Dallas Trinity held off a relentless Carolina Ascent side on Saturday afternoon at the Cotton Bowl, earning a gritty 1–0 win that pushed the club to three straight victories.
On a cool, overcast day in Fair Park, the sun broke through just as kickoff arrived, offering the home crowd its first real look this season at what a healthy Lexi Missimo can provide. Her calm second-half finish in her first start of the year proved to be the difference.
Before the match, Trinity were presented the Copa Tejas Shield, the sterling silver cowboy hat awarded to the top Texas club across all professional leagues. Their 1.54 points per match in 2024–25 made them the first women’s team to win it. Supporters groups The Dallas Beer Guardians and The Unstabled accepted the trophy before handing it to club owners Charlie and Jim Neil.
Head Coach Chris Petrucelli made only one change from last week, inserting Missimo for Camryn Lancaster, who missed the match with an excused absence. The rest of the lineup remained the same, including a Cotton Bowl pitch that had been torn up again the night before by a high school football game.
“The surface was an issue,” Petrucelli said. “The field is pretty rough and I think both teams struggled with that.”
Carolina struck first in terms of pressure, earning a corner in the third minute and pinning Trinity back for much of the early stretch.
By the 13th minute, the match had shifted toward goalkeeper Rylee Foster, who delivered the defining sequence of the half. She denied a driven shot with a sharp one-handed save, pushed the rebound off the post, and then lunged forward to smother the loose ball. Moments later she diverted another attempt wide. It was the foundation of her fourth clean sheet of the season, a total that ranks tied for third in the league.
Carolina continued to push. A clean tackle from Cyera Hintzen briefly halted play as striker Mia Corbin received treatment.
In the 22nd minute, midfielder Taylor Porter dragged Tamara Bolt down by the jersey and earned a yellow card. The free kick moved Dallas upfield long enough to earn a corner, but Carolina regained control quickly. A few minutes later Gracie Brian collected a yellow for a strong challenge outside the box, though the free kick sailed high.
“Defensively we were really good,” Petrucelli said. “We fought really hard. We did not give up much in the way of goal scoring chances. You give yourself a chance to win if you do not give up a goal. We defended the penalty box really well.”
Carolina owned most of the halftime statistics. Rylee Baisden slipped on the sandy surface in the 36th minute while trying to finish a cross, and Foster closed the half by diving to her right to stop a shot from leading scorer Mackenzie George. Even so, the match reached the break level.
Carolina opened the second half in the same manner. Audrey Harding tested Foster from the top of the box in the 49th minute, and the corner that followed created a scramble before Trinity finally cleared. With Dallas pinned deep, Petrucelli turned to Maya McCutcheon in the 57th minute to stabilize midfield.
The breakthrough arrived in the 64th minute. McCutcheon stepped forward and sent the ball wide to Bolt on the right. Bolt delivered a precise cross into the box, where Missimo had slipped free. She met it calmly and placed her finish past Carolina goalkeeper Meagan McClelland for her first goal of the season in her first start.
“Tamara got it out wide and found Lexi,” Petrucelli said. “Lexi is really good in front of goal and the finish was really good.”
Missimo understood the weight of the moment. “To be able to contribute after eight months of being injured, it is a blessing,” she said. “The atmosphere and the goal. It was the perfect ball and I could not miss it.”
Trinity surged after the goal. Chioma Ubogagu struck the post in the 69th minute, narrowly missing a second. Carolina refused to fade, pushing forward in long stretches and stacking corner after corner as Dallas dropped deeper to protect the lead. Foster remained the anchor behind a disciplined back line.
“It was not a pretty performance,” Foster said. “The pitch does not make anything easy for either team. What you saw today was scrappy, and that is where it matters most, the midfielders and the back line. The back line especially. You can be great as a goalkeeper but it means nothing without them.”
She described her approach late in matches.
“It is about being calm among the chaos.”
Carolina kept testing Dallas’ structure, but the Trinity defense read every cross and cleared every scramble until the whistle arrived. It was a win built on control, discipline, and timely execution rather than sustained attacking rhythm.
Petrucelli saw the value in the performance.
“Certainly our confidence is up now. Tactically we tried to adjust some things coming out of the back and in midfield. We needed to be better when we had the ball. We talked about ways to keep it.”
The victory moved The Golden Girls to 6–5–1 with 19 points, climbing into fourth place in The Gainbridge Super League. Carolina, also on 19 points, remain ahead on tiebreakers.
Dallas return to the Cotton Bowl next Saturday, December 20, to host first place Lexington SC at 2:30 p.m in the final match of the Fall schedule. The match streams on Peacock and airs on TUDN Radio.