DC Power FC’s season opener did not go as they planned, as they lost 1-0 to Carolina Ascent on Saturday night at Audi Field. Mia Corbin’s 35th minute goal was the difference in the match.

DC Power entered the season opener with a lot of ambition to get out to a great start. However, as they opened the fall sprint season, they started out on the back foot by dropping points at home.

I saw a game where we started off pretty well in terms of our play…[we] didn’t create much in the second half. I thought we weren’t good, just overall wasn’t happy with our performance,” head coach Omid Namazi said after the match.  

The team was without forward Gianna Gourley, who pulled a muscle in the 48 hours leading into the match. Alyssa Walker dressed but was “unavailable to play,” according to Namazi. Still, the team was hoping that its revamped roster could hold court at Audi Field, and they started out with a lot of possession. Still, they didn’t get a shot on goal until the 14th minute, when Susanna Fitch sent a long ball ahead to forward Tatum Thomason. Thomason one timed the shot on the half volley on the run, but she couldn’t get power on the shot and the ball rolled calmly to Carolina goalkeeper Sydney Martinez.

A couple minutes later, DC Power got a good chance when Justina Gaynor sent it into the box to a sliding Thomason. Thomason tried to redirect it, but it went just wide of the net.

“I think we started the half very well and that was important to us to go out and set the tone and play some good soccer,” Thomason remarked after the match. I think we did that, and Loza [Abera] and I, I think we did a good job of balancing out, like her checking in and me running in behind, playing to each other’s strengths. So I think that’s what was working in the first half.”

DC Power started to open it up to try and get some shots on the break, but they weren’t able to generate any dangerous scoring chances. Katie Cappalletti had a couple of nice saves in the first half to keep the score level. However, in the 35th minute, Carolina struck. On a long cross from Addisyn Merrick, Carolina forward Mia Corbin got a header that hit the bottom of the crossbar and in to give the Ascent the lead.

DC Power had to try and get back into the match to get the equalizer, and had a couple of chances before the halftime whistle. The team dominated DC Power dominated possession in the first half (57%) and had more shots (10-6). However, Carolina put more balls on frame with 5 shots on goal to DC’s 2, and they had the goal that gave them the 1-0 lead they took into halftime.

“[Our] final pass or the pass before the final pass, it’s just not good enough. And we practice those things all the time, attacking patterns and in our attacking half…So I got to work on these deliveries. These services have more intention behind them as opposed to just getting it into the box. And then at the end of the day, we’ve gotta get there.”

The second half started with no changes on either side, and DC Power wanted to make the push to get the equalizer early. However, they still weren’t able to generate any chances inside the penalty area to put a shot on goal. In the 63rd minute, Namazi went to his bench, subbing in Tyler Lussi, Kayla Colbert, and Mak Whitham to make their DC Power debuts. However, it was Carolina who had a few chances over the next 15 minutes. Goalkeeper Katie Cappalletti made some miraculous saves, including a couple on Carolina breakaways, to keep DC in the hunt.

In the 82nd minute, DC Power had what they thought was the equalizer when Sydney Cummings’ header from Sam Angel’s corner kick hit the post and then Kayla Colbert sent home the rebound. However, Colbert was just offside, and the goal came off the board. Five minutes later, DC Power almost got the equalizer via an Ascent own goal when Emily Morris accidentally flicked Kayla Colbert’s cross backwards in the box towards net. Sydney Martinez was forced to push the ball over the crossbar to keep it out of the net.

DC Power had a couple final chances to level the score, but weren’t able to do so, and the match ended with the 1-0 score.

After the match, Omid Namazi lamented the missed opportunity to get in the win column with the sprint season increasing the importance of each match. “You got a big, big hill to climb. So that’s why I’m saying next week is a must win for us,” Namazi said. “Every game becomes that important because you just don’t have a lot of time to recover from a bad day or a bad night where you didn’t perform well. And look, games are won sometimes by playing good football, right? And you just outplay the other team. You get a lot of shots on, a lot of shots on goal, and then you score. And then sometimes it’s your grit, it’s your fight that’s going to win you games.”

Namazi went on to say that he wants his team to be one that opponents fear because they’re physical, they fight, and won’t quit. He conceded that the club was a bit behind others due to the roster turnover and the need to develop chemistry, but he wanted DC Power to make physicality their calling card.

“Unless we get to that point where we’re this team that people are afraid of playing against us, we’re not going to get where we want to go. We can play pretty good soccer and be this pretty team, but at the end of the day, the one that runs and kicks and gets in the box and gets headers on the ball…sometimes you gotta win playing ugly, and that’s what we need to learn. We need to learn how to win ugly.”

Tatum Thomason said that. the players want teams to hate playing them because of their grit. “Stepping out on the field, I was like, ‘I want to make these center defenders hate me. I just want to run at them and make them hate me. I mean, we’re a physical team, but I think even just taking it like one step, not in like a dirty way, but in just like a desire to win the game type of way.”

DC Power will look to regroup before they head on the road to Brooklyn FC next Friday. They hope to bring the fight with them because, as Omid Namazi stated plainly, “every game this season is like a final.” They view the next match as a must win to ensure they can keep pace in the Gainbridge Super League standings.