Featured image via Fort Lauderdale United FC
The USL Super League’s schedule is constructed to include a winter break during the months of December and January. While this gap provides respite for teams and helps avoid winter weather, it can leave fans restless and craving more soccer.
Luckily for those fans, that break is now over. The Super League season resumes this Saturday, February 8 at 7:00 PM ET. All eyes will be on Riverfront Stadium as Tampa Bay Sun FC hosts in-state foe Fort Lauderdale United FC.
Adding to the high stakes are these club’s positions in the standings. At the midway point of the season, the clubs are separated by just one point, with Fort Lauderdale and Tampa Bay sitting 4th and 5th in the table, respectively.
The Super League’s newness led to the early days of the 2024-2025 campaign being largely unpredictable. One way of guessing what to expect could be to look at previous meetings. The teams have met once so far in their existence in a rainy November duel.
The result? A 1-1 draw.
These teams are located just four hours from each other, sit one point apart in the table and drew in their only previous encounter. Something has to give.
Maybe looking at the stats can help separate these tightknit teams. As if there wasn’t enough parity already, they have both scored a total of 17 goals this season, tied for fourth in the league. Let’s check out their defensive reputations, then. At this point, it shouldn’t even be a surprise, but both clubs have allowed 14 goals this season. Fans truly couldn’t have a more balanced match to start the back-half of the season with.
One area where there is some separation between the two is their discipline. Tampa Bay leads the league in fouls conceded and yellow cards, while Fort Lauderdale is in the bottom-three for both stats. In a duel between such evenly-matched squads, defensive discipline–or a lack thereof–could ultimately be the deciding factor.
As aforementioned, the winter break did allow for players and staff alike to rest and reset. Will this gap in play lead to a bit of rust as things get back under way, though? It’s something to watch for on Saturday, but these talented rosters likely won’t take long to shake any rust.
Which of these players could be the difference this weekend? Fort Lauderdale boasts the league’s leading scorer, Addie McCain, who has netted eight goals this season. Tied for third place is Carlee Giammona with five, who will line up across the aisle for Tampa Bay.
Despite already having solid lineups, both teams bolstered their core over the break with some new additions. Fort Lauderdale added a pair of defensive reinforcements, including Laurel Ansbrow and Julia Grosso. South Florida native Grosso arrives after stints in the NWSL and in Australia, where she was named the 2022-23 A-League Player of the Year. What was already a solid defensive unit will be even stronger as they look to shut down Fort Lauderdale this weekend.
As for Tampa Bay, they’ll have help coming on offense in the form of Parker Goins, who joins from NWSL’s Racing Louisville FC. This followed a college career full of accolades, including 2021 SEC Midfielder of the Year and First Team All-SEC honors in 2019, 2020 and 2021. Both teams were already full of talent, but it’ll be interesting to see whether these new additions can elevate them to the top of the table.
How To Watch
For those in the Tampa Bay area, this will be a fantastic game to attend. For those who aren’t, this is one that you certainly won’t want to miss. The match will be broadcast live on Peacock, where fans can also find all of the league’s other games.
This may be the only game this weekend, but the rest of the Super League won’t be far behind. The league’s other six teams will be in action in the following weeks of February, all charging towards the regular season’s conclusion in May. Only the top four teams qualify for the postseason, so it’ll be a fight to secure their place and become the league’s first-ever champions.
