DC Power host Sporting JAX in early-season top-two clash, Dallas Trinity, Brooklyn aim to get into win column
Welcome to The Weekender, where we’ll get you set up for what you need to know going into the Week 4 slate in the 2026 Gainbridge Super League Fall Season.
This weekend features a three-game slate that kicks off on Friday night with an early-season top two clash between DC Power FC and Sporting Club Jacksonville, while Saturday sees Carolina Ascent looking to rebound at home to Fort Lauderdale United FC and Dallas Trinity FC and Brooklyn FC squaring off each looking for their first win this season.
Here’s what we’re looking out for.
1. Game of the Weekend – DC Power FC vs. Sporting Club Jacksonville
After the inaugural season Sporting Club Jacksonville put together in the Gainbridge Super League, it shouldn’t be a surprise it’s the last club standing with an undefeated – and through three games, perfect – record to start the season.
As it heads to face DC Power FC on Friday night at Audi Field (7 p.m. ET | Peacock), though, first-place Sporting JAX should get its biggest test to date against a second-placed DC side coming off a breakthrough result away from home that added to the club’s credentials as a postseason contender.
- POWER SURGE: Behind goals from Loza Abera and Emily Colton, DC handed defending Super League titleholder Lexington SC its first loss of the new campaign last Saturday afternoon, taking a 2-1 win in Kentucky to jump into second place with two wins from three outings to start the season. The Power’s performance continued the side’s strong start to the campaign in the attacking half, with DC ranking first in the league in shots (59), shots on target (20) and Expected Goals (7.33xG) in its first three outings.
- SHINING DESMIT: Sporting JAX has made its own positive start to the new campaign with Baylee DeSmit picking up where she left off in the 2025/26 season. The 23-year-old scored for a third consecutive outing as Jacksonville earned a 2-0 win at home against Dallas Trinity FC last Saturday night, giving her a league-leading four goals this season. Over the current calendar year, DeSmit has scored 14 goals at a strike rate of a goal every 100.6 minutes, the most of any Super League player.
- RECORDS AHEAD: DeSmit could become just the fourth player in Super League history to record goals in four consecutive games on Friday night, joining teammates Paige Kenton and Ashlyn Puerta – who did so in the 2025/26 season – and Jasmine Hamid, who accomplished the feat for Fort Lauderdale United FC in the 2024/25 campaign. Jacksonville, meanwhile, could record the first four-game winning streak to start a Super League campaign with a victory having equaled Dallas Trinity’s three-game streak to start the 2025/26 season last weekend.
That could be on the cards for the visitors, who’ve taken victory in each of their past two visits to face DC, with the Power returning the favor on their trips to Hodges Stadium with victories in both meetings in the Sunshine State.
For DC, its prior losses to Jacksonville – and the challenges the side has found in earning success at home overall in its short history – makes this as important a litmus test as last week’s win in Lexington. If the Power are going to be a playoff contender, they must start winning at home.
There would be no better place to start than against the current league leaders.
2. The Rest of the Weekend’s Action
Carolina Ascent FC vs. Fort Lauderdale United FC (Saturday, 7 p.m. ET | Peacock)
- Carolina Ascent FC will look to get back in the win column when it hosts Fort Lauderdale United at American Legion Memorial Stadium with the visitors coming off their first win of the season last weekend. Carolina suffered a 2-1 setback to Tampa Bay Sun FC in its home opener last Saturday night as Reese Tappen’s first goal for the club wasn’t enough to earn a result, dropping Ascent into third place in the standings. Fort Lauderdale took a 1-0 win against Brooklyn FC via an early second-half goal by Nicole Vernis and has found success in Carolina previously, going 2-0-1 in their last three trips to visit the Ascent, but the hosts took a 3-0 win when the sides last met in South Florida in and have lost consecutive home games only twice previously in their history.
Dallas Trinity FC vs. Brooklyn FC (Saturday, 8:30 p.m. ET | Peacock)
- Dallas Trinity FC and Brooklyn FC will both be aiming to get into the win column for the first time this season when they meet at the Cotton Bowl. Trinity (0-2-1, 1pt) suffered a 2-0 setback against Sporting Club Jacksonville last Saturday as the side was held without a shot on target in a game for the first time in its history, while Brooklyn (0-3-0, 0pts) fell 1-0 on the road against Fort Lauderdale United FC last Friday night. BKFC’s performance against Fort Lauderdale showed an uptick overall, however, boasting a field tilt of 66%, and how that plays against a possession-dominant Trinity side should be interesting to watch.
3. Kit of the Week – Dallas Trinity FC’s Illuminate Kit
Dallas Trinity FC will don its new Illuminate Kit at home to Brooklyn FC on Saturday night, with the jersey’s burgundy canvas wrapped in a geometric grid with gold accents that make for one of the most distinctive kits in the league.
4. Landmark of the Week – Carolina Ascent FC’s Mackenzie George
The standout forward could become the first player to log 60 regular season appearances in the Super League when Ascent plays host to Fort Lauderdale United FC on Saturday night.
Check out Week 4’s News & Notes
5. Where to Watch Nationally
Friday
DC Power FC vs. Sporting Club Jacksonville, 7 p.m. ET (Peacock)
Saturday
Carolina Ascent FC vs. Fort Lauderdale United FC, 7 p.m. ET (Peacock)
Dallas Trinity FC vs. Brooklyn FC, 8:30 p.m. ET (Peacock)