Dallas plays its first league match at the Cotton Bowl since Sept. 13, three points below the playoff places. Meila Brewer will be in Morocco, where she captained the U.S. past Spain on Thursday.
USL Super League | Sunday, Nov. 1 | 4 p.m. CT | Cotton Bowl, Dallas, TX | Broadcast: Peacock
Dallas Trinity hosts Fort Lauderdale United on Sunday in its first league match at Fair Park in seven weeks. Dallas sits fifth on 11 points with five matches to play. Fort Lauderdale is last on seven, and has lost all five of its road matches this fall.
The two met on Sept. 18 in South Florida, and Dallas won 2-1. It is the last league match the Golden Girls have won.
The Recovery Report
Dallas Trinity
Meila Brewer is OUT (international duty)
Lauren Flynn is OUT (lower leg)
Ally Cook, Rajanah Reed & Chioma Ubogagu are out for the season
Fort Lauderdale United
Heather Hinz is OUT (elbow)
Maggie Mace is OUT (knee)
Shea Moyer is OUT (knee)
Emily Thompson is OUT (knee)
Julia Grosso is out for the season (knee)
The Bigger Picture
Sporting JAX and Brooklyn FC drew 4-4 in Jacksonville on Saturday afternoon. Brooklyn led 4-2 after Jackie Richards scored in the 56th and 57th minutes, and Jilly Shimkin assisted three of the four Brooklyn goals. Ashlyn Puerta answered with a 68th-minute penalty and an equalizer 12 minutes later. She and teammate Baylee DeSmit, who also scored, now share the league lead with eight goals each.
The point lifted Jacksonville to 16, second behind Carolina Ascent. Brooklyn moved to 11, level with Dallas, and sits sixth on goal difference.
Lexington SC and DC Power both entered the weekend on 14 points, the last two playoff places. Lexington visits Carolina on Saturday night. DC plays at Tampa Bay Sun FC on Sunday at the same hour Dallas kicks off.
Goal difference is the league’s first tiebreaker. Dallas is at minus-3.
Seven Weeks Away from Fair Park
Dallas last played a league match at the Cotton Bowl on Sept. 13, a 2-1 win over DC. A four-game road trip and the State Fair took it away from home for most of the next seven weeks. Its only appearance at the stadium in that span was the State Fair Clásico, a 3-2 friendly win over Chivas Femenil.
Since the win at Fort Lauderdale, Dallas has lost 3-0 at Lexington, drawn 1-1 at Brooklyn and lost 1-0 at DC last Sunday. Seven Castain‘s 86th-minute equalizer at Brooklyn is Dallas’s only league goal in that stretch.
At Audi Field, Emily Colton scored in the 10th minute after Abby Boyan hit the crossbar. Dallas had 58 percent of the ball, and six of its shots came in the 84th minute or later.
Lee Nguyen‘s side has two wins, a draw and a loss at the Cotton Bowl in league play this fall.
Jasmine Hamid spent two seasons at Fort Lauderdale, scoring 13 goals. In September, she scored 40 seconds into the second half at Amerant Bank Field, her first goal against her old club, and it proved to be the winner. She leads Dallas with four goals this fall and has 17 in her league career.
The quarterfinal against Korea DPR kicks off at 9 a.m. CT on Sunday, seven hours before Dallas hosts Fort Lauderdale. The semifinals are Nov. 4 and the final Nov. 7.
Players to Watch: Dallas Trinity
Sofia Cedeño – Leads the league with 78 duels won and leads Dallas in successful dribbles. The Irving native, on loan from the Seattle Reign, needs to get it going through the midfield and create opportunities for those in front of her. If she can turn it on, she can be a difference-maker.
Seven Castain – Has three goals, second on the team. The loanee from the Orlando Pride has shown to be a goal-scorer, but she needs to be ruthless in and around the box and not pass up opportunities.
Cyera Hintzen – Leads Dallas with 21 interceptions. Hintzen has been feast or famine on defense this season. A natural attacker earlier in her career, she has played at fullback during most of her Trinity tenure. If she can hold her composure in the defending third, that will free up the centerbacks to push the ball forward.
Every Point at Amerant Bank Field
Paul Jennison took over as Fort Lauderdale’s interim head coach on Oct. 6, after the club dismissed Tyrone Mears. His side beat Lexington 2-1 in his first match, then lost 4-1 at Jacksonville, where Puerta scored four times.
On Oct. 22, FLU held Carolina to a 0-0 draw at Amerant Bank Field. The result ended Carolina’s run of 10 straight regular-season road wins, though Carolina outshot Fort Lauderdale 16-5 and won 14 corners to one.
All seven of Fort Lauderdale’s points have come at home. On the road, they has scored three goals and conceded 12, and it has seven goals in 10 matches overall, the fewest in the league.
Kiara Locklear is tied for second in the league with three assists, all of them on Gordon goals. Taylor Smith and Kelli Van Treeck, an All-League Second Team honoree, have started together in the middle in each of Jennison’s three matches. Haley Thomas wears the captain’s armband.
In September, Fort Lauderdale fell behind in the 32nd minute when Felicia Knox headed in the rebound of Sophia Braun‘s blocked header from a Carissa Boeckmann corner. Gordon’s 59th-minute goal brought it back within one. Neeku Purcell made four saves to protect the lead, including stops in the 68th and 80th minutes.
Players to Watch: Fort Lauderdale United
Sh’nia Gordon – Has five of her team’s seven goals and a team-high 22 shots. She scored both in the win over Lexington and two of the three Fort Lauderdale has scored on the road.
Haley Craig – Leads the league with 33 saves and has started every match. She made five against Carolina, including a double save in the 25th minute and a point-blank stop in stoppage time, for her second clean sheet of the fall.
Ella Simpson – Leads the league with 70 clearances, well clear of anyone else. The center back has started every match under Jennison alongside Thomas.
What’s at Stake
A Dallas win would lift it to 14 points, the total Lexington and DC carried into the weekend. A draw or a loss would leave it with four matches to make up ground. Dallas leads the regular-season series with four wins, a draw and three losses, and won the last meeting at the Cotton Bowl 4-0 in May. Sporting JAX comes to the Cotton Bowl next Sunday.
A Fort Lauderdale win would pull it within a point of Dallas and Brooklyn. It hosts Tampa Bay on Friday in the last Florida derby of the season.
Refs & Kit Assignments
Patricia McCracken will referee Sunday’s match.
Emmanuel Padilla and Justin Fillmore are the assistant referees
Carlos Meneses Rodriguez is the fourth official.
The officials will wear blue shirts with black shorts.
Dallas will wear its Sunrise Maroon “Illuminate” home kit, with maroon shorts and socks. Its goalkeeper will be in green.
Fort Lauderdale will wear white shirts, blue shorts and white socks, with its goalkeeper in yellow.
International Golden Girls
Meila Brewer, 17, captained the U.S. under-17 team on Thursday in Rabat. She started at center back in a 2-1 win over Spain in the round of 16, the first U.S. win over Spain at the U-17 Women’s World Cup.
The U.S. has used four captains in its four matches. Brewer scored in the 17-0 opener against Samoa and missed the group finale against China PR with a minor knock.
The U.S. will play N. Korea Sunday morning, with the quarterfinal scheduled to conclude shortly before Dallas kicks off.
Projected XIs
Dallas Trinity (4-3-3): Neeku Purcell; Carissa Boeckmann, Sydney Cheesman, Sophia Braun (c), Cyera Hintzen; Felicia Knox, Sofia Cedeño, Camryn Lancaster; Jasmine Hamid, Seven Castain, Onyeka Gamero
Fort Lauderdale United (4-2-3-1): Haley Craig; Maggy Henschler, Haley Thomas (c), Ella Simpson, Abigail Hugh; Taylor Smith, Kelli Van Treeck; Kiara Locklear, Grace Cutler, Farrah Walters; Sh’nia Gordon
Sunday’s forecast at Fair Park calls for a high in the upper 70s with a slight chance of rain.