Fans at Tampa Bay Sun FC’s sold-out season kickoff at Blake High School in Tampa, Florida on Aug. 18, 2024. Credit: Photo by Ryan Kern

Tampa Bay Sun FC spent Saturday night punching a ticket to the first-ever USL Super League championship game.

In a post-match press conference shared by RBLR Sports, Sun head-coach Denise Schilte-Brown (DSB), alongside semifinal goal scorers Natasha Flint and Carlee Giammona all agreed that they would be watching to see if in-state rival Ft. Lauderdale United FC could pull off an upset in the second semifinal against league-leaders Carolina Ascent.

Well, that happened, as Carolina fell 2-1 in extra time on Sunday night—and that means that the Sun, the league’s No. 2 seed, will host Ft. Lauderdale (seeded No. 4) at home for this weekend’s big final.

Tickets for the USL Super League final now set for Saturday, June 14 inside Riverfront Stadium at Blake High School in Tampa went on sale last weekend and are still available starting at $26.

Tampa Bay Sun FC and Ft. Lauderdale United FC have already met four times since the launch of the Bay area’s first pro women’s soccer team. Tampa Bay is technically undefeated against United, although the teams have played to a tie three times.
In the press conference, Tampa Bay Sun FC gaffer, Schilte-Brown said her side would spend some time in practice this week working on the choices they made on balls getting served around the goal.

“There’s moments to serve, moments to keep the ball. Once we started driving a little bit more at them we created a lot more opportunities. We were a lot more dangerous. So probably just cleaning that up,” DSB said about the 2-1 victory over Dallas Trinity FC, adding that corner kicks will need attention, too.
Subscribe to Creative Loafing newsletters.