Paradise Grab Historic First Goal in Draw with Fort Wayne
USL1 Sarasota Paradise

Paradise Grab Historic First Goal in Draw with Fort Wayne

Published on March 14, 2026 under United Soccer League One (USL1)
Sarasota Paradise News Release


Sarasota's Sander Røed scored the club's historic first goal off a free kick in the dying seconds of the first half and assisted on another in the second as the Paradise played to a well-earned 2-2 draw against Fort Wayne FC Saturday night in Sarasota.

Fort Wayne started their attack early with a second-minute corner that was deflected by the Sarasota defense and maintained their offensive pace as the half progressed, keeping goalkeeper Alex Sutton busy in and out of the crease. The two teams went back and forth for the next twenty-five minutes, with both defenses stopping any attack, while Sutton and Fort Wayne keeper Bernd Schipman controlled many harmless shots that came their way.

The deadlock wasn't broken until the 30th minute, when Fort Wayne's Javier Armas sent a long ball across the field that looked to be harmlessly corralled by Sutton until the Paradise keeper slipped as Lilian Ricol tapped the ball into the goal for a 1-0 lead and the team's first goal of the season. Ricol would play a part in another Fort Wayne goal just five minutes later when he received a pass along the right flank from Anthony Hernandez and expertly threaded a pass to striker Ryan Becher, who slotted it past Sutton for a 2-0 lead.

The Sarasota crowd was left shocked until the dying seconds of the first half, when Røed sent his free kick flying past Schipman to put the Paradise on the board and go into the record books as the club's first goalscorer. Now down just one, the Paradise came out of the break with renewed determination, as a 46th minute attack from striker Garret Mclaughlin was stopped by a sliding Tiago Diaz to deny the Paradise a goal and keep the score 2-1 to Fort Wayne.

Sarasota would battle for the next twenty minutes, having chance after chance denied by a stout Fort Wayne defense. That defense would finally crack in the 62nd minute, when Røed laced a ball from just behind the midfield line that found a waiting Jonathan Balanos, who fired it past Schipman to level the game at two apiece.

The game would stay level as time wound down, with Sarasota attacking hard while Fort Wayne denied everything. The final ten minutes saw four Sarasota corner kicks that were all cleared by the visitors' strong defense, keeping the game level until the final whistle blew.

QUOTES:

Sander Røed

"I'm of course happy. It's the first goal for Sarasota Paradise and the first goal in the history of this new professional team. But at the same time we were down 2-1, so our focus was on getting back into the game."

Jonathan Bolaños

"First off, I want to credit the fans. Their energy helped us get those two goals back. Being able to tie the game and score my first goal at home was really special."

Head Coach Mika Elovaara

"We've faced two very different teams, and the biggest difference from last week is that we created more chances and scored our first goals. We started slow again, so we'll look at why that was, but overall we created a lot of opportunities and there's plenty to build on."

NEXT UP

Both teams have an off week before returning to action. Sarasota hosts 2025 playoff semifinalists Portland Hearts of Pine at home on March 28th, while Fort Wayne plays their third straight road game as they travel to face New York Cosmos.

Tickets available at tickets.sarasotaparadise.us

Written By Ryan Flynn

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United Soccer League One Stories from March 14, 2026


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