Dallas Trinity FC looked to play spoilers in Brooklyn FC’s home opener but instead faced a 2-0 defeat.
Trinity Head Coach Pauline MacDonald took over for her first game after waiting for her work visa to get done. An in-form Allie Thornton started on the wing after scoring not only the team’s first hat trick in the last game but the first hat trick in USL history.
Madison White, on loan from NWSL side Racing Louisville FC, made her first league start for the Trinity in goal. “The position of goalkeeper at DTFC has been closely contested since the beginning of the preseason,” MacDonald said of the change in net. “Following a strong training week, we felt that Madison White was deserving of the jersey this evening.”
Brooklyn FC had their own head coach debut as Jessica Silva took over after being announced by the club on Monday.
After dispossessing Dallas in the midfield, Jess Garziano took a shot from long distance that dipped down just enough to stay out of White’s reach in the 19th minute to take a 1-0 lead.
Brooklyn looked to go up 2-0 when Garziano took a corner in the 23rd that required White to come out to try and knock it away. White missed on her punch with the ball falling at the feet of Allison Pantuso who skied the effort in the crowded Trinity box.
White would go down after coming out to grab the cross in the 33rd from a corner after a weird landing on her left foot. It left her in some visible discomfort that required the trainer to take a look. White got back up after a quick stoppage in play from the incident.
Hope Breslin took her chance from distance in the 37th minute, the shot required a quick falling save from White. Off the parry, the ball met the right foot of Mackenzie George, tapping it into the back of net to get that 2-0 lead.
The first half left a lot to be desired from the Trinity. After coming off a 6-goal win last time out they left the first half only having seven touches in the Brooklyn box and one shot on goal. The Brooklyn team showed a willingness to attack the open space left by the midfield.
The Dallas forwards also looked disjointed when trying to piece passes together on the attack, allowing Brooklyn time to regain their shape. The defensive ability from Brooklyn in the first half showed why they have only conceded one goal so far in league play.
Trinity midfielder Amber Brooks said the loss wasn’t really about tactics or the need to make changes. “[It was] more of a lack of intensity and willingness to win the physical battle. It’s not like we need to go back to the drawing board but we need to hold ourselves accountable and make sure we’re bringing the fight to every training and game.”
At the start of the second half, Dallas opted for a change by bringing on Solar soccer products Kamdyn Fuller and Sealey Strawn for Jenny Danielsson and Gracie Brian. MacDonald praised the youngsters after the match, “I was extremely impressed but not surprised by the performances of Sealey Strawn and Kamdyn Fuller. Both have demonstrated real quality and a strong desire to learn and develop since their integration.”
In the 55th minute, Trinity defender, Hailey Davison, took out Isabel Cox in the box with Breslin stepping up for the penalty. She shot to her left with White making the diving save to try and keep the team alive.
Lucy Shepherd came on for Ubogagu in the 74th with Brooklyn responding with three subs of their own in Carlyn Presley, Sasha Pickard, and Emily Yaple coming on for Samantha Rosette, Cox, and Leah Scarpelli. After 10 minutes the final sub of the night, Dana Scheriff took the place of the goalscorer George for Brooklyn.
At full time the Trinity faced their first loss of the season, falling to 4th in the table on five points.
“As a group, it is important that we reflect and learn from tonight’s experience,” Coach MacDonals said after the game. “We struggled with our defensive organization early in the game and conceding two goals in the first half was always going to be extremely challenging to overturn.”
Coach MacDonald and Dallas will look to respond in the next game in Spokane to take on Spokane Zephyr FC on October 6th at 4:00 P.M. CT
nice write up. sounds like an off night. Hopefully they can regroup and have more success than FC Dallas does in the stat of Washington.