DC Power FC entered Monday night’s match against last place Fort Lauderdale United FC needing three points to keep pace in the chase for the Gainbridge Super League playoffs. However, their playoff hopes took a serious tumble after a 3-1 road loss.

It was almost a disastrous start for DC Power, as Fort Lauderdale’s Emily Thompson thought she had a goal in the 3rd minute of the match. However, she was just a step offside and the goal was wiped off the board. Fort Lauderdale had another great chance in the 12th minute, and Kiara Locklear slid on a cross from Abby Hugh right in front of goal. Somehow, Makenna Gottschalk was able to corral the ball in and keep the it out of the net. Just seconds later, Fort Lauderdale had another point blank shot go over the crossbar, as they were taking DC turnovers and turning them into pressure in front of the net. They hoped the relentless pressure would wear down DC Power until they could strike.

In the 26th minute, the pressure finally paid off for Fort Lauderdale. On the break, Locklear caught Gottschalk well off her line, and snuck the ball past her with the DC goalkeeper out of the box. The ball rolled to Emily Thompson, who took a shot into the empty net to give Fort Lauderdale the early 1-0 lead. It was the first lead for Fort Lauderdale since February 14th, and it was Thompson’s first professional goal. For DC Power, it was the second straight match that the goalkeeper was caught well off her line only to see the opponent send the ball into the empty net.

That forced DC Power to wake up, but they couldn’t sustain any pressure offensively. Entering the day having failed to scored in eight matches this season, third-most in the Gainbridge Super League, their old woes continued during the first half. In the 40th minute, they had their best chance of the night as Anna Bagley got the ball in midfield and dribbled towards the center part of the field. As she approached the box, she unleashed a low shot that went just wide right of the net. Loza Abera also had a shot a couple minutes later that required a save from Fort Lauderdale’s Haley Craig.

In the second half of stoppage time, DC Power got the equalizer. It was Loza Abera who continued to apply pressure. Justina Gaynor got the pass to Abera on the left side of the penalty area. Abera was able to get some space and fire a shot past Craig to the top right corner of the net. It was Abera’s fifth goal of the season and she leveled the game at 1-1 as the teams went to halftime.

The second half began with no subs on either side and with it feeling like a brand new ballgame after the late equalizer. DC Power used the opportunity to get aggressive. In the 49th minute, Emily Colton sprinted towards the penalty area with the ball and she passed it off to Dasia Torbert. Torbert fired a shot from a tight angle, and the ball hit the right post. A couple minutes later, they had another flurry of attempts at goal, but Loza Abera’s final attempt goes just wide of the goal to keep it at 1-1.

In the 57th minute, Loza Abera was able to get behind the defense after a long ball. She held up just short of the penalty area, passing it laterally to a streaking Alyssa Walker. Walker one-timed the shot, but it went wide.

In the 61st minute, Fort Lauderdale got the advantage. Off a corner kick from Kathrynn González, Kelly Van Treeck muscled past the defense to kick the ball past Makenna Gottschalk to give Fort Lauderdale United the 2-1 lead.

Once again, DC Power were left needing an equalizer, despite them dominating possession and tempo in the second half. But, their inability to capitalize on scoring opportunities cost them again. In the 68th minute, it all fell apart. Claire Constant had a shot that was blocked on one end, and Fort Lauderdale went on the quick counter. Kaila Locklear went out on the break and passed the ball to Kate Colvin. Colvin, who had replaced Emily Thompson less than minutes prior, finished the break by putting the ball past Gottschalk to make it 3-1 for Fort Lauderdale United.

DC Power entered desperation mode, and Alyssa Walker and Dasia Torbert had chances to get a goal back, but neither could find the back of the net. Almost immediately after Torbert’s opportunity, Fort Lauderdale had another great chance to add a fourth, but the opportunity was stopped by DC. DC had a couple more chances in a back-and-forth few minutes, but none of their shots were on frame.

DC Power wasn’t able to get much else going, and despite eight minutes of stoppage time, they weren’t able to pull any goals back. Sh’nia Gordon had one final chance in the seventh minute of stoppage time for Fort Lauderdale, but her left-footed shot hit the upper right crossbar. Seconds later, the whistle sounded for full time, and Fort Lauderdale United earned their first win since November 8th.

It was the third straight loss for DC Power, who are now six points below the playoff line with five matches remaining. They are now tied for fifth in the standings with Spokane Zephyr after yet another loss to the team that was in last place entering the match. Now, DC has to put the match behind them and focus on another Florida road match against Tampa Bay Sun on Saturday. With crunch time upon us, they will need to get back into the win column quickly if they don’t want their playoff chances to fade completely.