USL Super League, Week 10

Some quick notes up front before we get to the matchweek:

• Say hello to the Arthur M. Blank Crest Cup™, which will pit the NWSL and Super League against one another in an Open Cup-esque tournament likely starting in 2028. Whether the NWSL takes the tournament seriously and rolls out first-choice lineups remains to be seen; no matter what, I'm excited to see the Super League get a chance to measure itself against the best of the best.
  We've seen good USL players (think Sam Meza or Natasha Flint) ably make the jump to the NWSL, but we've also seen NWSL squad pieces (Heather Stainbrook comes to mind) look like all-leaguers when moving the other way. No matter what, it'll be hugely legitimizing if the Super League can compete at a decent level starting in 2028.
• Dallas had a league bye, and they used it to draw more than 15,000 fans to the Cotton Bowl in the so-called State Fair Clásico against Chivas Femenil. Lee Nguyen used a heavily rotated lineup to secure a 3-2 win, but the result doesn't really matter; tapping into a big Texas occasion and bringing a Liga Femenil giant to town is an incredibly smart choice on Trinity's part.

Now, let's get to it.

Jacksonville (4) - Fort Lauderdale (1)

Coming into Week 10, I would’ve told you that Ashlyn Puerta – the Super League’s reigning Player of the Year – was having a down season. That’s to be expected from a 19-year-old who’s become the focal point of any defensive gameplan, of course. Putting in elite performances is hard when you’re regularly facing marks and double-teams!

With that challenge in mind, what Puerta did on Friday night against Fort Lauderdale is even more remarkable.

Jacksonville entered the match having enjoyed almost a full month off, whereas United had stayed warm and secured a galvanizing Week 9 win in interim manager Paul Jennison’s first match back at the helm. Fort Lauderdale didn’t rest on their laurels in any sense; Jennison kept Sh’nia Gordon as his primary No. 9 and got a goal from her, and he also redeployed Grace Cutler as an explicit marker against Sophie Jones, Jacksonville’s No. 6. Those changes earned Gordon a goal off a truly shocking throw-in sequence just seven minutes in, but they didn’t addle Sporting in any meaningful way thereafter.

Indeed, Jacksonville was barely phased by the goal and constantly dictated the tilt of the field. From the jump, Sporting – who returned Jamie Gerstenberg to goal and tended to initiate long against United’s press – settled into their possession game with aplomb. In the press, Jones and Sophia Boman flipped the script on Cutler by applying man pressure of their own. 

Control belonged to Jacksonville, but the challenge was to dislodge Fort Lauderdale’s 4-4-2 block. Varied positioning from Puerta and wingbacks Meg Hughes and AJ Hennessey made it happen. If those players stayed deep, it opened lanes through lines into forwards Paige Kenton and Baylee DeSmit. Follow-up movement was key; if, say, Hughes squeezed a pass up the left to DeSmit, she needed to push upfield around her marker after releasing the pass to create a two-on-one against Fort Lauderdale’s rotating center back.

Jacksonville internalize that lesson here. As the clip begins, Jones drops below the level of Sh’nia Gordon at the primary striker spot, thus pulling Cutler high with her. Thus, when Ashlyn Puerta drops low from one of the No. 10 positions in Jacksonville’s 3-1-4-2, it demands a mark out of the pivot. The same thing happens at the sideline; Hughes holds a moderate height, so right back Molly McDougal steps to her.

The result? There’s space to be had through Fort Lauderdale’s overdrawn lines. From the back line, Grace Phillpotts is able to hit Kenton with her back to goal, shrugging off pressure. Meanwhile, Puerta doesn’t rest. As the No. 9 holds play up, Puerta darts upfield into open space.

Though it takes an extra touch or two for Kenton to find Hughes and Hughes to play Puerta through, the result is the same: Sporting are in the box. There, DeSmit can receive on the cutback from Puerta and fire at goal.

Puerta’s gravity is key here. She knows a deep drop will bend the defense, but she’s savvy enough to turn that positioning into the opportunity to make a third-man run. The teenager didn’t miss a beat all night; she finished with a sub-50% pass completion rate but put in six box passes and five progressive carries on top of the goals. 

The goals themselves oozed quality. The first, which equalized the game in the 23rd minute, came from the penalty spot but was a byproduct of excellent team play. Boman and Hennessey were able to connect up the right and spread Fort Lauderdale out, allowing for a criss-cross of runs in the right halfspace. There, Puerta was able to receive, backheel Kenton into the box, and force United to give away a lethal foul.

Puerta’s second and third goals were a byproduct of Jacksonville’s territorial dominance. The second saw center back Georgia Brown atone for her early mistake by tackling Gordon at the onset of a counter, allowing Sporting to work in behind to Hughes and create a cutback cross to their star No. 10. Less than 20 minutes later, Puerta did the dirty work. Jacksonville’s shape funneled the ball inside amidst a Fort Lauderdale build sequence, allowing the 19-year-old to make a tackle, dribble central, and right-foot a driven shot into the near corner.

The record-setting fourth goal came off a long restart and a series of headers by Kenton and substitute forward Andrea Fernandez. In the end, Puerta was set up for a lifted left-footed finish against a backtracking defense. You couldn’t have asked for a cleaner move.

Yes, 2026 started slowly by Puerta’s impossible standard – something you could say of Sporting Jax more generally – but Friday made it clear that she’s back and better than ever. If she can keep it up, it’ll take Sporting from the level of a club grinding out results to the dominant form we saw last spring.

Carolina (1) - DC (0)

Death, taxes, and the Carolina Ascent scoring off set pieces. I banged that drum last weekend, but Carolina’s mastery over dead balls proved equally impactful in Week 10, where an early corner changed the face of their match against DC Power.

For their part, DC entered Friday night having gone almost an entire month without a league match. With Loza Abera away on international duty and Tyler Lussi injured, manager Omid Namazi arguably lacked his two best attackers. That didn’t stop Power from starting in a full-bore 3-1-4-2 that aimed to play through lines with drifting movement and sharp interplay.

DC got effective off-ball running from Emily Colton and Emma Jaskaniec as their No. 8s, and former Baylor defender Hallie Augustyn was strong in a rare start in the back three. Even so, breaking down Carolina’s 4-4-2 while retaining control on the ball was a chore. The Ascent were as sharp as ever; they knew how to bend their wingers in the press, when to let their defenders step, and how to ensure DC wouldn’t have easy access to the box.

Here we see an example of that phenomenon – even before the Ascent took their lead.

DC are initiating through the feet of Augustyn, while Fitch drops in from the wingback spot to help her out. With Fitch low, Carolina can’t blitz into full 4-2-4 mode; instead, left winger Audrey Coleman stays at the level of the midfield line, Baisden pushes high up the right, and it’s basically a bent 4-3-3 – one that lets striker Mackenzie George close on Augustyn.

Amidst the aggressive front end, there’s room for Jaskaniec to drop in and receive from within the 3-1-4-2. However, she’s got pressure on her back; Jill Aguilera closes hard from Carolina’s left back spot. Jaskaniec is able to control the ball, knock it back to Fitch, and set up a progressive pass, but it’s tight-run stuff.

Upfield, DC have filled in for the dropping No. 8. Striker Gianna Gourley moves toward the sideline as a receiver (thus forcing a step from defender Jenna Butler), while left-sided Colton also skews right. Fitch is then able to hit Gourley at her feet, take out 2/4 of Carolina’s defenders, and set up a backheel toward Colton’s clever space-filling run. The rub? Mia Corbin doesn’t miss a beat. The center mid tracks back, dislodges Colton, and averts any danger.

The Ascent’s ability to control their own zone was bolstered by rapid breakout sequences that could quickly tilt the field. Carolina played against the ball, but they picked their moments to be expressive. Eight minutes in, that produced the go-ahead goal – one where Aguilera served in on her left foot, found Butler at the far post, and let her head back to a waiting Baisden. (Just like last week!)

Carolina’s defensive shape deserves all the praise available, but I was equally impressed by their zone retention patterns upfield. Manager Phillip Poole has clearly established a strong sense of resting structure in his side, and it limited DC from ever countering the counter.

This play starts with stellar solo dribbling from fullback Addisyn Merrick, who breaks a line of pressure on the dribble and joins up with the attack. It’s a great bit of skill, but it ends with a DC tackle – one that could be a springboard. Instead, the Ascent mix swarming aggression in the counterpress with back-end structure. Merrick and forward Shea Groom go at the ball; both center mids, Corbin and Lily Nabet, sit deep like centerfielders ready to catch a fly ball. Power try to exit the zone, but Nabet doesn’t let it happen. Suddenly, Carolina is back on the front foot.

The Ascent only attempted 70 final-third passes against 144 for DC on Friday, but they were lethal whenever they did break out. Even as Namazi changed shapes into a matching 4-4-2 and got sparkplugs like Tatum Thomason into the game, it couldn’t budge Carolina. The early set piece goal set the table for that game state, but the Ascent’s unflappable character was the thing that ensured a 1-0 win.

Lexington (2) - Tampa Bay (1)

If the Tampa Bay Sun end up missing the playoffs at the end of next month, they’ll look back on the defensive lapses from this weekend’s defeat to Lexington SC as an enormous missed opportunity. The Sun largely set the terms away in Kentucky on Saturday night, but a 12-minute span punctuated on either end by two botched clearances undid all of that good work.

With Brooke Hendrix – a stalwart center back during Tampa Bay’s inaugural title run – recast as a No. 6 and Eleanor Dale making her Super League debut up top, the Sun came with new tricks up their sleeve this weekend. Still, manager Denise Schilte-Brown’s system was broadly recognizable. Tampa Bay set up in a baseline 4-4-2, though you’d be forgiven for thinking it was a back five based on Sydny Nasello’s positioning.

Nasello is (rightly) seen as the USL’s most dynamic dribblers, but she tended to play quite deep against Lexington’s pivotal right wing. Her depth stopped LSC from using that side of the pitch to their usual extent. Lexington had already mixed up their personnel off the right, pushing Alyssa Bourgeois into the winger-turned-No. 10 role while flexing Hannah Johnson to fullback. Their individual performances had ups and downs, but Nasello never made it easy for either player.

Tampa Bay used that defensive denial and a marauding, vertical sensibility to set the tone early. Dale and Shea Connors’ presence as outlets on the end of breaks and post-takeaway moves helped earn a penalty that Connors ultimately missed; still, the Sun barely gave Lexington an attacking touch thereafter, continuing to counterpress and tilt the field until Dale could score off a well-conceived, short-taken free kick in the 14th minute.

Tampa Bay didn’t exactly control the field tilt, but they didn’t let Lexington control it, either. The two sides combined to play just 150 passes in the final third – the lowest total of any match in the Super League season to date, and the third-lowest in any match across the division’s short history. In other words, the Sun disrupted tempo by virtue of their aggressive-yet-compact shape and dared Lexington to find paths through.

In this case, Lexington work the ball around the back but keep Johnson deep to try and bend the Sun’s formation and do just that. As a result of Johnson’s positioning at right back, Nasello must remain high to prevent her from receiving and making an easy 20-yard carry upfield. Necessarily, that choice has consequences. Behind the winger, Tampa Bay’s left-sided defensive axis of Sabrina McNeill and Kelsey Hill is left in a two-on-two versus Bourgeois and striker Cat Barry.

Knowing that they’ve got that parity over the top, LSC play direct to cause trouble. Defender Allison Pantuso’s long ball forces a high defensive line to turn 180° and reverse course; thus, Barry and Bourgeois are on the front foot. Though Hill does well to stay calm and knock the ball back to goalkeeper Cristina Roque, the play doesn’t end there. Instead, Lexington keep bearing down.

By the time Roque settles, Barry is splitting the gap between her and a deep-seated Hill. Meanwhile, Bourgeois addresses McNeill, whilst forward Addie McCain and center mid Nicole Vernis push ahead to mark point-switching options on Tampa Bay’s opposite side. In other words, Lexington completely entrap their guests. The only option for Roque is to play somewhat aimlessly over the top, which allows Bourgeois to recover.

The ensuing bang-bang-bang passing sequence is bolstered by McKenzie Weinert’s arrival as a later runner on the weak side, and though McCain’s ultimate shot goes wide, it’s a very good chance. The more that Lexington could push the issue in this manner, the better they fared. There was never one single point where LSC truly put their foot down and established control, but they did look sprightlier after Hannah White came on for Weinert in the second half, adding more of a target-ish profile to help break Tampa Bay down.

Lexington would score in the 73rd and 85th minutes to win the game with White on the pitch, but those were the only two shots LSC put on frame in the final 40 minutes of play. Not coincidentally, they also coincided with Nasello’s exit for Erika Zschuppe’s fresh legs.

I don’t want to blame Zschuppe for the first concession; Vivianne Bessette rotating wide against White and getting her ankles broken was the start of the problem. Nevertheless, what should’ve been a relatively simple clearance for the winger turned into an albatross in the box. When Zschuppe failed to knock the ball away, Barry was in position to equalize.

Tampa Bay’s game-losing giveaway was just as sloppy. There, LSC possessed through Bourgeois and a drifting McCain off their right side in a fairly anodyne crossing position. White and Barry both lay waiting as targets, but neither really got close to Bourgeois’ serve. Again, though, the clearance didn’t cut it. This time, substitute Sarah Griffith lay waiting to claim the ball on the edge of the box and fire home a late winner.

Credit Lexington: they never quit, and both White and Griffith proved to be game-changers off the bench. Nevertheless, this match was all about Tampa Bay’s mistakes. The Sun played their game, put themselves in position for three points, and simply couldn’t hold on.