Sarasota Paradise held off a late Corpus Christi FC rally to claim a 2–1 victory in USL League One on Wednesday night. Anderson Rosa and Sander Røed scored either side of halftime for the hosts, while Blake Bowen pulled one back in the 80th minute to set up a tense finish.

The first half was a scrappy affair, with Ronald Alexis Cerritos picking up the game's first booking in the 25th minute before Sarasota's Jørgen Pettersen followed him into the referee's notebook ten minutes later. The hosts broke the deadlock three minutes before the break when Rosa finished from a Røed delivery to make it 1–0. Corpus Christi's Enock Kwakwa was cautioned right at the halftime whistle, capping a fractious opening 45 minutes.

Sarasota doubled their lead in the 64th minute. Pettersen — already on a yellow card — turned provider, picking out Røed, who made no mistake to put the hosts in a commanding position. The Norwegian pair of Røed and Pettersen combined to devastating effect, with both directly involved in each of Sarasota's goals.

Corpus Christi refused to go quietly. Bowen converted from an Arthur Medina assist in the 80th minute to halve the deficit, and the visitors pushed hard for an equalizer in the closing stages. Sam Roscoe-Byrne and Christian Chaney were both booked as Corpus Christi's desperation grew, but Sarasota managed the game well enough to see out the result. Rosa also picked up a late yellow card as the hosts ran down the clock.

The win gives Sarasota Paradise valuable early-season points at