Home Semifinal vs. Dallas Trinity Preview
Date: Saturday June 7, 2025
Kickoff Time: 7:30 pm EST at Riverfront Stadium in Tampa, FL
Records: This is the first round of the playoffs. Tampa Bay host as the second overall seed in the USL Super League with 46 points, while Dallas have to travel with 43 points.
In the first ever playoffs for the inaugural season of the USL Super League, the Tampa Bay Sun earned at least one home game, starting at Fort Blake during the semifinal round. They will take on a tough and resilient Dallas Trinity, who were league leaders at one point during the season. Home advantage is only as strong as you make it, so make sure you have your tickets and get to the stadium this weekend! The ladies need you to help cheer them on!
How do we make the first ever Super League final?
Trinity’s recent form isn’t the most impressive. Since April, all their wins came against bottom sides Lexington and DC Power, with the exception of a victory on the last matchday over Carolina Ascent. The league leaders, of course, had already secured their playoff position and homefield advantage throughout the postseason. They had nothing to play for effectively.
That being said, take Dallas lightly at your own peril. The Sun coaching staff know better. They will be preparing their charges with the same intensity as always – if not more because this game is one and done. The Texans have not kept a clean sheet in seven matches. This is important to note, as one of Tampa Bay’s strong suits has been on the attacking side.
To hammer that point home, the Sun haven’t been shut out in 2025. In fact, their last failed attempt to score came in early December of last year. (Although, that was a 2-0 loss on the road to Dallas.) In that time, Tash Flint and Cecilie Floe have added to their totals, bringing the figure to nine and eleven, respectively. That should be good enough on its own.
As Blue and Gold fans will point out, though, they are not the only prominent goalscorers for this team. Carlee Giammona, usually lining up behind them in central midfield, has seven on her own. In the last few months, winger-cum-wingback Sydny Nasello has turned up the attacking dial and ended the regular season with four. Multiple threats make this club deadly.
Flint has taken on a different role from when she first arrived, often contributing from a slightly deeper position. She will switch spots with Giammona, who may slide out wide to assist either Floe or Nasello in a wider role. This movement allows the winger to act more as a forward on their own, and Floe and Nasello have taken full advantage.
The latter of those in particular has started to be more direct with her runs. Always a tricky dribbler, it was often the case that Nasello would run herself into a cul-de-sac over the first half of the season. No more, as she is now dangerous in her own right. Players doubling up to prevent her potential shots also opens up more space for cutbacks to others waiting in the box.
Dallas have taken to playing with three at the back recently, with wingbacks around a midfield partnership of Deborah Abiodun and captain Amber Brooks anchoring the center of the field. It is possible that they’ll focus on keeping Abiodun deep on the right to assist Brazilian wingback Tamara Bolt and doing the same with Brooks and English winback Chioma Ubogago on the left.
Breaking down what is likely to be a pretty defensive Dallas will be tough. The best teams in soccer often face a conundrum: when they line up against sides that are nominally lower than them, the underdog will often do everything they can to clog the box. Even if it’s not always pretty, it can be effective. Trinity may at least take some inspiration from those examples.
This is not to say the Sun are among the best women’s teams in the world. But, the dynamic is likely to come about in moments at least. It will be Tampa Bay’s job to drag Dallas out of shape and create space for their players to flourish. Bolt and Ubogagu are both forwards by nature. They can be baited up the field, which would leave space in behind them.
Of course, it will be incumbent on the home defense to keep any overloads from happening in bad spots. As always, balance is key. Manager Denise Schilte-Brown will be working all week on striking this balance, and making sure her defense is quick to react if the players ahead of them lose the ball. The most dangerous aspect will be transition moments – at least for Tampa Bay.
Score Predictions from the RBLR Sun Podcast:
Lizzie: 2-1 W
Tom: 2-0 W
Yurika: 1-0 W
James: 3-1 W
