Dallas Trinity faced Lexington SC, which was officially eliminated from playoff contention last week. Trinity has been perfect against Lexington all season, and tonight’s win marks the first time a team in the USL Super League has swept every match against a single opponent in a season.
But entering today’s match. Trinity was without two key players: Chioma Ubogagu and Hannah Davison, both listed as questionable.
Tamara Bolt got things rolling for Dallas early, scoring her first club goal in the 5th minute. Deborah Abiodun threaded a pass toward Bolt but missed her mark. A Lexington defender made a poor pass back to the keeper, and Bolt swooped in and tapped it in to finish.
Dallas continued to apply tons of pressure all throughout the first half, creating chance after chance. Several Trinity players tried to double the lead, but to no avail. In the 17th minute, Camryn Lancaster delivered a dangerous cross into the box but was cleared out. Lancaster came close again in the 22nd after Julia Dorsey made a curling ball in, but Lancaster couldn’t control the shot to finish.
Gracie Brian took a shot in the box in the 32nd, which forced the Lexington goalkeeper into a diving save. Dorsey had a brilliant shot that was going straight for the top right, but was pushed up by Lexington’s goalkeeper.
Allie Thornton had two very promising chances before the end of the half. In the 37th minute, she nearly shook her defender but was cleared out. Thornton tried again in the 39th, but Lexington’s keeper denied her. Athalie Palomo also had a chance in the 42nd minute, hitting a shot that ended up going wide right.
Dallas picked up right where they left off to begin the second half, winning two corners in the first minute. Palomo almost doubled the lead in the 52nd minute, firing off a shot from a free kick laid off by Amber Brooks, but her effort went wide.
Lexington finally got a rare shot off in the 58th minute but shanked it and then drew level in the 69th minute after Brooks conceded a foul, and Lexington capitalized when Hannah White slotted her shot past Madison White.
But the game was not drawn for long. Less than a minute later, Sealey Strawn, brought in as a substitute just minutes before, put Dallas back on top thanks to a steal and chipped pass from Lancaster.
“It was really important for us. We have four games left, and today in the locker room, the main point was that we needed to win this match. We needed to come away with three points and we did that. I am really proud of that.”
Sealy Strawn
Dallas kept seeking another goal to give them a 2-goal cushion and, finally, in the 93rd minute, Dallas sealed their victory. Jenny Danielsson made a beautiful cut, passed the ball off to Thornton, who calmly slotted in her 11th goal of the season.
“I think that there are a lot of lessons for us to be learned from this evening. I’m delighted with the result and it keeps us in a very good spot to secure a playoff spot, which is our objective.”
Trinity Coach Pauline MacDonald
The result keeps Trinity in second place, 6 points behind Carolina Ascent. With four games remaining in the season, Dallas will hit the road for their next three matches before hosting Carolina on May 31st.
