Dallas Trinity FC ground out a 1-0 victory over Brooklyn FC in the USL Super League on Saturday, with Maya McCutcheon's early strike proving the difference at the end of a bad-tempered affair.

McCutcheon opened the scoring in the 13th minute, finishing off a Wayny Balata assist to give the hosts a lead they would not relinquish. It was the only goal Dallas needed, though the match was far from settled at the break.

The contest grew increasingly fractious as it wore on. Brooklyn's Rebecca Cooke was cautioned just before halftime, and the visitors' frustration only mounted in the second half. Jordan Thompson picked up a yellow seconds after the restart, followed by Samantha Kroeger in the 62nd minute and Hope Breslin a minute later. The cards kept coming — Dallas goalkeeper Rylee Foster was booked in the 79th minute, Emma Loving joined Brooklyn's growing list of cautions in the 86th, and Mylena Santos was shown yellow deep into stoppage time. In total, the referee brandished nine yellow cards across the 90 minutes, seven of them to Brooklyn players.

Despite the chaos, neither side saw red, and Dallas held firm defensively throughout. Brooklyn struggled to fashion clear-cut chances, and the hosts managed the game well enough to see out a clean sheet.

The win gives Dallas Trinity FC three valuable points at home and continues a solid start to the campaign, while Brooklyn FC will need to address their discipline issues quickly if they are to climb the table.