was the only stalemate of opening weekend. Lexington SC, last season’s Shield and playoff double winners, made the biggest statement, beating Brooklyn FC 3-0 at home to sit top on goal difference.
The two clubs directly above Trinity both won by a goal on the road: Carolina Ascent beat DC Power 1-0 at Audi Field, where Mia Corbin headed home Addisyn Merrick‘s cross in the 35th minute, and goalkeeper Sydney Martinez made six saves for a clean sheet.
Sporting Club Jacksonville won 1-0 at Fort Lauderdale United. Those results left Dallas fourth and Tampa Bay fifth, with all three winning sides ahead of them. Carolina, unbeaten and already with a shutout, is next to the Cotton Bowl.
