TAMPA -- With any luck, the night will eventually be called historic. The start of a new team, a new league, a new era for women's soccer.

Time will tell if the Tampa Bay Sun FC become a fixture in the community, and if the USL Super League can navigate the economics of a fledgling league and the fickleness of a sporting nation. But those questions of historical significance are better answered down the road.

In the interim, the night should be appreciated for what it was.

Festive. Entertaining. Exciting. And, at its best, charming and inspiring.

The Sun scored a late goal on a header by Brooke Hendrix to secure a 1-all tie against the Dallas Trinity before an announced sellout crowd of more than 5,200 at the recently renovated Riverfront Stadium on the campus of Blake High School.

"It was rocking out there today, right?" said USL Super League President Amanda Vandervort. "That's all the club. The Tampa Bay Sun did a great job getting out in the community, being at soccer events, hitting the pavement, getting fans excited for this. And I think that's part of our ethos at the USL, being connected to the community and being rooted in Tampa Bay, that's something we're very proud of."

From the moment the gates opened to a long line of fans -- with the public address system playing Sheryl Crow's Soak Up the Sun -- the emphasis was as much on the crowd as it was on the teams. A standing-room-only cheering section in the north end zone kept up a non-stop drum beat with various chants throughout the night.

Both teams lined up in a corridor prior to the game with youth league players to accompany them on the field, a not uncommon marketing trick. Except, in this case, the players were totally engaged with the youngsters, bending down to ask their names and about their own soccer exploits before taking hold of their hands on the walk out to the pitch.

In the minutes before they left the locker room, Sun coach Denise Schilte-Brown talked to the players about the opportunity ahead of them, not just for the next 90 minutes but for the next generation.

"We had that conversation more than once," Schilte-Brown said. "The idea that this is a see-her, be-her moment. This is about the little girls, this about being role models and just how to manage ourselves in this moment. How to put them first, but still be able to focus on the game when the time comes because there was a lot going on."

Even before most of the crowd had arrived, there was a group of elementary-aged girls from the Dynamo soccer club in Riverview who were lined up outside the locker room to offer high-fives as the teams came out for warmups. Sun players had done a clinic with the Dynamo more than a month earlier.

"This provides them a pathway," said Chris Farnsworth, executive director of the Dynamo. "Best of all, it provides them a visual. Having a team here means we can regularly put on events for the girls, we can come watch games and we can have role models for them, which is fantastic."

All the good vibes and energy were at some risk when the Trinity came out with a more aggressive approach in the game's first half. The Sun spent most of the first 45 minutes in their own zone with goaltender Ashley Orkus bailing them out with a handful of impressive saves. Still, the Trinity took a 1-0 with a goal in extra time before intermission.

"That shows a lot about who we are as a team and what we're made of in our character," Orkus said. "The fact that we were able to come (back) from a 1-0 deficit for a tie and we were able to kind of push for a goal in the last 10-15 minutes of the half. That's who we are as a team, we have great heart, great grit, great character."

Schilte-Brown likes to have a morning practice on the day of a game to go over last-minute details, but her team leaders talked her out of it on Sunday. As it turns out, the game-tying goal was scored on a set play with Ashley Clark delivering a perfect pass on a corner kick and Hendrix sneaking in behind the defenders with the header.

"They said, 'If we're really diligent and we know what we want and we do the set (plays) without any mistakes, can we not come in?'" Schilte-Brown said. "I was like, 'Don't screw it up.' And they didn't screw it up."

When it was over, the players walked around the edges of the stadium for 15 minutes, signing autographs and taking selfies with fans.

Maybe one day, we'll remember this as a historic night.

At the very least, the Sun made sure it was a memorable one.