DC Power FC saw another home match end with lost points as they battled back to a 1-1 draw against Tampa Bay Sun on Friday night. Shea Connors opened the scoring for Tampa Bay, while Emma Jaskeniec got the equalizer in her first touch off the bench.

“I can’t be satisfied with the result,” head coach Omid Namazi said after the match. “We were better in every category, but it’s the [same] old story. We just can’t put our chances away. It’s disappointing. Is it better than a loss? Yes, it’s a point, but it’s disappointing to drop two points.”

Defender Sarah McCoy made her season debut with the start for DC Power, missing the first five matches of the season due to injury. After the match, she expressed her gratitude for being able to not only get the start in her first match with the club, but to play 90 minutes.

“It’s been a long few months, but this team’s been really supportive and it’s been really great to be back in training fully. And my first game back, played 90 minutes, so felt good,” McCoy said.

The match started with the first five minutes not seeing much action as both teams tried to set their footing. In the 13th minute, Tampa Bay got the first chance of the game, when the ball ping-ponged around after a Tampa Bay corner kick. Samantha Kroeger took the shot, but it was deflected out of play. There wasn’t much to write home about until the 25th minute, when Shea Connors got the ball on a bit of a break and took a one-timed shot. Katie Cappelletti was there to easily cradle the save.

On the other end, Kayla Colbert was able to get a shot from the end line on the right side. However, her shot hit the side netting. Seconds later, DC Power was able to get the ball back on a turnover and aggressively move towards goal. On a give-and-go with Emily Colton, Tyler Lussi received the ball and took a shot that was blocked at the last second by Vivianne Bessette.

DC Power was able to become more aggressive, but they weren’t able to turn that into true scoring chances. They maintained much of the possession in the attacking end, but the final third didn’t yield any results. In the 43rd minute, DC Power got a chance on goal, and it was Gianna Gourley who was able to dribble and create a bit of space for a shot inside the box. However, she didn’t get enough on it and it trickled to Tampa Bay goalkeeper Christina Roque. Seconds later, Tyler Lussi also was able to get a shot, with Roque once again making the save.

That was the last main action of the half, as the referee blew the halftime whistle right at 45:00 with the match scoreless at the break.

Things got a little chippy early in the second half as both teams fought for positioning. In the 57th minute, Tampa Bay had an excellent chance from a set piece. Samantha Kroeger’s cross found Kelsey Hill right on the edge of the 6 yard box. Hill’s volley rattled off the crossbar and stayed out.

In the 62nd minute, Tampa Bay finally opened the scoring in the match. Off a turnover, Jordyn Listro made an excellent through ball to Shea Connors. Connors was able to slot the ball past Cappelletti to give Tampa Bay the 1-0 lead.

Now, DC Power really needed to get a goal back. Omid Namazi made three changes in the 69th minute, bringing on Alyssa Walker, Emma Jaskeniec, and Abby Boyan. Almost immediately, the substitutes strike. Off a Sam Angel free kick from 35 yards out, she found Alyssa Walker, whose first touch of the match pushed the ball into the middle of the 6 yard box. Emma Jaskeniec, with her first touch, got the ball, tried to find space, and with her back to the goal, heel flicked it past Christina Roque into the back of the net to level the match at 1-1.

Well, I gotta give a lot of credit to Alyssa Walker,” Jaskaniec said of the goal. “It was her first touch of the game. My first touch of the game. And she just came on and won the first ball and I was there to pick up the second, and my back was to go and I was like, ‘just gonna try it,’ gotta be gritty. And it went in and I think it was huge for the girls…I saw the ball go over my head, so then I started curving my run and a lot of times the defenders get attracted to the ball, so everybody sucked over to the side. So when I got the ball, I knew that nobody was really around me. So a little strategic, a little lucky, but that’s the game of soccer in a nutshell.”

Alyssa Walker then picked up an injury to her shoulder just after the restart, which forced her to the sidelines for treatment for several minutes. DC Power played down a player until she was able to return in the 75th minute.

In the 86th minute, DC Power had a chance to take the lead. On the break, Emily Colton passed it off wide to substitute Tatum Thomason, who fired a shot that required Christina Roque to make an outstretched save to send the ball over the crossbar.

Both teams weren’t able to get much. As the match entered stoppage time, in the 2nd minute of stoppage, Kayla Colbert got the ball in the middle of the field, and seeing some space, tried to chip the keeper from about 40 yards. However, the ball went over the bar.

That was the last main action of the match, as the whistle ended it and both teams split the points.

After the match, Omid Namazi was frustrated at the amount of opportunities the team was able to generate moving forward that ultimately failed in the final third, a theme that has stuck with DC Power throughout the past couple of seasons. “I work on the team getting to the final third. In the final third, we give them some ideas…We work on finishing, we work on set pieces, we work on different types of final third entries and how we can get to goal. And it’s just when it comes to the game…we suffer, we continuously suffer from final delivery and final passes,” Namazi said in frustration.

With the draw and with Dallas Trinity getting the win on the road againts Fort Lauderdale United, DC Power dropped to 4th in the USL Super League standings, still tied with Tampa Bay but ahead by 1 on goal differential. They have a quick turnaround, as they play a midday match on Tuesday against Fort Lauderdale. They hope they can find the full three points from that match to continue to remain above the playoff line.