Home vs. Spokane Zephyr Preview

Date: Saturday December 14, 2024
Kickoff Time: 7:00 pm EST at Riverfront Stadium in Tampa, FL
Records: Tampa Bay Sun (16 pts 4W-4D-4L); Spokane Zephyr FC (12 pts 2W-6D-5L)
Standings: The Sun are 5th in the Super League and the Zephyr are 7th.
The USL Super League continues to take shape, with only one more match day before the scheduled winter break. Due to hurricanes, the two clubs from Florida will have played one fewer game than the rest of their peers. After a tough loss away in Texas, Tampa Bay will be looking to get one more win before then. Get to the Riverfront on Saturday to help cheer them on to victory!
How much did our extended holiday hurt us?
As with anything when you’re writing from afar, it’s hard to pin down any one game to any one factor. That being said, plenty of fans will walk away from their Sun watch parties thinking three weeks off is not ideal – at least not when your opponents continued in the interim. At certain moments, play broke down when it was looking most promising for the Floridians.
As per usual, Sydny Nasello and Carlee Giammona were involved heavily in attacking plays. Nasello mostly popped up on the right while Giammona was largely moving from the center to the left. In this match, though, the usual pattern of forays by the fullbacks was less frequent. Kristen Edmonds and Talia Staude, restored to a starting role, did not get forward as much.
This was possibly part of a plan to counter the Dallas wingbacks, both of whom have been very influential in the Texans’ play. In this game, regular left wingback Chioma Ubogagu was missing for Trinity, while Julia Dorsey (highlighted in this column last week) was back on the field. The former’s replacement, Rachel Pace, and the latter continued their usual patterns.
The Sun wingers tried to get into the space Dorsey and Pace left open behind them. It almost worked a few times. In particular, one cross to Nasello looked extremely promising until her first touch let her down. Giammona was played over the top of the Dallas defense, only to shoot wildly over the top. They’ll both be disappointed with their execution.
When you don’t score, you give your opponent a chance to do so. They had also looked threatening at times in the first half. However, it would be a set piece that ultimately did the Sun in. Trinity’s goal coming off a Tampa Bay leg will make it taste all the more sour. It turns out that was all they’d need, with the visitors failing to find the back of the net.
After a quick break that put Dallas up 2-0, manager Denise Schilte-Brown made three substitutions in quick succession. This did not have the desired effect, and the Sun left the Cotton Bowl empty handed. It was a night to forget in many respects; but, fans will hope the team at least takes good lessons from this result.
To return to the question above of what a three-week break does to a team, it can obviously depend on the circumstances. With those touches and shots going awry, one could easily make a case that it led to a general rust. On the defensive side of things, the team still looked sharp. Even the second goal came off a giveaway that would probably not happen other nights. The good news is there’s a quick turnaround for the next matchup – and it’s a home game.
We should be able to win this, right?
Following the weekend, there are only three teams below the Sun in the standings. (The league is only eight clubs in total, but still…) Upcoming opposition Spokane are second last in the same table, with only Lexington trailing behind them. It makes sense then that they have a recent record now that is only better than the club from Kentucky.
It should be noted both of the Zephyr’s wins came at home in the state of Washington. However, it should also be noted that one of those came against the Sun. Spokane only needed one goal that evening to earn the victory. There was a fierce battle in midfield and, after some scuffling between Jade Moore and Marley Canales, the latter emphatically scored from distance. There’s no better way to tell somebody off than to score against them.
Since then, the Zephyr have not won once. In that five-match spell, they lost, drew three in a row, and then lost again last week in southern Florida. The Spokane midfield has changed a bit since then even if Canales still starts in the central attacking spot. Taylor Aylmer still backs her up while Argentine international Sophia Braun takes up the third spot in the middle.
Out wide last week were McKenzie Weinert and Bosnian international Emina Ekic. The latter of those has NWSL experience, and it shows with her three goals and one assist on the season. While the wingers play an important role in generating chances for Spokane, they don’t necessarily take up the same positions and patterns as the Dallas wingbacks did.
It is likely that Edmonds and Staude, should they both start again, will be able to get more involved in attacking plays at home this weekend. If they can combine properly with the players ahead of them, Tampa Bay should be able to mostly keep the Zephyr off the scoresheet simply through possessing the ball. They only have two goals in their last five games.
On the other side, it remains a work in progress getting the team into good positions to score consistently. The attacking duo of Cecilie Floe and Tash Flint have added goals that were sorely lacking beforehand. Many good chances have come from long balls over the top of opposition defenses. This is peculiar only because they supposedly do not want to do that.
Schilte-Brown has stated this multiple times in press conferences. On the other side, one has to be practical – and if a chance is there, you take it. Players are able to recognize when they’ve sucked the opposition in enough to open up the space behind them where those long balls could then be played. This is good recognition.
But creating those preferred attacking patterns has sometimes eluded them. DSB is sure to be working on this in training, while it could be a good opportunity to work them out on the field as well. On the other hand, Spokane are still stingy. They’ve shut two teams out recently. All signs here point to a drab affair. Sun players will, no doubt, have other things on their minds.
Score Predictions from the RBLR Sun Podcast:
Lizzie: 1-0 W
Tom: 1-0 W
Yurika: 2-1 W
James: 0-0 D