McNamara leads Brooklyn FC comeback in 2-2 draw at Jacksonville

Tommy McNamara scored once and set up another as Brooklyn FC fought back from two goals down for a 2-2 draw with Sporting Club Jacksonville at Hodges Stadium in Jacksonville, Florida. The veteran midfielder gave Brooklyn the kind of composed, two-way influence that can tilt a road result, and he finished the night with one goal and one assist.

Sporting JAX came flying out of the gate and built a 2-0 lead in the opening 10 minutes, a start that put Brooklyn on its heels in a difficult away setting. Brooklyn did not fold. Juan Carlos Obregon and McNamara answered in the second half to pull the visitors level, turning a match that looked like it was slipping away into a point that traveled back to Brooklyn, New York.

McNamara’s goal mattered beyond the scoreboard. Brooklyn said he buried the penalty that put the side back on the board, and it was his first goal for the club. That is the part of the performance that stands out most: not just the finish, but the timing and the calm required to drag a game back to even after Sporting JAX had already taken control. In tight USL Championship matches, those are veteran moments, the ones that keep a team from chasing the match into a bad result.

The draw also fit a strange pattern between these two teams at Hodges Stadium. Brooklyn FC and Sporting Club Jacksonville also played to a 2-2 draw there on May 31, a match that was called in the 74th minute because of persistent lightning and heavy rain. That earlier game had been moved from May 30 to May 31 after USL shifted the kickoff because Hodges Stadium was hosting a Gainbridge Super League final. The July 18 meeting was different in weather but similar in outcome: another level scoreline, another game where neither side could separate.

Sporting JAX had the home-field jolt and still finished with only a point, while Brooklyn left with evidence that its experienced core can steady the group when the match gets messy. McNamara was central to that recovery, and Brooklyn’s road point looked like a direct reward for a veteran who handled both the final pass and the pressure.