Tampa Bay Sun FC Weekly – 3-2 L at JAX
Date: Saturday August 22, 2026
Result: Sporting Jax 3-2 Tampa Bay
Records: Tampa Bay Sun (1 pts 0W-1D-1L); Sporting Jax (6 pts 2W-0D-0L)
Standings: The Sun are 5th in the USL Super League and Jax are second.
Although the Sun looked good at times, they could not overcome their fellow Floridians away from home. Jax were the top team overall in the 2025-26 campaign, and it doesn’t seem like they’re that far off the pace they set. Tampa Bay will now have another chance to earn their first win against a different in form team in Carolina. Fans will be hoping the positive signs turn into a positive result and three points to put on the board.
How do you solve a problem like Ashlyn Puerta?
Going away from home is never a good prospect in sport, especially in the United States. However, as far as away days go, Tampa Bay could do far worse than just traveling to Jacksonville. It’s a bus ride away as opposed to multiple flights, and the pitch at their stadium is nice. But, the light blue shirts of Sporting will evoke strong memories for fans from west Florida.
Last season, the expansion side won three of the four meetings between them. They have scored three goals in each of those wins, with a 1-1 draw the only break in that streak. Looking at the final result, 3-2, the writing was on the wall. That being said, it was the Blue and Gold who started things better off this past weekend.
Within the first two minutes, the Sun could’ve gone ahead. Sydny Nasello, usually so brilliant for her team, missed a shot in the six yard box. Luckily, she was not deterred. The attacks kept coming for Tampa Bay, with the opening goal coming in the 35th minute. Nasello made up for her error by laying the perfect through ball in the path of Shea Connors. They celebrated with an overly formal handshake.
Going into the halftime break 1-0 up, the traveling fans had every reason to expect they’d have the better night. However, the hosts had an ace up their sleeve. No game against Jax is fully done and dusted until Ashlyn Puerta has had her say. This writer is surprised to see her still in the USL Super League. The transfer fee must be growing by the week.
Sporting had had their chances before the interval. But, shock of all shocks, it seems what they needed was a little magic from their star player. Applying pressure to the Sun backline, left back Leah Scarpelli tried to find a teammate and gave it away. Jax midfielder Sophie Jones likely had the least valuable assist ever: all she did was find Puerta and let the latter cook.
Her incredible finish from outside the box put the game on even terms. Talk about a let down. Not content with their place, the Sun allowed another Jax player the time and space to shoot from the same spot in the 60th minute. While this shot was likely one the keeper would want back, the problem obviously stems with the amount of room Tampa Bay’s midfield allowed in front of her.
Ten minutes later, more poor defending doomed the visitors to another three-concession performance. Despite their positive play at times, the work tracking Jacksonville, reading the game, and reacting to their touches was completely insufficient. It could have been better. Sporting didn’t necessarily pull the Sun apart. In fact, Tampa Bay allowed their opponents the space to work.
A goal by Jordan Zade turned out to be just consolation. Manager Denise Schilte-Brown made all her substitutions after Jax had turned the match on its head. If players weren’t reacting properly, or were possibly not up to full game fitness this early in the season, an earlier reaction may have kept things level. Jax is still a good team, so it’s possible this was in the offing all along.
Player of the Game:
Liz: Jordan Zade
JD: Jordan Zade
Upcoming Game: Carolina vs. Tampa Bay
Date: Saturday August 29 at 7:00 pm at American Legion Memorial Stadium
Are things trending in the right direction?
Ultimately, the question now is the one right above. The Sun created some good moments. They defended poorly at times, and they paid the price in the outcome. Should the team expect to do better away from home against another team with two wins from two games? Maybe. It depends how well they can cohere the attacking and defensive sides of the game on Saturday.
Last season, Tampa Bay had trouble both in the attack and defending. It’s not safe to say at this early point of the season that we are out of the woods in either of those areas. But, things are trending better for chance creation. Nasello had one assist, one goal, and should’ve scored another one early on. They had more chances to draw level late in the game as well.
The attacking options are starting to play well together. There are more listed on the roster who haven’t played yet. Their availability at the moment is up in the air. Presumably, adding them to the mix would make things even more difficult for the opposition defense. At time of writing, we don’t know whether or not the signings from England, for example, will play this weekend.
On the other side of things, there still seems to be a good deal to sort out. DSB and the rest of her staff clearly went looking this offseason for some help at the back. The new signings come from around the league, where they have developed a track record of success at this level. It’s safe to assume they’ll be capable of contributing when everyone’s on the same page.
Whether or not they are is up for debate. Leah Scarpelli’s pass into the middle for the first Jax goal was poor. You could tell she knew that even sooner than those in the stands. That one is more fixable than the other two that followed: obviously, don’t play that ball into the middle unless you’re certain of its ultimate destination.
Sporting was then able to create two further goals from a complete lack of cohesion from the Sun in transition. One was an almost free shot from outside the box and the second was much closer to Liz Beardsley in net. Carolina will be reviewing video from this game in the leadup to their own. Of course, there were other chances that Jax might’ve put away beforehand.
Tampa Bay needs to sort out these situations, or put themselves in a place where fewer of them will occur. Each is easier said than done – otherwise, they would’ve already prepared. But, you can practice quicker reactions to giveaways. You can work on the attacking patterns you want to avoid that number of giveaways. Transition moments are often the most dangerous in football.
The Ascent, of course, are right at the top of the table. Two games in doesn’t give us much to work with. These could be complete fluke results. That isn’t likely, though. They have always been a club near the top of Super League standings. Preparation is key to earning a point – or maybe three – away from home. We’ll see how the team responds on Saturday.
RBLR Score Predictions:
Lizzie: 2-1 L
JD: 2-2 D
Yurika: 2-1 W
James: 2-2 D
RBLR Score Predictions Standings:
Liz: 3
JD: 0
Yurika: 3
James: 0
