USL Super League | Sunday, Sept. 13 | 6:30 p.m. CT | Cotton Bowl, Dallas, TX | Broadcast: Peacock
Dallas Trinity FC won for the first time this fall a week ago, 3-0 over Brooklyn FC, and the reward is the club that has climbed fastest in the opening month. DC Power FC comes to the Cotton Bowl unbeaten away from home and coming off the draw that ended Sporting JAX’s perfect start to the season.
Sunday is Dallas’s fifth match of the 14-game sprint season and the last one at home before a four-game road stretch.
The Recovery Report
Dallas Trinity
- Chioma Ubogagu (F) is out for the season
- Rajanah Reed (F) is out for the season
- Ally Cook (F) is out for the season
- Heather Stainbrook (M) is out (leg)
- Lauren Flynn (D) is out (lower leg)
- Heather MacNab (F) is out (lower leg)
DC Power
- Paige Almendariz (D) is out (knee)
- Ellie Gilbert (M) is out (ankle)
The Bigger Picture
These were the two clubs I picked in this space before the season as the pair most likely to be scrapping for the fourth and final playoff place. One month in, only one of them has truly held up its end. DC sit third at 2-1-1 and seven points. Dallas sit fifth at 1-2-1 and four points, level with Tampa Bay in fourth but a goal behind on difference, right on the edge of the top-four line.
The three-point gap is real, but so is the direction of travel. Dallas were seventh and winless before last weekend and have risen two spots on the back of one result. What follows Sunday is a road trip, so this College Night meeting is the last chance for a while to bank points in front of a home crowd. For a side that has taken one point from a possible nine at the Cotton Bowl this fall, that matters.
Dallas Found a Front Four
Lee Nguyen got his first win as a head coach last weekend by moving pieces. Against Brooklyn, he pushed Seven Castain to a central striking role, shifted Jasmine Hamid to the right, dropped Camryn Lancaster into a deeper spot and put Onyeka Gamero on the left.
Gamero scored her first professional goal in the eighth minute, Castain added her second of the fall before the half, and Hamid ran onto a Sydney Cheesman ball over the top to finish the third. Each goal came from a different scorer, and each was set up by a different teammate.
That last one was Hamid’s 15th in Super League play, making her the eighth player to reach the mark in the league’s three seasons. She and Castain now lead Dallas with two goals apiece this fall, and Lancaster leads the team with two assists. The pattern behind the goals held across the night, with Lancaster, Jamie Shepherd and Cheesman each laying one on. Dallas keep scoring through combination play rather than individual moments.
The reshuffle also gave Nguyen something he hasn’t really had much of through the first three games: a finished chance. Dallas were held without a shot on target at JAX in Matchday 3. Against Brooklyn, they put five on frame and out-shot the visitors 15-5.
DC will not sit as deep or as passively as a winless Brooklyn side did, so the question is whether the same shape produces against an opponent that pushes the game back at Dallas.
Players to Watch: Dallas
Sydney Cheesman – The center back’s ball over the top set up the clincher last week, and her reading of the back line will be tested by the league’s busiest attack. If she steps to the DC forwards early and keeps their volume to low-percentage looks, the shutout that arrived against Brooklyn is repeatable. If DC turn one restart or transition into a clean shot, the way Carolina and JAX did, the margin Dallas held last week is gone.
Sofia Cedeño – Named to the league’s Team of the Month for August off the bench, the double-pivot midfielder is one of Dallas’s main sources of chance creation from deep. If she is given time to turn and pick out the runners, the possession that has piled up all Fall finally reaches the front four. If DC’s midfield presses her into sideways passing, the attack stalls before it gets to Castain.
Seven Castain – Two goals in four, most recently as the central striker, the on-loan Orlando Pride forward and former TCU star has looked most dangerous running in behind. If DC hold the high line they used at JAX, her pace in behind is Dallas’s clearest route to a goal. If they sit and compress the space, she has to work with her back to goal, which has been the tougher version for her.
DC Power arrive with the league’s engine
Omid Namazi’s side have built their start on volume. They lead the league with 46 shots inside the penalty area, with Dallas second on 38, and they have turned that pressure into results, opening with a narrow loss at Carolina before beating Brooklyn 4-1, winning 2-1 at Lexington and drawing 1-1 with Sporting JAX, where Claire Constant scored.
The road form is the part Dallas has to respect most. DC have won both of their away games this fall, and Sunday is their third trip of the season. The roster carries recent pedigree in Emily Colton, an All-League First Team midfielder, Sydney Cummings, an All-League Second Team defender, and Susanna Fitch, a First Team defender the year before. Sunday also brings a return to Texas for defender Hallie Augustyn, a Flower Mound native who played her college soccer at Baylor.
Players to Watch: DC Power
Katie Cappelletti – The goalkeeper sits second in the league with 16 saves, the last line behind DC’s shot-heavy approach. If Dallas produces the volume of chances it managed against Brooklyn, how many she stops may decide whether DC’s road start continues. If Dallas reverts to the wasteful nights of the first three weeks, she will not have to be busy at all.
Loza Abera – The Ethiopian National Team captain has three goals and an assist this fall, tied for second in the league scoring race, and she has scored four goals in seven career meetings with Dallas. If the back line drops off and lets her receive between the lines, she is the player most likely to punish it. If Braun and Cheesman stay tight and force her wide, DC loses its most direct finisher.
Samantha Angel – The left back leads the league in chances created and sits second in crosses, DC’s supply line from an attacking full-back rather than the front line. If her overlaps down the DC left go unchecked, Dallas spends the night defending balls into its box. If Boeckmann and the Dallas right push her back and cut off the service, DC’s volume loses much of its edge.
What’s at Stake
For Nguyen’s Golden Girls, it’s time to prove they are who they think they are. One win over the bottom club steadied a rough opening. A result against a top-three side that came in on the same projected footing would say more about where this team is heading before it goes on the road for a month.
A loss here sets them back further, and with the abbreviated calendar and tough road trip ahead, it may signal that the end of the road is near.
For DC, Sunday is a chance to keep pulling away from the group behind JAX and to show the road form holds up against a side that has been hard to break down at home even while losing. A win moves them clear of the chasing pack and turns an early-season projection on its head. A loss puts them level on points with Dallas, and could see them drop below the playoff line if other results around the league are unfavorable.
This is the ninth meeting between the clubs. Dallas holds a 2-4-2 record in the all-time series.
Projected Lineups
Dallas (4-2-3-1): Neeku Purcell; Carissa Boeckmann, Sydney Cheesman, Sophia Braun (c), Cyera Hintzen; Jamie Shepherd, Sofia Cedeño; Jasmine Hamid, Camryn Lancaster, Onyeka Gamero; Seven Castain.
DC Power (4-2-3-1): Katie Cappelletti; Justina Gaynor, Sydney Cummings, Claire Constant, Samantha Angel; Abby Boyan, Emma Jaskaniec; Kayla Colbert, Emily Colton, Tyler Lussi; Loza Abera.