This article was first published by the Tampa Bay Times on April 12.
By Ella Zinken
TAMPA — The Sun are heating up at the right time.
With a dominating 4-1 win over Lexington Saturday night at Riverfront Stadium, Tampa Bay tied Brooklyn and Fort Lauderdale for the third-most points in the USL Super League with just six games remaining in the regular season.
The top four teams will make the playoffs in the Division I professional women’s soccer league’s inaugural season.
The victory was the second straight for the Sun, following last week’s 2-0 win over Fort Lauderdale.
“Momentum is important,” Sun coach Denise Schilte-Brown said. “We’re proud of the ladies for back-to-back wins.”
Despite the rising stakes, Schilte-Brown said her team isn’t looking ahead.
“We’re focusing on one game at a time,” she said. “(Saturday) they fought hard, stayed focused and didn’t take any breaks — and it really showed.”
The Sun came out strong and wasted no time getting ahead.
Sydny Nasello opened the scoring with her second goal of the season in the 36th minute.
Carlee Giammona doubled Tampa Bay’s lead seven minutes later with her seventh goal, off an assist from captain Jordyn Listro.
Just before halftime, forward Cecilie Fløe, fresh off an international appearance with Denmark’s U-23 national team, made it 3-0.
Fløe’s seventh goal tied her with Giammona for second on the team, behind only Tash Flint (8). All three players are in the running for the league’s Golden Boot award, which goes to the highest goal-scorer.
“I got some really good inputs (in Denmark) that I can bring back home, and it helped me (Saturday),” Fløe said. “Hopefully, it can help me going forward, too.”
Lexington showed signs of life in the 58th minute, when midfielder Nicole Vernis slipped a shot past Sun goalkeeper Ashley Orkus.
But Hannah Keane, in just her second game with the Sun, sealed the win with a goal off a long ball from Viv Bessette in the 89th minute.
Keane’s appearance last week against Fort Lauderdale was her first since rupturing a patellar tendon in her right knee in March 2024.
“I’ve never had a major injury before,” Keane said. “The first 10 months of recovery were easy, but the last two months of coming back and playing at such high speed, that’s the hardest part.”
Keane’s debut gave the Sun a timely boost.
“We want to make finals,” she said. “We want a big push. We want lots of goals. We want teams to be afraid of us.”
If they weren’t before, they should be now.
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Thumbnail image caption: Hannah Keane, right, of the Sun celebrates her goal in the 89th minute with teammate Ava Tankersley, which capped Tampa Bay’s 4-1 win over Lexington Saturday at Riverfront Stadium in Tampa. [ Tampa Bay Sun ]