Sydny Nasello had just been named MVP of the USL Super League final when she made a choice most pros never even consider. Instead of climbing onto a celebratory boat with her Tampa Bay Sun teammates, the 25-year-old forward got on a plane to Guyana, keeping a year-in-the-making mission trip that mattered more to her than the spotlight back home. Around Tampa Bay, that decision turned the Sun's title from a straight sports story into something that felt a lot more personal.
The Sun's championship came with just about as much drama as you can pack into a scoreline. Tampa Bay edged Fort Lauderdale United 1-0 in extra time, with Cecilie Fløe Nielsen flicking in the winner in the 100th minute off a move Nasello helped engineer. The league named Nasello the Final MVP after she finished with 16 duels won and four chances created, according to the USL Super League. It all unfolded in the inaugural USL final at Riverfront Stadium on June 14, 2025.
She Chose Guyana Instead Of The Victory Lap
While fans packed the waterfront to cheer the Sun's title and enjoy the boat parade, Nasello was headed out of the country. Roughly a year earlier, she had committed to a mission trip to Guyana working primarily with children in the community, a plan she stuck to even when it meant missing the public celebration, as reported by the Tampa Beacon. Teammates backed her choice while they soaked in the post-title buzz, and Nasello treated the trip as a long-standing promise, not a last-minute publicity play.
From Land O' Lakes To Overseas And Back Again
A Land O' Lakes native, Nasello broke out at the University of South Florida, then chased professional opportunities overseas, including time in Spain, before signing with the Sun in July 2024, per Wikipedia. Her former USF coach Denise Schilte-Brown told the Beacon that Nasello "has an arrogance that you can back up with hard work and production," and pointed to that late burst of play in the final as the kind of moment that made her an obvious MVP. Club match notes for the Sun also detail Nasello's USF roots and prior clubs, underscoring how her experience abroad fed into her late-season surge, according to the Tampa Bay Sun.
A First Trophy That Hits Close To Home
The Sun's run, plus the chance to host the inaugural USL final, has supercharged interest in professional women's sports around Tampa Bay and added fuel to plans for a more permanent waterfront venue. Axios has reported on the region's growing enthusiasm and the club's broader vision for a Ybor Harbor stadium, a project the Sun and the league pitch as part of building women's pro soccer locally. That bigger push is the backdrop to Nasello's decision to split from the standard script and follow her mission commitment first.
Her absence did not dampen the parade, but it did change the story a bit. Tampa Bay still got its party and its first USL Super League trophy, yet the MVP was already on to her next assignment. For a lot of locals, Nasello's performance on the field and her mission-first choice off it are now inseparable from how they will remember the Sun's first title.
