Lukas Kamrath celebrates his game-tying goal in the 90th minute. Provided photo.

Under the late evening light of Lakewood Ranch, the Sarasota Paradise ushered in a new era of soccer on the Gulf Coast. TheParadise of the United Soccer League Two (USL2) began its South Florida division title defense in earnest on May 17 when it forced a 1-1 draw with nearby rival St. Petersburg FC. Saturday’s match was the Paradise’s first official USL2 contest in its new home at Premier Sports Campus in Lakewood Ranch.

Although the Skyway Derby was a low scoring affair, it was not without its fair share of drama and physicality. St. Petersburg started out the match on top, dominating much of the offensive possession in opening minutes, keeping the Paradise’s back line busy with successive attacks on goal. The Paradise was not able to break through St. Petersburg’s defensive until the 13 minute mark, landing multiple shots on goal to no avail. It was St. Petersburg that struck first, when forward Alejandro Zuniga hooked a shot into the bottom corner of the net to put his team up 0-1 in the 39th minute.

The second half brought even more action and aggressiveness from both teams, with four yellow cards handed out, three to St. Petersburg and one to the Paradise. “They’re our closest opponent, so that contributes to how physical this match was,” says Paradise forward Lukas Kamrath. “We also know a lot of these guys, so it brings a little extra fire to want to beat our old friends and teammates and people that we’ve played against year in and year out.”

A flurry of substitutions for the Paradise in the second half—including the addition of last year’s leading scorer Seth Mahlmeister—led to a revitalized offensive attack. While the Paradise had multiple shots on goal, one of which was a missed header by Kamrath on a corner kick at the 67th minute mark, an excruciating 0-1 loss seemed inevitable. It wasn’t until the 90th minute, with defenders flying around him in the box, that Kamrath was able to sneak a shot past the St. Petersburg goalkeeper to tie the match.“We have a lot of great players, but it’s going to take some time,” says head coach Mirko Dakovic. “I would have been happier with a win, but last year we started off with a loss and ended up winning the division, so we’ll take the point and build on it next week.”

The Sarasota Paradise will next face Weston FC away on May 25.

Lukas Kamrath celebrates his game-tying goal in the 90th minute. Provided photo.

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