Lexington SC delivers important win under standings pressure, DC Power, Carolina earn results, need more from open play
Carolina Ascent FC extended its lead at the top of the Gainbridge Super League standings to five points as it took its fifth win in six outings to start the season on Saturday night, while defending champions Lexington SC took a key win and Dallas Trinity FC continued to roll up the standings in an entertaining Week 6 of the 2026 Fall Season.
Here are four things we took away from the action.
1. Facing Standings Pressure, Lexington Delivers Needed Win
On one hand, it’s still very early in Lexington SC’s Fall Season, but the pressure the defending champions were under to deliver a win on the road against Sporting Club Jacksonville on Sunday evening ratcheted up the previous night when Carolina Ascent FC took its fifth win in six games to start the season.
That left LSC already facing a 12-point deficit to the top of the standings, and even with three fewer games played that means very little margin for error when there are only 14 games in the regular season slate. Thanks to McKenzie Weinert’s alert finish after Addie McCain had hit the crossbar moments earlier, Lexington earned a 1-0 win in a tightly-fought contest that saw goalkeeper Ryan Campbell come up with a five-save shutout and a Week 6-best -0.93 Goals Prevented mark to deliver the win.
Lexington still has ground to make up on the frontrunners, but after consecutive defeats in its prior two outings, getting back in the win column was important, even at this stage of the campaign.
“In the pregame, we made a commitment to really believe in each other and in our ability to earn a result, and I thought we did that tonight,” said Campbell. “This group has the caliber to keep winning and to keep finding ways to keep the ball out of our net. When we’re at our best and our grittiest, I have no doubt that we’ll continue to push our standard as a collective.”
2. DC Power Turns Up Pressure, Needs More End Product
DC Power FC took a deserved point in its 1-1 draw against Tampa Bay Sun FC on Friday night at Audi Field as substitutes Emma Jaskaniec and Alyssa Walker combined with their first touches off the bench to deliver an equalizer, but the hosts arguably left points on the table after a strong first-half display that delivered everything but a lead.
Applying high pressure defensively, the Power caused multiple turnovers by the Sun’s back line as they won possession nine times in the attacking third of the field but were unable to capitalize, putting only two of their 10 shots in the first half on target.
The ability to tilt the field in its favor is a potential gamechanger for DC, which has now turned over possession 36 times in the final third in six outings, but needs more end product in open play. The side is now tied for the league league-high with four set piece goals, while putting away five finishes from open play.
“That’s our goal, to push the game into the attacking half and keep it there,” said DC Head Coach Omid Namazi. “But from there we need to create opportunities, and those come in different variations — you can attack the central channels, go wide and provide crosses, or work set pieces, and we scored one off one.”
3. Carolina Ascent’s Persistence Pays Off, Eventually
The theme of set pieces was also front and center at Carolina Ascent FC, which used Shea Groom’s finish off an excellent corner kick delivery by Mia Corbin to earn a 1-0 win against Brooklyn FC on Saturday night to extend their lead at the top of the Super League standings.
Carolina’s goal equaled DC with four set piece tallies this season, with six goals coming from open play in their league-high 10 goals in six games. In a dominant performance that saw Ascent outshoot BKFC 25-2 but put only three shots on target and hit the woodwork once, though, Head Coach Philip Poole was left wanting more decisive finishing to put the game to bed earlier.
“I just think we’ve got to make it less interesting,” said Poole. “We’ve got to take some chances. We’ve got to hit the back of the net. I think we had a ton of chances. I’d like to see them again and look at it, but having just stepped off, I feel it was a very good performance.”
4. FTL UTD alums Knox, Hamid Keep Dallas Rolling
The spotlight was fixed on Jasmine Hamid on Friday night as she returned to Amerant Bank Field for the first time since her transfer to Dallas Trinity FC in the spring from Fort Lauderdale United FC.
As it turned out, another FTL UTD alum also got in on the action as Trinity claimed a third consecutive victory with Felicia Knox also finding the net in a 2-1 win that send Dallas into third place in the Super League standings.
Knox opened the scoring just past the half-hour mark to highlight a first half the visitors dominated. It was her second goal against her former club, having also found the net last season in South Florida for Spokane Zephyr FC, and when Hamid struck less than a minute into the second half for her fourth goal of the season it was all the visitors needed to lock the game down, with Fort Lauderdale’s late effort to rally coming up short.
Hamid’s finish, which came on her lone shot of the night, provided something extra for the striker.
“It means a lot,” she said. “Obviously, I’m really excited to score goals against anybody. I have a lot of respect for this organization. It does feel good, but I appreciate their staff as well. From Fort Lauderdale to Dallas, I wouldn’t be able to score without my teammates. They create the chances for me and help me move off the ball. They do it for me, so I do it for them.”