Brooklyn FC held off a stubborn Sporting JAX side to win 3–2 at home on Saturday, with Catherine Zimmerman scoring twice to seal the result in a USL Super League clash. Tziarra King also found the net for Brooklyn, while Baylee DeSmit and Paige Kenton replied for the visitors.
Brooklyn came out fast. Zimmerman opened the scoring in the fifth minute, finishing off a ball from Emma Loving to put the hosts ahead early. Five minutes later, King doubled the lead, converting from a Jennifer Cudjoe feed to make it 2–0 before most fans had settled in.
Sporting JAX responded quickly. DeSmit pulled one back in the 17th minute to cut the deficit in half, and suddenly the visitors had life. The game grew scrappy through the middle of the first half, with Cudjoe picking up a yellow card in the 23rd minute.
The second half was a tense, physical affair. DeSmit was booked in the 57th minute, and both sides traded fouls as the clock ticked on with Brooklyn clinging to a one-goal advantage. Zimmerman, already on a yellow card herself from the 74th minute, stepped up eight minutes later to restore the two-goal cushion, heading or latching onto an Ashlyn Miller delivery to make it 3–1 in the 82nd minute.
Kenton gave JAX late hope deep in stoppage time, finishing with an assist from DeSmit, but it proved nothing more than a consolation as the final whistle followed shortly after.
The win gives Brooklyn FC three valuable points at home and strengthens their position in the USL Super League standings as the fall stretch of the season takes shape.
USL Super League