Dallas Trinity arrived in Spokane with back-to-back wins, having won three of their last five road games, but left empty-handed with a 0-3 loss to the Zephyr.
New signing Ally Palmomo debuted and showcased her talent, while Sealy Strawn got her sixth start. Dallas was without Lexi Missimo, who was listed on the injury report as having a lower leg injury.
Dallas pressured early on, getting their first chance in the 4th minute when Julia Dorsey feinted past her defender, whipped in a cross that rattled around before being cleared out. Dorsey continued to be a constant threat on the right flank.
Dallas nearly got the go-ahead goal when Chioma Ubogagu got a clean look in the 20th minute, but couldn’t get enough power to get past goalkeeper Hope Hisey.
Later, Strawn made a terrific play, intercepting the ball in the final third, laying it off to Ubogagu, who set up Allie Thornton for a chance, but the long-range effort hit the top of the crossbar.
A minute later, Camryn Lancaster got a shot off but went straight at the goalkeeper.
Spokane struggled offensively in the first; their only meaningful chance of the half came in the 17th minute off of a free kick that went well over. Spokane only got one shot off the entire first half, coming in the first minute of stoppage time.
“I think we need to make sure when we have the momentum in the game and create good chances, that we take advantage of that situation and are more ruthless with our final actions.”
Trinity Coach Pauline MacDonald
Cyera Hintzen and Tamara Bolt came into the match at halftime and made a lot of impact plays, especially Hintzen, who had a very promising chance three minutes in, but her attempt was saved by Hisey.
Spokane finally broke through Dallas’s defense in the 55th minute, and they doubled their lead just three minutes later.
Hintzen tried to lift Dallas after the hour mark. In the 62nd minute, Hintzen nearly pulled one back, but Hisey’s fingertip touch pushed the ball up just enough to deny Hintzen her third goal of the season. Hintzen saw another opportunity in the 66th minute after a poor pass-back, but Hisey got to it first.
Dallas tried to make a late-game rally but couldn’t connect to shift the momentum back in their favor. Spokane sealed the win with a third goal in the 83rd minute.
“It was frustrating. We started out well and then kind of lost it as the game went along. I think we just need to stay hungry and stay consistent with the way that we start. Even though we went down in the second half, we still created good opportunities. Just like Spokane put them away, we need to put our chances away, battle and not get down on ourselves.”
Tinity’s Cyera Hintzen
Dallas now sits in second place in the league, with the top four teams making the playoffs. Though the margins are really tight. Second and fifth place are only separated by three points.
Dallas returns to action next Saturday at the Cotton Bowl to face Fort Lauderdale.
