In her first start of the season, Sam Estrada struggled to find her footing, and a late red card to Maya McCutcheon sealed Dallas Trinity’s 2–0 loss to Sporting JAX in their first-ever visit to Fair Park.
Head Coach Chris Petrucelli kept the same starting XI from last week, the lone change swapping Rylee Foster for Estrada between the pipes. “Clearly, we’ve given up a lot of goals and we’re looking for solutions, and we were hoping that would be a solution,” Petrucelli said.
The late-afternoon sun stretched across Cotton Bowl Stadium as the match kicked off. It was a clear afternoon with a light breeze, and both teams spent the opening minutes trading passes and feeling each other out. In the sixth minute, Estrada tried to play out from the back but hit it straight to Paige Kenton, and the former Delaware Fightin’ Blue Hen redirected the ball into the net for her fourth goal of the season, and the early mistake stunned the home crowd.
Allie Thornton nearly equalized a minute later after a strong run from Chioma Ubogagu, but her shot sailed just over the bar. Dallas began to settle into possession and forced JAX out of their usual patient rhythm. Thornton tried again in the 11th minute, but Kaitlyn Parks made an easy save to keep the visitors ahead.
A 19th-minute JAX corner floated dangerously before Estrada gathered the ball through contact. The physical play picked up as both sides leaned into tackles.
A Dallas free kick in the 22nd minute was cleared, and seconds later, JAX doubled their lead. League leader Ashlyn Puerta cut inside and fired from outside the 18-yard box for her ninth goal of the season. Estrada got a hand to it but bobbled the shot, and it slipped into the back of the net. The Cotton Bowl fell silent.
Dallas kept possession through the remainder of the half but couldn’t break down the JAX back line. McCutcheon cut off a dangerous run in the 37th and forced a corner that Estrada punched clear. Ubogagu tested Parks again from distance, but the goalkeeper was steady. The whistle brought a brief sigh of relief, but not much else to cheer about.
The supporters’ section came alive to start the second half, drums echoing through Fair Park as the crowd tried to lift The Golden Girls back into the match. In the 48th minute, Cyera Hintzen’s shot deflected off a JAX defender and rattled the crossbar before being cleared away by Parks.
In the 57th minute, Petrucelli made a bold move, sending on four new players: Kiley Dulaney, Rhea Moore, Caroline Kelly, and Sealey Strawn. Strawn lined up opposite her U.S. U-20 teammate Puerta, and the shift immediately lifted the team’s energy. “We were down two goals and not creating a lot,” Petrucelli said. “It was almost like I was trying to create shock value. And it did sort of energize the team.”
That spark showed briefly in the 64th minute when Amber Wisner slid a dangerous ball across the box, but it ran through untouched. Moments later, Wayny Balata went down with an injury scare but returned to play.
Dallas kept the ball but struggled to find a final touch. Crosses missed, attacks fizzled, and time slipped away. In the 71st minute, McCutcheon was shown a straight red card for denying a goal-scoring opportunity on Kenton just outside the box, forcing Trinity to play the rest of the way with ten.
Even short-handed, Dallas pushed to the final whistle. Wisner drove forward repeatedly, and Strawn sent in quality crosses, but the JAX back line held firm. In stoppage time, a foul in the area gave JAX a penalty, but Estrada guessed correctly and pushed it aside before time expired. As darkness settled over the Cotton Bowl, Parks walked off with her second clean sheet of the season.
It was another night where effort outpaced luck.
Forward Thornton on moving on from the loss:
“I thought that we played really well. Our collective effort was great, and we worked really hard. We made a lot of good chances. It stinks. We deserved a better result, and we didn’t get it. We will watch film, and move forward to figure out what we need to improve on to get the three points on the road next week.”
The Golden Girls will be back on the road next weekend at ONE Spokane Stadium to face The Zephyr on Saturday, Nov. 15, at 8 PM CT. The match will stream live on Peacock, and the official Dallas watch party will be hosted at Community Beer Co.