DC Power FC suffered a crushing 2-0 loss to Tampa Bay Sun on Thursday night at Audi Field. DC Power, who needed the points to climb in the Gainbridge Super League standings, had a setback against the team that sits in last place in the table.

“It’s hard to explain. It’s by far worst performance of the year,” DC Power head coach Omid Namazi said after the match, visibly angry with the effort. “I could see from the first few minutes that there was no energy, there’s no urgency to our play….I can’t explain it. And I take responsibility for it.”

The first half started out with DC Power controlling possession but unable to string multiple passes together in a row. They had several turnovers that gave Tampa Bay opportunities to push forward deep in DC Power’s half, and soon Tampa Bay took advantage.

In the 10th minute, Tampa Bay broke through. On the first major chance of the match, Tampa Bay’s Faith Webber fired a shot that Makenna Gottschalk had to stretch to save with one hand, and it went out for a corner kick. On that ensuing corner kick,the ball was cleared right to Webber, who scorched it into the net on a volley to make it 1-0 to Tampa Bay.

In the 18th minute, Loza Abera had a chance on the break for DC Power. But she wasn’t able to get a good foot on the shot, and it rolled calmly into the hands of Emory Wegener. Things were very shaky on both ends of the field for DC in the first half of play.

The 24th minute saw a scary moment when Gianna Gourley and Tampa Bay’s Maddie Pokorny went at each other on a 50-50 ball. Both kicked the ball simultaneously, causing both to tumble. However, the force of the play forced Pokorny into the air, landing right on Gourley’s head while she was already laying on the turf. Gourley was down for a few minutes, but was able to get up and continue play.

“Yeah, just a little tweaker, but should be fine with some recovery and everything,” Gourley said after the match. “It was a clean tackle. [Pokorny] said sorry…it just happens, it’s soccer. It’s a tough game, physical match and just unfortunate.”

DC Power’s possession felt disjointed throughout the match, and they had several turnovers that ended any momentum they attempted to build. In the 41st minute, Katrina Guillou – back from international duty with the Philippines – replaced a visibly upset Dasia Torbert to try and inject some energy. Still, DC Power was down 1-0 at the break despite a late set of chances.

It was more of the same in the second half, as multiple miscues bogged down the attack and forced DC out of their shape. In the 63rd minute, those miscues cost them another goal. Jillian Shimkin, who had subbed on just a couple minutes prior for Tampa Bay Sun, received a pass from Jordan Lystro and sent what looked like a cross from the right side towards goal but was a shot. Gottschalk misplayed it, watching the ball go through her hands and into the net to make it 2-0 to Tampa Bay.

After that, DC Power was reeling, and despite some energetic moments, they couldn’t generate enough momentum to put towards goal. The best chance of the night for the team came in the second minute of second half stoppage time, when a pass in the middle from Valentina Perrotta to Hannah Richardson-Harney allowed Harney to take a couple dribbles towards goal. She found some space just inside the box, and launched a left-footed shot, but it went wide. The whistle blew for full time a few minutes later, and DC Power had squandered an opportunity to gain some points in the standings.

“I think it’s just a performance that’s out of character of DC Power,” Gianna Gourley said. “I think we just learn from it, regroup. I think we have to come together as a team and be there for each other, which we typically do, and keep the energy high and keep momentum from the last game we had against Spokane [Zephyr], which was a very good game I thought for us.”

Namazi was less enthusiastic. When asked to identify something positive from the match, he said “Nothing. Plain and simple.” DC Power remain in 5th place in the standings and 3 points below the playoff line, but they no longer have the game in hand against the teams ahead of them.

“Tonight it wasn’t there. Our physical play wasn’t there. Our technical play with passing wasn’t there. Nothing was there tonight. It was just a poor performance from the beginning to end.”

DC Power will look to regroup next Wednesday when they host Lexington SC at Audi Field. With just seven matches remaining