By Daniel Feuerstein | Davie, FL | April 5th, 2026
It has been a long time coming for the South Florida side, as Fort Lauderdale United hosted DC Power at the Beyond Bancard Field to attempt to return to the win column in their season. After the change in head coach and some player transfers, the club hopes to get back to where they were at the beginning of the season. It finally happened, as the Black Kits of FTL finally got their three points, and the hope is to end on a good note and creep back up the table to get into a playoff position, as Fort Lauderdale won by a final score of three goals to one.
Game recap
The home side would open the scoring with a beautiful play for a goal, but it was called back on an offside flag. But it didn’t frustrate them, as they went back to work and finally scored. A long ball was crossed from the far side touchline to Kiara Locklear, making a run. She saw the keeper come off her line to challenge her and saw Emily Thompson to her left, made the pass, and Thompson finally scored her first goal with the club in the 26th minute.
“Honestly, it feels amazing to get my first pro goal. I’ve been waiting for it all my life, and I felt like helping the team get this win is a big accomplishment, but we did it all together. Even coming into the game, we had really good vibes from last weekend because we played so well, and I felt like we should have won that game, but this week, actually doing it and putting our chances away is the best thing, and we did it all together,” said Thompson
Many thought FTL would take the lead into the halftime whistle, but DC Power had other ideas. Inside second half stoppage time, Justina Gaynor got control of the ball, moving from the middle of the pitch toward the far side, and laid it off to Loza Geinore. She received the ball, attacked inside the area, and when she got close to the front post, took a hard shot that went across the face of the goal and tucked inside the upper 90 inside the back post in the second minute of two.
After the restart, FTL was getting pressured by DC Power, but held on as they forced shots wide of their net. FTL finally earned a corner at the far side. Delivering the ball was Kathrynn Gonzalez, as she bent it all the way toward the back post. Making a run and redirecting the ball off her body, off the inside of the near post, and in was Kelly Van Treeck, muscling herself into position to get the go-ahead goal in the 61st minute.
The third and final goal of the night for FTL came from a blocked shot by their defender, Shea Moyer, and then her teammates started to make a run. Locklear received the ball and pushed it down the pitch toward the center stripe. Making the run with her was Kate Colvin. A hard pass to Colvin, who was behind the last defender and broke toward the far side. When she entered the top of the DC area, Colvin lashed a hard shot that tucked inside the back post and gave a two-goal lead in the 68th minute.
It was finally the first win for Interim Head Coach Paul Jennison since he took over the club on February 11th.
“For the team, this is amazing because, as we’ve kept saying, they’ve been doing the work behind closed doors that no one has seen. We thoroughly believe in this group and the talent they’ve got, and I’m so happy for them that they’ve got a little bit of positive reward, a massive three points for us. The girls were very, very clear about it as we talked after the game: this is just the beginning. We’re going to rest up, we’re going to recover, and we’re going to hit the training pitch again, just as we’ve been doing with high standards, maximum intensity, and we’ll look to Jacksonville on the weekend.”
Fort Lauderdale United’s next match is on Saturday, April 11th, against Sporting Jax at Beyond Bancard field at 4 PM Eastern, streaming on NBC’s Peacock
Fort Lauderdale United finally breaks through with a big victory under interim head coach Paul Jennison. Three goals for the home team and time to put themselves back into a winning streak for them and the fans.
Bad Dawg Sports will be there for every minute — sharp, direct, and on the ground asFort Lauderdale United continues to find ways to climb back into a playoff position. Subscribe today for just $2 per year.
Discover more from Bad Dawg Media Group
Subscribe to get the latest posts sent to your email.
