Tampa Bay Sun strike first, but settle for another tie

Saturday night yielded a familiar result for the Sun.

In the teams’ first matchup of the season, Tampa Bay and DC Power played to a 1-all tie at Suncoast Credit Union Field in Tampa. The Sun have a whopping nine ties this season, most in the league along with Lexington SC.

The Sun (1-6-9) set the tone early when midfielder Jordan Fusco broke through in the 23rd minute, sending Tampa Bay into halftime with a 1-0 edge. The goal, kicked into the bottom right corner of the net, marked Fusco’s first at home since joining the Sun on loan from the San Diego Wave in December.

“Jilly (Shimkin) found me on the goal and it was awesome to connect,” Fusco said. “The girls have made fitting in here really easy. This is a great group to play with.”

Tampa controlled much of the first half, creating multiple chances beyond Fusco’s goal.

“One-nothing at halftime was probably not the story of the first half,” said Sun coach Denise Schilte-Brown. “We had two or three other really good chances.”

Like in the 38th minute when forward Sydny Nasello sent a right-footed cross into the box to Madi Parsons, only to see it saved by DC’s Morgan Aquino.

While the Sun carried momentum into the break, DC (4-5-7) responded in the 63rd minute when Claire Constant found the bottom left corner of the net to even the score. Saturday marked the second straight game in which Tampa conceded what Schilte-Brown called a “soft goal.”

“We can’t give up easy goals. We’ve got to give up difficult goals,” she said. “On set pieces, we’re 1 inch away from winning the ball and scoring. Today we took a lot of those inches. They just didn’t go our way.”

Despite a lot of late opportunities and intensity in the final minutes, the Sun were unable to pull ahead for good. But their coach was satisfied with their effort.

“I was really proud of our players, how they executed our tactics today,” Schilte-Brown said. “They did everything I asked them to do. We just continue to hunt for those wins.”

Added Shimkin: “Partnerships and chemistry have started to click. Finding more of an offensive identity is definitely clicking for us.”

DC entered the match coming off a 1-0 win against Sporting JAX, while Tampa Bay was building off a 2-2 draw against Spokane.

“This team is a really close-knit group of girls, and we stick together,” Fusco said. “Even getting a tie today, I know we’re going to come out next game and … just compete even more.”