Dallas Trinity FC 1, Lexington SC 0
Heather Stainbrook scored in the 93rd minute to give Dallas Trinity FC a 1-0 road win over Lexington Sporting Club on Sunday afternoon, the latest game-winning goal in club history and one of the more important three points of the season.
Dallas (8-6-3, 27 points) pulls to within three points of Lexington (7-2-9, 30 points) in the Gainbridge Super League standings, with a game in hand. The two clubs meet again at the Cotton Bowl on March 18.
Nathan Thackeray made several bold lineup calls ahead of kickoff. Bethany Bos and Caroline Kelly both drew their first starts for the club. Lexi Missimo returned to the XI after her U-23 USWNT camp, while Sealey Strawn had not yet returned from Portugal. Lauren Flynn served a suspension, with Hannah Davison stepping in at center back alongside Amber Wisner. Lexington was without Emina Ekic, away with Bosnia and Herzegovina, and Tati Fung through injury. The two had combined for eight assists on the season.
Lexington controlled the first half almost from the opening whistle. Their press was persistent and effective, forcing Dallas into repeated turnovers in their own half. The shot count at the break was 9-2 in Lexington’s favor, possession 53-47. Goalkeeper Tyler McCamey kept it level largely on her own, with a punch save in the 20th minute, stops on Catherine Barry in the 6th and 45th, and composed decision-making throughout behind a backline under constant pressure.
Thackeray brought Maya McCutcheon on for Davison at halftime, shifting Samar Guidry to right back and settling the structure that had been pulled apart in the first half. Dallas came out more composed and began to move the ball with purpose. Caroline Kelly came off for Chioma Ubogagu in the 55th minute, and Thackeray turned to Allie Thornton and Caroline Swann in the 66th as he looked for something in the final third. Lancaster drew a diving save from Kat Asman in the 75th that briefly stopped play. Dallas absorbed it and kept pressing forward. Swann and Guidry both picked up yellows in the final minutes, and Kiley Dulaney came on for Cam Lancaster in the 92nd with a draw looking increasingly likely.
Then Ubogagu picked up the ball wide in stoppage time, drove a cross into the box, Hintzen redirected, Swann stepped over it, and Stainbrook tapped in at the back post. It was the latest game-winning goal in club history, topping the 90th-minute winner Gracie Brian scored at this same stadium in November.
“I just knew that it was an opportunity to crash the box,” Stainbrook said. “It was such a good ball by Chi and a really good dummy by Swann-y. I just wanted to get there, on the end of it, and I’m so happy that I did.”
McCamey earned her first clean sheet of the season. “You’ve got to give so much credit to my backline and the whole team,” she said. “Today was a total team effort.” Asked about his two January signings, Thackeray drew a contrast between them. “One is nice and steady, nothing too high, nothing too low, which is Tyler, which is what you want from a goalkeeper. And the other one just keeps going, keeps going, keeps going. She’s sort of the driving force, the engine behind the group.”
Dallas closes out its road stretch Thursday, traveling to face DC Power FC at Audi Field. Kickoff is 6:00 p.m. CT. The match streams on WFAA+, Peacock, and TUDN Radio.
SCORING SUMMARY 90+3′ — DAL: Heather Stainbrook (Cyera Hintzen)