Away to DC Power Preview
Date: Wednesday October 2, 2024
Kickoff Time: 6:30 pm EST at Audi Field in Washington, DC
Records: Tampa Bay Sun (6 pts 1W-3D-1L); DC Power FC (3 pts 0W-3D-3L)
Standings: The Sun are 4th in the Super League and the Power are 7th.
The Sun went away to the top team in the league and looked like a dominant force. Minus the one caveat of not creating many good chances, they more than held their own against the Ascent in less-than-friendly environs. Now Tampa Bay will have to do the same thing in the middle of the week against DC Power, seemingly a worse opponent. Make sure you tune in this evening at 6:30 for the match and cheer them on from afar!
What are we to make of that performance?
After a bye week, the Sun went to North Carolina, leaving early to make sure they would avoid any delays caused by Hurricane Helene. While that storm battered another part of the Tarheel State, the match went ahead in Charlotte. The visitors looked the better side for most of the 90 minutes; although, a halftime change did even things up for the second period.
This is certainly a good sign. Tampa Bay can go away to the table-topping Ascent and show up well on the stats sheet. However, there was more to it than that. Stats do not win games and the Sun never had any serious looks on net. Their best chances came from long range pop shots that at times looked more dangerous than they actually were.
That being said, having more than 70% possession in the first half is nothing to sneeze at. How did they manage this? For one thing, it was the continued use of the inverted fullback. This game it was more than just Jordyn Listro filling that role, with Kristen Edmonds on the left also stepping into the middle of the field when the circumstances dictated it.
Listro started on the right at times and would move into the midfield, standing in front of a back three of Vivianne Bessette, Brooke Hendrix, and Kristen Edmonds. When the ball switched sides, Listro would drop back and Edmonds would step into that spot. The nominal right back, Talia Staude, was allowed to get as high up the right wing as she could while staying onside.
A few times there was a glut of Sun players in the middle. The majority of the first half, though, went well and there was always an option. The problem was that there was rarely an option in behind Carolina’s defense. Riley Parker up top still could not get into positions where she would challenge the Ascent goalkeeper and was unable to force many saves out of her as a result.
Halftime brought about a substitution for Carolina, who were able to neutralize all the possession for the Sun and made that particular stat a little more even in the end. It seemed as though they were relatively comfortable letting the visitors have the ball, knowing they would not be able to effectively break through their backline and put one in the net.
The introduction of several international players whose availability had been held up due to visa statuses was positive – not only for their presence, but also for what they did on the field. One of the biggest names in the history of the young USL Super League, English midfielder Jade Moore, was feisty in trying to win the ball back and keep up the pressure, earning a late yellow card.
If she and the two strikers Natasha Flint and Cecilie Floe can get more playing time, their ability to interact with or influence this system could be very positive. The issue is there will be a very short turnaround time to embed themselves. DC share their facility with several other teams and moved the game up from Friday of this week to Wednesday.
Can we put it all together to beat DC?
Tampa Bay’s opponents this weekend have had a rougher go of things. In their six games, they have yet to win. The last two specifically were interesting in that they first traveled to Spokane to play the Zephyr in Washington before hosting them in Washington, DC. The first of those matches was a 1-0 loss, with the second turning into a 2-2 draw.
While that does sound better, yet again, there was more to it than that. Both of the Power’s goals came from penalties following handballs by the Zephyr defense. Obviously, the team had to put themselves in positions where they could even earn those penalties. But, it goes without saying that relying on handballs in the box to score is simply not feasible.
When it comes to scoring outside of that, DC have not been the best. Striker Jorian Baucom notched the only other goal for the Power in a draw vs. Dallas Trinity. She now sits behind defender Madison Wolfbauer as the team’s leader following the latter’s two penalties against Spokane. It’s fair to say the Sun should be looking to maintain a shutout this evening.
On the other side of things, Tampa Bay are the only club who failed to score against DC in a prior match. Much has changed for the Sun since then, though, and the chances should hopefully be more fluid this time around. They have had more time to implement their way of playing and the individual women involved know the system that much better.
The other big addition to the equation is a literal one, that mentioned above: three new players on the Tampa Bay roster. While Riley Parker has battled admirably, she has yet to score through six games this year. More production from our attackers is important as the season goes by. Center back Brooke Hendrix is tied for first place – because four players sit on one goal.
Natasha Flint and Cecilie Floe both will provide Parker with competition for the starting position. That is, of course, if the formation doesn’t change to suit the newcomers. They are already fit enough to have earned minutes in their first available match of the year. Getting on the field for kickoff shouldn’t be too far off.
Finally, there’s the potential game changer Jade Moore. This is a former English national team regular who made multiple deep runs in the World Cup. She has reached a level in football that most people only dream of. Her experience and nous will be invaluable to a Sun team that includes several players who are just getting going in their professional careers.
Due to her having arrived the most recently, and having been the least regular before joining the club, it is unlikely Moore will start. However, she should be able to make up for that when she does get on the pitch. In the meantime, those players in the midfield will also know they have to raise their games to maintain their own positions. It’s going to be a battle that will improve the whole team.
Score Predictions from the RBLR Sun Podcast:
Liz: 1-0 W
Tom: 2-0 W
Yurika: 2-0 W
James: 2-1 W
