DC Power FC saw an opportunity to take a huge step towards the playoffs go wanting as they lost to Carolina Ascent 1-0 on Tuesday afternoon. A 79th minute goal by Tyler Lussi was the difference in the match.

DC Power was the aggressor for almost the entire match, really dominating play and pushing the ball forward. However, their many scoring opportunities all ended without a goal. Despite those opportunities, they weren’t able to capitalize and put the ball in the net.

”I’ll just tell you what their coach [Philip Poole] said at the end of the game to me, and that’s, ‘You battered us in the first half. Should have been up 3-0. You guys are by far the best team in the league right now,” DC Power head coach Omid Namazi said after the match, visibly upset at the loss. “Yet when you look at the scoreboard, it’s 1-0 them. And we lost the game.”

In the first half, DC Power thought they had a goal in the first six minutes of the match. However, Dasia Torbert was called for a handball on the play, negating the goal. The team did a great job of controlling the midfield and pushing the ball forward, but they were not able to punch the ball into the net.

In the 20th minute, Torbert got the ball behind the Carolina defense, and made a break for goal. Her shot went high over the bar to keep the game scoreless.

Fifteen minutes later, DC Power had their best chance of the day. Loza Abera was able to collect the ball in the box after a flair towards goal and with Carolina goalkeeper Sydney Martinez caught out of position, leaving much of the goal open, Abera shot from about eight yards. Martinez made a diving heroic save and then seconds later stopped Gianna Gourley’s shot off an Emily Colton cross to keep the game at 0-0. That would be the score going into the half.

In the second half, DC Power once again had several chances to score, but they were misfiring in the final third. After the match, Omid Namazi lamented the many opportunities they had to score and put pressure on Carolina. “We’re lacking consistent scoring, and it’s really hurting us,” Namazi remarked. “We’re playing good soccer. We’re playing through lines, we’re connecting passes, we’re getting forward, we’re getting opportunities, yet we’re not scoring. So, we’ve got to go back to training and really focus on final third play.”

In the 62nd minute, DC Power had yet another great opportunity. Substitute Lexi Fraley set up a chance by getting a cross from the left flank into the middle of the box. Gianna Gourley collected the ball with her chest and did a backflick volley towards net from six yards out. Martinez saved it, maintaining the 0-0 score.

In the 77th minute, a handball by Gianna Gourley while attempting to block a shot set up Carolina with a free kick opportunity from just outside the box. Tyler Lussi took the free kick, but the ball sailed well over the bar.

In the 79th minute, disaster struck for DC Power and Carolina broke through. On the break against the run of play, Audrey Coleman served up a perfect cross into the box, where Tyler Lussi was waiting. There was nothing DC goalkeeper Makenna Gottschalk could do as Lussi slammed the header home from close range to make it 1-0 to Carolina.

DC Power tried to get the equalizer, but each of their opportunities failed to get shots on goal. Despite a late push towards goal, the referee sounded the whistle for full time.

“There’s no lack of confidence,” Dasia Torbert said after the match. “If anything, we look back and we’re like, ‘Dang, this shows that how good we really are.’ We look at those moments where we’re creating so many good opportunities. So, yeah, just coming together even more. I think it’s more frustration rather than a lack of confidence, because we know we can do it.”

Despite the confidence, and another road match approaching this weekend against Spokane Zephyr, the team knows that they lost out on pivotal points that could have created some separation between them and Carolina in the Gainbridge Super League standings. Instead, DC Power fall to 6th in the standings, two points behind Spokane and five points below the playoff line.

Still, the team played well and they said that many in the league are recognizing their talent and how unlucky at times they have been finishing scoring chances. For Namazi, he knows that moral victories don’t count in the standings and the match was a chance to create some daylight.

”This was a pivotal game, though. We lost a good opportunity, and it’s disappointing to come out with a loss. So now we’ve dug ourselves a little bit of a hole. We just gotta climb ourselves out starting with the game in Spokane.”