In November of 2023, Denise Schilte-Brown checked in from Scotland with an update on her efforts to recruit the players from every corner of the globe to come play pro women’s soccer in Tampa Bay.
“Most everybody wants to leave this tundra and come to sunny Florida,” Schilte-Brown—head coach of Tampa Bay Sun FC— told WMNF public affairs program The Skinny.
One of those players, forward Natasha Flint—who helped Celtic FC win the Scottish Women’s Premier League before coming to Tampa Bay—has been instrumental in the Sun’s second-half-of-the-season rise.
And last Saturday, 575 days after that update from overseas, DSB (as she’s referred to by some in the club’s Heatwave supporters section) and her players basked in the glow of all their hard work.
In front of more than 5,000 fans packed into a sold-out Riverfront Stadium at Blake High School, DSB’s side dominated play in the first-ever USL Super League championship match, earning a 1-0 overtime win over Ft. Lauderdale United FC.
But just like the lightning off in the distance for the entirety of the game, it seemed as if the Sun might not ever strike. Despite dominating in shots (22-16) and corners (11-5) Tampa Bay and Ft. Lauderdale held each other off long enough to force the extra periods.
But in the 100th minute, after yet another short corner kick, another international—Danish forward Cecilie Fløe—found the back of the net to score the game winner.
Fløe’s goal was assisted by Sydny Nasello, a University of South Florida alum whose dominating play has been key to the Sun’s success. (Nasello, who was drafted by the NWSL’s Portland Thorns, was named the USL Super League Final MVP.)
100th-Minute Magic! 🌞⚽
GOAL! Tampa Bay Sun breaks the deadlock in extra time—pure determination, pure passion, pure championship energy! #13 Cecilie Fløe100’🔵 Tampa Bay Sun 1-0 Fort Lauderdale United⚪️ pic.twitter.com/ayOtwWF3DA
— Tampa Bay Sun FC (@TampaBaySunFC) June 15, 2025
The win adds more intrigue to the Florida derby and is a boon for Bay area sports fans looking for another champ to get behind.
(It can’t be lost on locals that another Ft. Lauderdale sports team, the Florida Panthers, is on the verge of another championship while the Tampa Bay Lightning watch from home.)
This latest chapter in the “Champa Bay” story also builds on the Bay area’s long love affair with soccer. The Rowdies—beloved locally before the Bucs, Bolts and Rays—also won a championship in their inaugural season 50 years ago.
More importantly, it continues the USL Super League’s push to give young women an opportunity to get paid to play sports in front of fans who love them.
As USL Super League President Amanda Vandervort told Creative Loafing Tampa Bay early this month ahead of the Sun’s 2-1 semifinal victory over Dallas Trinity FC, her league is expanding, with teams already re-tooling rosters hoping to lift the trophy this time next year.
In a postgame comments posted in full by RBLR, DSB reiterated the fact that her side had no doubt that they had prepared well enough to win the championship game. She also repeated her belief that the culture of the Sun clubhouse—where the women support each other, laugh together and really have each other’s back—was a huge reason for the success.
“If you have good culture at the end of a long season like this, then you can go really far. And in the locker room, it wasn’t a great first half. And, you know, one of the resounding things was, ‘We got here together. Let’s stay together,’” DSB said about the halftime break. “‘How do we lift each other up and do this together?’ And that’s coming from players that aren’t even on the pitch.”
DSB—who’s leaving for a vacation to Mexico on Tuesday—also reflected on big changes during the USL Super League spring campaign where tactics called for a new formation, along with new players who came after having their work visas cleared.
In all, the Sun will play at home six times during the fall portion of the next season, and eight times during the spring portion.
Home field is a big deal for the Tampa Bay Sun, too; the championship effort marked the sixth straight win at Riverfront Stadium and adds to the Tampa Bay Sun FC’s league-best home record.
