JACKSONVILLE (Florida Sports Wires) – The Sporting JAX women’s team rallied multiple times on Saturday, clawing back to earn a point in a 4-4 draw against Brooklyn FC.
Brooklyn quickly jumped ahead in the first 25 minutes of the match, gaining a 2-0 advantage.
Sporting JAX found themselves in an early hole, but a response was on the way. Two minutes later, Sporting JAX earned a free kick in a dangerous position. Defender Grace Phillpotts lined up the kick, sending it towards the box. From there, forward Baylee DeSmit
connected with a header to get Sporting JAX on the board with her eighth goal of the season.
Less than 10 minutes later, an equalizer was delivered. In the 33rd minute, Brooklyn failed to clear the ball from the final third. Sporting JAX forward Paige Kenton muscled her way through the opposition, gaining possession and sending a shot past the keeper. Suddenly, the deficit was gone and the match was tied.
“I think our faith in our attack and our creativity [helped us come back],” Kenton said. “We see it every day in practice. We know we can score goals. We’re scoring all week. We’re working with each other. Our cohesion up front is outstanding.”
Sporting JAX fought hard to erase Brooklyn’s lead, but the visitors entered the second half energized to find a new one. They struck quickly, grabbing two more goals to reestablish their lead from earlier in the match.
Much like the first half, though, a response from the home team was on the way. In the 67th minute, Kenton drew a foul in the box to award her squad a penalty kick. Midfielder Ashlyn Puerta stepped up to the spot, converting to shrink the gap back to one goal.This is something that Sporting JAX Head Coach Stacey Balaam also pointed to postmatch as a strength of the team.
“They built that relationship with each other, and they’ve got that chemistry on the field and obviously playing with each other last year,” Balaam said. “You’ve always got to be on the same page for things like that to click, and they just have a great understanding with each other and they’re always dangerous to defend for teams.”
Sporting JAX hits the road next weekend to take on Dallas Trinity FC in the Gainbridge Super League Match of the Month. Fans can tune it at 5 p.m. ET on Peacock. They’ll return to Hodges Stadium on Sunday, November 15 at 5 p.m. to take on DC Power FC. Fans looking to attend
can purchase tickets by clicking here.
