Lewis Gettier was on hand for the 2018 championship between the North Carolina Courage and the Portland Thorns. Check out his photos below!
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Author: RJ Allen
4 Winners and 2 Losers from the 2018 NWSL Final
This was a fitting end to an unbelievable season for North Carolina, in a city that has set the gold standard for the future of the game. North Carolina came away 3-0 winners, but there was plenty more to this game than just the final result. Here are four winners and two losers from the game.
Winner: North Carolina Courage
This was a fitting end to an outrageous year from the Courage. After a regular season which destroyed the record books, if anything North Carolina did better in the postseason. Two resounding victories over their closest competition staked their claim as not merely the best team in 2018, but arguably as the best in the history of US women’s professional soccer. This is a squad without weaknesses, who can threaten from any angle, who will close down every play, win every second, third, and fourth ball, and simply make it impossible for the opposition to do anything according to plan. On a day when the Courage didn’t get any particularly outstanding performances from their ‘stars’ (Dunn, Williams, and Mewis—all of whom played well, but did not show anything out of the normal), it made no difference. Because they could rely on Denise O’Sullivan, Jaelene Hinkle, and Jess McDonald to blow off the doors. This is a team with no weaknesses and dozens of strengths, and if there were ever any doubts, they were put permanently to rest today.
Loser: Portland Thorns
This one is relative. Portland lost the game, but not because they played especially poorly. They came in with a game plan, and while it wasn’t executed flawlessly, neither was it badly botched. They looked to move the ball quickly forward, forcing North Carolina to collapse on the point of attack, thus creating space above that line for their more creative players to work. The problem is that they just couldn’t do enough to make the pinpoint long passes that were necessary to instigate the plan. As a result, they struggled to create scoring opportunities. And given the relentless Carolina assault, a few half chances were never going to be enough. All that said, this really wasn’t a bad performance from Portland. They played well. Just not well enough.
Winner: Jess McDonald
I will admit that I voted for a different Courage player as my MVP, but could not possibly argue with McDonald getting the nod. She scored twice, helped create plenty more chances, and was virtually unplayable for much of the day. With better finishing, she might have had four or five. Her dribbling was exceptional, including several moves in Portland’s box where her dance through a sea of Portland tackles almost seemed choreographed. And her contributions weren’t limited to the offensive side, with some of high pressure doing plenty to disrupt Portland’s possession. McDonald has long been one of the league’s most underrated players, and this game is merely one more in a sea of outstanding performances.
Loser: The Portland fullbacks
Ellie Carpenter will have many big games ahead of her, but this is one that she’ll probably want to forget. She struggled to get involved in the attack, sending plenty of errant passes that resulted in Carolina interceptions, and similarly struggled to contain the Courage left-sided attack. Meanwhile, on the far side, Megan Klingenberg was more involved in the attack, and helped keep Carolina slightly more contained down that flank, but also had something well below her best game. Given the range of their possible attack, Portland desperately needed its wide players to bring their A game. Without consistent threats from their fullbacks, they were stretched too thin, and unable to cover the vacancies into which the Courage players pounced.
Winner: Jaelene Hinkle
Every time she touched the ball, the stadium filled with a chorus of boos, but none of that seemed to phase Jaelene Hinkle, who turned in an inch-perfect performance, sending in crosses on a dime, and bottling up Portland’s right-side attack with ease. Hinkle is one of the keys to North Carolina’s dominance—being able to slot in one of the league’s best creative players at left back exponentially increases the defensive obligations of the opposing side, and that was on clear display today. Without anyone forcing her back, she effectively deputized as a left winger, running rampant up and down the sidelines. I voted for her as player of the match. I have no interest in supporting Hinkle’s politics, but she played a whale of a game.
Winner: The City of Portland
At this point, we’ve run out of superlatives to describe the experience in Portland, and everything feels like a cliché. But when language isn’t up to the task, clichés are all we have left. This game gave me goosebumps, and left me more than a little choked up. The atmosphere at this game was electric—the sort of thing you expect from sports with decades, or centuries, of history. The seats were packed with a sea of red. The crowd was engaged, passionate, and ready to watch a game for the ages. While they didn’t get the result they wanted, the support never wavered. And as the Thorns players circled the stadium clapping their fans after the final whistle, they were greeted with thunderous cheers. It was one of the most powerful moments I’ve ever witnessed in sports. This the future, and it’s up to the rest of us to live up to standards that Portland has set.
Three Questions Before the NWSL Final
We have finally made it to the very last day of the 2018 NWSL season. We have weathered the summer thunderstorms, the midday heat, the head scratching trades, the coaching kerfuffles and all the other furtastic things that come with your typical season.
And we’re right back to the same place we were on the very last day of the 2017 NWSL season. The Portland Thorns and the North Carolina Courage are playing a game for all the marbles.
There are a lot of questions we just don’t know yet surrounding this match. Will the Thorns become the first team to three stars? Will North Carolina win a title after two years of regular season league dominance? Will the ref remember to take the cards out of their pocket this year if needed?
Before we all sit down to watch the NWSL championship match, I have a few other questions rattling around in my brain.
1) How will playing in Portland affect the game?
The North Carolina Courage won the league around the 4th of July. At that point it was pretty clear no one was going to catch up and they weren’t slowing down to make it easy on them anyway. But the Courage have to go for their title playing no home games in the playoffs due to a hurricane ravaging the Carolina coastline.
If the final were taking place in any other venue then we might not be talking so much about it. But Providence Park is a huge home field advantage for the Portland Thorns. Watching how the Courage react to being in a hostile environment is going to be interesting. Not having McCall Zerboni adds to the question of how the team will respond.
Will they feed off of the energy of the fans even if most won’t be supporting them? Will playing the semi there aid in their preparation? Will it turn into another 4-1 Courage victory like the team had there on May 30th?
The Thorns are going to have a more comfortable time at home. But will it give them the edge to beat the Courage?
2) Who will be the hero of the game?
Will Tobin Heath show off just why she is so electric on the ball and win the game for the Thorns? Will it be 2018 NWSL MVP Lindsey Horan who is somehow open on yet another set piece to use her head to put the ball in the back of the net? Will it be Lynn Williams showing off why she was 2016 MVP? Or 2015 MVP Crystal Dunn making some magic?
There are players on both sides of this match with the skill and the talent to take their teams on their backs and score. There are players on both rosters with the talent to have a major defensive block to save a game winning goal too. Every centerback in this match made the Best XI or Second XI this year.
If the ref controls the game and keeps both teams from becoming overly physical, as the final from 2017 was, this could be one of the best showcases for women’s soccer we have in 2018.
3) Will Jaelene Hinkle be booed all game and how will she handle it when she is?
Jaelene Hinkle has been the best outside back in the NWSL for two seasons while at the same time being out spoken in her active non support for LGBT persons.
During the North Carolina semi against the Chicago Red Stars, every time Hinkle had the ball, she was met with boos for the 4,000 or so fans in attendance. And it visibly rattled her. The final is a predicted sell out. Meaning about 4 times that amount of people will be in attendance for the final and presumably a fair number will boo.
From a soccer perspective how Hinkle handles this will likely make or break the game for North Carolina. She is a force on both sides of the ball for the team and they need her to be on her A game today.
For a non soccer perspective it seems that Hinkle is doing very little to think about her perspective and the harm is costs others if her comments to Stephanie Yang in her latest piece for Dirty South Soccer- Jaelene Hinkle is aware of your boos, but doesn’t want to think about them – are any indication.
I don’t know what the “solution” to the Jaelene Hinkle saga in the NWSL is, or if there even is one. Personally I have undergone a change from “well she has a right to her wrong opinion” over the last year or so to a much less tolerant position on her unrepentant bigotry. Ideas like the ones she gave to the 700 Club hurt people. They feed into the notion that pushes LGBT persons to the brink, and often over it, every day. I hope one day Hinkle understands that. I am just sorry it took me so long to.
The NWSL final will be played on Saturday, September 22, at 4:30 p.m. ET. If you’re in the US you can watch it on Lifetime. If you’re an international you can watch on the NWSL website.
The View from the Sideline: NWSL Media Day Edition
Lewis Gettier (@LewisNC) is in Portland to snap some photos for Backline this championship week.
Take a look below at the photos from media day, open training and the Amanda Duffy press conference.
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Quick Kicks: Welcome to Portland
RJ and Luis talks about USWNT rosters, NWSL awards, the semis and a preview of the final.
Check us out on iTunes.
Semifinal Preview: North Carolina Courage host Chicago Red Stars … in Portland
On Saturday, the Portland Thorns defeated the Seattle Reign to advance to their second consecutive NWSL Final. The defending NWSL Champions now await the winner of tonight’s contest between the Chicago Red Stars and the North Carolina Courage.
If Chicago advances, it will be the first time Rory Dames gets his team to the championship match. If the North Carolina Courage win, it will be the third consecutive season Paul Riley leads his team (Western New York, 2016 & North Carolina, 2017) all the way to the title game. These two teams have history, so Tuesday night in Portland is guaranteed to be fireworks!
Setting the scene
Last year, Dames and his squad figured out Riley and the Courage in all three of head-to-heads. This season, the teams played to a pair of draws, with a Courage win sandwiched between. Of course, the history of the series matters little in a winner or go home semifinal, especially since the back-to-back shield winners will not have home field advantage.
Tonight’s match was originally scheduled for Sunday at Sahlen Stadium in Cary, North Carolina. However, the threat of Hurricane Florence forced a venue change. Both teams will face-off for a spot in the final in Portland, home of the defending champs, and the site of their 2-1 victory over Seattle on Saturday.
Sam Kerr & Company
If Chicago intends to advance, it will need a huge game from Australian striker and two-time Golden Boot winner, Sam Kerr. Of the 38 goals this season, Kerr has scored 16. The next highest total belongs to Alyssa Mautz (five), followed by Yuki Nagasato (Four). No other Chicago player has scored more than two goals on the season. Defensively, the Red Stars have let up 28 goals this season. Starting keeper Alyssa Naeher has seven clean sheets in 22 starts with Chicago.
There is no getting around the fact that Kerr is the main target—for Chicago to feed and North Carolina to stop. Despite having no NWSL playoff experience, she is up to the task. “I think as forward we kind of struggle with … if you don’t score you don’t have a good game. I’ve tried to learn over the last few years that it’s not necessarily the case.” Her skill and ignorance to the pang of defeat in the past several years may work to her teams advantage. Yet, so too may the vivid memory of the past.
Veterans like Naeher and defender Julie Ertz carry in spades. Both remember the sting of the 89th minute goal by Denise O’Sullivan which deflected off Ertz and beyond the react of her teammate for club and country.
The year before, Francisca Ordega broke a 1-1 draw in the 11th minute to send the Washington Spirit to the final against the Western New York Flash (now the NC Courage). Western NY went on to win the final in penalty kicks. For 10 players on the North Carolina roster, this is their third-straight finals appearance, adding crucial playoff experience to an already dominant team.
Nevertheless, Dames and his squad are ready to turn the pages of history in their favor. “You want to be the best, you’ve got to beat the best,” Red Stars head coach told the media last week. “North Carolina is the tip of the sword. So we’re excited to see what we can do against them.”
The Greatest NWSL Team Ever?
Sure, the above could be a statement, but will anything short of a title diminish the legacy of this North Carolina team? No NWSL team has had a better record, ever! At 17-1-6 this season, the Courage hold the league record in wins, fewest losses, most points (57), lowest goals against average (.71), and largest goal differential (+36).
Where Chicago has one out-of-this-world offensive threat in Kerr, the Courage have multiple scorers. To begin, 2016 Golden Boot winner Lynn Williams has 14 goals and 5 assists for North Carolina in 21 games played. She and Jessica McDonald, the team leader in assists (8) are known as the “Twin Towers”. They stand at 5’7″ and 6’0″, respectively and offer a perfect balance of speed, size, and physicality to keep defenders on their toes.
The smaller but equally as dangerous (Tiny Terrors?) Debinha and Crystal Dunn each have eight goals for the Courage this season. At 5’2″ and 5’1″, respectively, the pair are devilishly fast and powerful. The formula has worked for the Courage as of late, but will be enough to bring home the second title in three years?
Well, first there is Chicago. Defensively, the Courage roster contains the league leader in minutes played (Abby Erceg) and assists (Jessica McDonald). The Courage also have four players and head coach Paul Riley nominated for end-of-season awards. The Courage will however be without the services of MVP Candidate McCall Zerbroni, who suffered a broken elbow while with the U.S National Team.
Unfortunately, injuries are nothing new for North Carolina this season. Between injuries and national team duties, the Courage have manipulated their starting XI multiple times. No doubt, they are hoping the growing pains from earlier in the season will allow them to take the uncertainties of the postseason in stride. “We’ve been pretty consistent I think what’s important for us. We haven’t really had a downturn during the season where we’ve been struggling and lost our form,” said Riley on last week’s media call.
“Due to that, I think we like our chances.”
You can catch the second semifinals game between the North Carolina Courage and the Chicago Red Stars live on ESPNews at 9:00 p.m ET.
Route Two Soccer: My 2018 NWSL awards ballot
It’s time for some end of the year votes. Here’s my take on who should win the big awards.
MVP
- Crystal Dunn
- Lindsey Horan
- McCall Zerboni
- Megan Rapinoe
- Sam Kerr
It’s the most wide-open field the league has ever seen this year. To my eyes, there are a half dozen serious candidates, with plenty of others where you could make a plausible case. That’s a reflection of the depth in the league, as well as the fact that a lot of potential candidates ended up missing time. I predict that Kerr will win—the Golden Boot winner has never failed to win the MVP, after all—and won’t really be upset if it happens. Despite missing a quarter of the season, she really is just that good.
Still, I have her toward the bottom of my shortlist, behind some players that I think provided a bit more all-around value. Dunn faded a bit in the back half of the season, dropping from ‘impossibly great’ to ‘very good,’ but I’m going to stick with her as my MVP. Compare this year’s NC to last year, and you can see the difference that Dunn makes. Without her, they were a powerful, dominant team—one of the best in the league. With her, they were superhuman, producing the best season that any team has ever managed in the NWSL, arguably the best single season from a women’s professional soccer team…like, ever.
Meanwhile, Lindsey Horan excels at literally everything, making her the linchpin of Portland’s attack and defense. McCall Zerboni does the dirty work that helps make North Carolina so unplayable, while also contributing plenty to the attack. Rapinoe might have been my #1 pick if she’d been able to play the whole season. When she’s at full strength, she’s the most impactful player in the league. It’s truly astonishing how much she’s been able to expand her game. So that’s five excellent choices, and it would be wonderful to see any of them win.
Rookie of the Year
- Linda Motlhalo
- Savannah McCaskill
- Imani Dorsey
This was not a strong year for rookies, to put it mildly. That’s partly a function of league contraction, which left far fewer opportunities than usual. It’s also a function of some big name rookies simply having down years. Andi Sullivan, for example, was a consensus #1 pick, one of the biggest talents to emerge from college in recent years. And she may yet come good, maybe as soon as next year. But at the moment, the performances haven’t been there.
By comparison, Linda Motlhalo was no one’s tip for the award back in March, but ended up lapping the field by a huge margin. She’s nowhere close to a star, and had plenty of bad moments, especially at the start of the season. But she played almost 2000 minutes, playing a critical role in binding together the surprisingly solid Houston midfield all year. And there’s a lot of value in simply showing up and being average. When you compare that to the rest of the rookie class, it becomes even more clear.
I have McCaskill second, despite more than a few anonymous performances over the season. It wasn’t the year we were all hoping for, but she provided some real drive in the Sky Blue attack that often sputtered without her. The same goes for Dorsey, whose arrival midway through the season gave the New Jersey side pace and precision they desperately needed. You could also put Veronica Latsko in the mix, who made a similar sort of impact in limited minutes for the Dash.
Goalkeeper of the Year
- Lydia Williams
- Adrianna Franch
- ????
The only real question here is Williams vs. Franch. I have no idea who belongs in third place, but I know they’re a country mile behind these top two. I went with Williams, who I think played a huge role in organizing that wonderful Seattle defense, but would have no problem with someone choosing Franch. Even with both missing significant time, I think the top two slots are locked down pretty easily here.
If you forced me to pick a #3, I guess I’d go with Alyssa Naeher, whose worrying loss of form compared to her peak of a couple years ago continued in 2018. But even with the occasional mishap, she’s still a solid keeper who turned in a decent year. I did consider Aubrey Bledsoe, but I just see too many mistakes there. She had a good season, and deserves credit for breaking the saves record. But that’s mostly a function of her defense letting in a ton of shots.
Defender of the Year
- Abby Erceg
- Jaelene Hinkle
- Becky Sauerbrunn
It’s always hard to know what to do with individual North Carolina players. Given how stacked the whole team is, it’s going to be easier for every specific player to shine. So I’m open to persuasion here. But Erceg was absolutely immense this year, doing plenty to maximize the value of their system: ranging into space to close down plays before they became dangerous, holding off one-on-one challenges, and winning tons of aerial challenges. Just a rock solid year from top to bottom.
Hinkle, meanwhile, was less impressive defensively—though she had a pretty good year there, too—but was outrageously good in the attack. She had the best year from a fullback by leaps and bounds, contributing more key passes than the best creative midfielders. This is not an exaggeration. She literally had more key passes than the best attacking players in the league. Look it up.
I seriously considering going with Megan Oyster as my third pick. She had a wonderful year for Seattle, but I ultimately had to trust my gut, which tells me that Sauerbrunn remains the most intelligent center back in the world. She’s not as dominant in close-quarters defending as she once was, but her anticipation of play is out of this world. And that’s the difference maker for me.
Once again, Emily Menges had a fantastic season, but just missed too much time. If she’d been able to play in 4-5 more games, I’d have her on this list.
Coach of the Year
- Paul Riley
- Vera Pauw
- Vlatko Andonovski
We’re blessed with tons of great choices here. In the end, though, you just can’t argue with what Paul Riley has done with the Courage. It’s the most cohesive and complete team ever assembled in US professional soccer, with every position contributing to the whole. Sure, they’ve got tons of great players. But he deserves a ton of credit for getting the most out of that roster, and helping players like Zerboni, Hinkle, and Lynn Williams develop from solid contributors into world-class talents.
Then there’s Pauw, who took a team that everyone (myself included) had pegged for last place, and kept them in the playoff hunt until the final week of the season. If I sometimes had a hard time understanding why it was working, that might only makes it feel more impressive. I picked Riley at #1, in part because of the culture he’s built over the years. But given the situation in Houston at the start of the season, I’m not sure anyone had a more impressive spring and summer than Pauw.
Finally, Vlatko Andonovski. Seattle looked so good right from the start of the season—and maintained that quality over the whole year—that it became easy to take them for granted. But it’s truly remarkable how seamlessly he was able to step in, right the ship, and produce an absurdly good defensive unit despite an endless parade of injuries and absences.
Team of the Season
Megan Rapinoe – Sam Ker – Rachel Daly
Lindsey Horan – McCall Zerboni – Crystal Dunn
Jaelene Hinkle – Abby Erceg – Becky Sauerbrunn – Theresa Nielsen
Lydia Williams
The toughest call here was my third forward. I went with Rachel Daly, who was a massive difference maker for a Houston team that sometimes struggled to create chances and needed her to be great. But any of the forwards on my Second XI could easily have fit in here.
Second XI
Yuki Nagasoto – Lynn Williams – Tobin Heath
Christine Sinclair – Allie Long – Sophia Huerta
Steph Catley – Megan Oyster – Emily Menges – Arin Gilliland
Adrianna Franch
It was a weak year for fullbacks. Catley was a clear step below her performances in some previous years, while Gilliland blew very hot and cold. But both did enough for me to take them. I almost went with Caprice Dydasco, who had a very nice season in the midst of the mess that was the Spirit season. In the midfield, I thought long and hard about Dani Colaprico, who had another great Colaprico season, and the other NC midfielders, who all could easily have made the list. But ultimately I thought that Long’s contributions as the solid holding player in that Seattle midfield were more significant. I also originally had Amber Brooks as my final center back, but decided that Menges was so good in her limited time that it was enough to overcome a great year from Brooks by a hair.
Finally, I want to note a few players who were outstanding in limited minutes, but simply didn’t play enough to merit consideration on these lists. First is Mallory Pugh, who was the best player in the league for the first 5-6 weeks, but was clearly not at the same level when she returned.
Second, Vanessa DiBernardo, whose return was instrumental in turning Chicago from an underperforming group into a devastatingly effective team.
Third, Sam Mewis, who never seemed to get out of second gear, but still contributed a ton of value in limited time.
Finally, Julie Ertz, whose ability to be one of the best players in the league at multiple positions gave her team some critical flexibility when it came to make trades and re-arranging their options.
Listen To The Women
Last weekend, Serena Williams faced Naomi Osaka in the U.S. Open Women’s Final, a match where the quality of play was overshadowed by the umpire. Williams was penalized for breaking a racket, receiving hand signals from her coach, and defending those violations to the umpire. Williams received a point penalty for smashing her racket and a game penalty after calling the referee a thief.
After the match, Williams claimed that her penalties were another example of sexism in sports. Yes, she violated the rules, but those rules are not enforced equally. “He’s never taken a game from a man because they said ‘thief,’” Williams said after the match. “It blows my mind.”
Since this match, I have seen countless sportspeople—mostly men—debate whether sexism played a role in this incident. And for me, it evokes a similar feeling to when men sit around and debate women’s health. It’s not an issue for them, so it’s not an issue.
I’m not saying men shouldn’t talk about this. I’m not even saying they have to agree with Williams, although plenty of men have taken her side. What amazes me about the discussion surrounding these events is how quickly some men are willing to deny Williams’ experience even when countless female athletes have expressed similar sentiment. What amazes me is how some people seem to deny sexism in sports altogether, even when women are screaming about it.
Billie Jean King penned an Op-Ed in the Washington Post on September 9th in support of Williams. King wrote, “Did Ramos treat Williams differently than male players have been treated? I think he did. Women are treated differently in most arenas of life. This is especially true of women of color. And what played out on the court yesterday happens far too often… Ultimately, a woman was penalized for standing up for herself.”
Elena Delle Donne, a WNBA MVP, took to Instagram shortly after the match. She wrote, “What @serenawilliams is saying here is 100% accurate. Women are expected to act a certain way and carry themselves ‘appropriately.’” While Megan Rapinoe didn’t comment on the officiating specifically, she tweeted to Williams, “THANK YOU for the way you carry yourself as a beautiful, powerful, badass woman! You are ALWAYS paving the way.”
We’ve seen this debate around the double-standard of civility in women’s soccer too, most notably when Hope Solo had her contract terminated following the 2016 Olympics, where she called the Swedish national team “cowards.” While Solo has not commented on the incident at the U.S Open, the discussion around her contract termination was similar to the discussion around Williams. As Shireen Ahmed wrote in the Guardian, “The goalkeeper’s remarks after crashing out of the Olympics were tactless, but her suspension proves female athletes are unjustly held to a higher standard.”
Even within the 2018 U.S Open, this was not the only notable example of sexism. Alizé Cornet, a French player ranked No. 31 in the world, was given a code violation after changing her shirt during a break. Cornet was returning to the court after a ten-minute break due to the heat, and when she realized her shirt was on backwards, she simply took it off and put it on correctly. For this, she received a code violation, even though men remove their shirts on the court all the time.
So, I’m not saying that people have to agree with Williams’ assessment of the penalties during the U.S. Open Final. But if they are going to disagree with her, they must find a way to do it that does not underestimate the difficulties that Williams and other female athletes deal with every day, on and off the court.
I think Martina Navratilova found that balance in her Op-Ed for the New York Times. Navratilova started the piece by acknowledging that Williams was correct to point out that “there is a huge double standard for women when it comes to how bad behavior is punished.” But she went on to question whether behavior such as calling the umpire names or breaking your racket should be acceptable in the sport as a whole. Navratilova strikes that balance between disagreeing with Williams actions and reactions, while also acknowledging that Williams has always been treated as an outsider in the game of tennis.
You can disagree with Navratilova. You can disagree with Williams. But by focusing on this one event, and choosing to debate whether or not Williams experienced sexism, people seem to be forgetting the bigger picture. Women face rampant discrimination in sports. Often times, this discrimination is perpetrated without shame or denial. If you’re a woman or color or a woman in the LGBT community or a member of any other group that faces discrimination, your road to success becomes even harder.
Female athletes know this. That’s why as Williams situation unfolded, they took to social media and traditional media outlets to express their support. Even Navratilova, who disagreed with Williams on some points, did so in a way that respected the challenges she has faced.
Williams is trying to tackle this discrimination head-on. “I’m going to continue to fight for women… The fact that I have to go through this is just an example for the next person that has emotions and wants to express themselves and they want to be a strong woman and they’re gonna be allowed to do that because of today. Maybe it didn’t work out for me but it’s going to work out for the next person.”
Billie Jean King supported the importance of Williams words and actions. “I hope every single girl and woman watching yesterday’s match realizes they should always stand up for themselves and for what they believe is right. Nothing will ever change if they don’t.”
Listen to the women, folks. It’s not that hard.
While the NWSL is on Hurricane Watch, Rory Dames says what we’re all thinking
In the latest edition of “The NWSL needs a Commissioner”, we have a hurricane set to hit North Carolina as early as today. Hurricane Florence will hit the Tar Heel state just three days before the North Carolina Courage host the Chicago Red Stars for Sunday’s NWSL semifinal match.
Late Thursday afternoon–roughly ten minutes after a scheduled conference call with players and coaches from Sunday’s competing teams–the league released a statement regarding forthcoming hurricane:
“The National Women’s Soccer League (NWSL), in conjunction with the North Carolina Courage and Chicago Red Stars, continue to monitor the changing forecast of Hurricane Florence as it relates to the potential of the NC Courage’s NWSL Semifinal home playoff game being played as scheduled on Sunday, Sept. 16, at 3 p.m. ET.
The league and teams continue to explore all options and scenarios that would ultimately permit the match to be played in front of the NC Courage home fans.
The safety of the fans, players and staff, as well as the ability for the Red Stars to travel to North Carolina safely, remains the top priority for NWSL. An announcement as to the status of the match will be made as soon as reasonably possible.
However, for Chicago head coach Rory Dames, we’re already beyond “as soon as reasonably possible”. The league, in his mind, should have made the decision two days ago. “The hardest thing when preparing the team for a game is you always kind of work backwards from the game,” said Dames on a media call Wednesday afternoon.
He was insistent the decision should consider not solely Sunday’s tip-off time (3:00 p.m ET), but also the travel his team will have to endure, presumably through inclement weather, to get to North Carolina.
“I understand the wanting the wait as long as possible to see the next phase projections and all those things but it doesn’t change the fact that a lot of rain–best case scenario–a lot of rain is going to fall. The weather conditions are going to be bad and we still have no idea what we’re doing. So it just kind of leaves an anxious uncomfortable feeling on everybody involved.”
Earlier today, North Carolina Governor Roy Cooper feared time was running low for residents to relocate from coastal areas, according to reports by NPR. The rain accompanying the hurricane is expected to be more than any other hurricane to hit the area and is projected to last through Monday.
Match delays or postponements are not something new to NWSL players. This year alone, teams have played through rain storms and smoke from wildfires. North Carolina defender Abby Erceg is content to place her faith in the the league, “I mean there’s not a lot we can do about it. We’ve had a lot of delays with weather delays and obviously with the Orlando game, we were delayed there as we. so you kinda just have to take it in hand. The decisions that the league make at the end of the day or what’s going to be best for the players.”
Chicago striker and two-time golden boot winner Sam Kerr felt more or less the same, but added, “I think this one is a little bit different. This one is a little bit more dangerous.” She noted when the smoke threatened a game cancellation in Seattle, the players felt they could play and wanted to play. Kerr and her head coach don’t believe the numerous circumstances and possible scenarios surrounding Hurricane Florence are the same.
Courage head coach Paul Riley offered a few potential alternatives to Sahlen Stadium if need be, “We’ll play in the local parking lot … we’re playing anywhere and you know obviously at this point it’s more about the safety of everybody That’s the most important part.” While Riley alluded to being comfortable changing the date of the match, it was unclear if he would be open to relocating to Chicago, or even Portland and giving up home field advantage.
Though, Dames is not calling for the match to be moved to Chicago, he just wants it moved! “It’s just an uncomfortable situation. And when you see all these other events getting canceled and college football games getting canceled and all the youth soccer games from the [North Carolina] triangle area are getting canceled. It’s kind of a head-scratcher, what the thought processes and what common sense is and is not,” added Dames.
“I’m not going to mandate somebody step on a plane and fly into something that they are not comfortable with or they fear for their safety,” Dames told the media Wednesday afternoon. ” Each person has got to make their own decision … once that decision is made or once we’re told what’s happening then we’ll have another talk amongst the group and people can make the decisions that they think are best for them.”
Many believe the North Carolina Courage should enjoy the home field advantage they earned as shield winners, but we might be beyond that. If the storm makes the pitch unsafe or causes an additional burden of travel for Chicago, the NWSL is jeopardizing everything from attendance and sales, to the health and safety of its players and staff.
Dames believes the best solution is to move the game to Portland. It seems the sensible plan to offer safety without any particular advantage to one team over another. Neither team would have home-field advantage, both must factor in travel, and to boot, the winner is already in Portland–the predetermined location of the 2018 NWSL Final. Furthermore, if any fanbase can muster up a crowd last minute, my money is on the Rose City Riveters.
As of now, no decision has been made. Backline Soccer will update this story as more information is available.
The NWSL Podium: Top Performances in Weeks 23 and 24
The NWSL Podium: Top Performances is a weekly series that looks at the best attacking, defensive, and goalkeeping performances each week.
The 2018 NWSL season has come to an end. After an exciting playoff race that was often too close to call, we finally have our final four. And in the last two weeks of action, the matchups did not disappoint. These were the weeks of the home team, where only the Washington Spirit were denied a win for the home fans (they settled for a draw). Sky Blue earned their first win of the season in their final game against the Orlando Pride. The North Carolina Courage scored five goals in a thrashing of the Houston Dash that broke all sorts of NWSL records. And at Providence Park on Friday night, the Cascadia rivalry added another stunning chapter. Here is a full breakdown of the scores from Weeks 23 and 24:
Washington Spirit vs. Sky Blue (1-1)
Chicago Red Stars vs. Sky Blue (5-0)
Portland Thorns vs. Seattle Reign (3-1)
Sky Blue vs. Orlando Pride (1-0)
Utah Royals vs. Chicago Red Stars (2-1)
North Carolina Courage vs. Houston Dash (5-0)
Top Three Goalkeepers
1. Nicole Barnhart— The Utah Royals were so close to making the playoffs in their inaugural season, but missed the mark by just two points. While their final game against the Chicago Red Stars was purely playing for pride, pride is something the Royals were interested in. What better way to send off home fans than by beating the team that topped you in the playoff race? Barnhart played a critical role in earning this win for the Royals. She faced 14 shots from the Chicago Red Stars and made seven saves. In the first half, Chicago dominated the offensive opportunities. With the exception of Kerr’s goal in the 39th minute, Barnhart was generally able to read the Chicago offense and stop their attack. Her best save came in the 40th minute, right after Kerr’s goal. Nagasato took a shot, and Barnhart got her fingertips to it, pushing the ball up and over the net.
2. Kailen Sheridan— Sky Blue had a tough schedule this week. And I understand that some will say Sheridan shouldn’t be on this list after allowing five goals against Chicago on Tuesday night, regardless of what she did in the other games. But I think Sheridan’s other performances are worth looking at, particularly her performance in the win over Orlando. Sheridan faced 20 shots from the Orlando offense and made six saves. She had help from her defenders, particularly Dominique Richardson and Erica Skroski, but she made some critical saves to earn the clean sheet. In the 10th minute, Sydney Leroux passed a ball to Alex Morgan, who got behind the defenders. Sheridan made the decision to come out, and was able to stop Morgan from getting her shot off. In a similar play in the 42nd minute, Leroux got behind the defenders and Sheridan made the decision to come out. Leroux launched her shot, but Sheridan deflected it, and it was collected by the Sky Blue defense.
3. Aubrey Bledsoe— In the Spirit’s match against Sky Blue, Bledsoe officially broke the NWSL record for most saves in a single season. Bledsoe finished the season with 108 saves and just four shutouts. She faced 20 shots and tallied five saves against the Sky Blue offense. It didn’t take long before she was challenged— in the 5th minute, she had to make a diving save off a shot from Madison Tiernan. At the start of the second half, she made another diving save off a shot from Shea Groom. It’s worth noting that Bledsoe’s opponent in goal, Kailen Sheridan, finished the season just one save below her at 107.
Top Three Defenders
1. Erica Skroski— It was a busy week for Sky Blue, but despite their exhaustion, they did not give up the battle to earn their first win in the final match of the season. They did find that win, thanks to a late goal from Carli Lloyd. But it was also thanks to some excellent defending, particularly from Skroski. Skroski provided excellent coverage of Alex Morgan, preventing the stellar forward from scoring on more than one occasion. Her first block came in the 10th minute, when a beautiful ball came into the final third for Morgan. Skroski ran with the forward, and stuck her leg out when Morgan took her shot. When Morgan tried to recover possession, Skroski jumped up and tapped the ball forward to her teammate, who cleared it out. Nearly the same play occurred in the 63rd minute, where again Morgan was sent in a long ball and again Skroski was able to stick her leg out and gain possession. Skroski finished the game with seven clearances, two tackles, and one block.
2. Abby Erceg— The North Carolina Courage have already won the Shield and punched their ticket to the playoffs as the No. 1 seed. But in their last match of the season, they were aiming to set records. Team Captain Abby Erceg helped them do that. She started the game with an assist on Jess McDonald’s goal in the 13th minute, the first of the night for the Courage. But she shined on the other side of the pitch, where she played a key role in earning the Courage their 11th shutout of the season. In the ninth minute, Sofia Huerta charged down the field, looking to spark the Houston offense. But Erceg came in with a sliding tackle. In the 15th minute, Houston again tried to get things going up front with Veronica Latsko, but Erceg was able to get the takeaway. Houston’s offense has definitely clicked, especially in the later half of the season, but any time they were able to get going, Erceg and her fellow defenders were there to shut it down.
3. Emily Menges— The Portland Thorns needed to win this match to secure home-field advantage in the first round of the playoffs, and the defense was a factor at both ends of the pitch. After getting a bit rattled by the early goal from Jess Fishlock, the Portland defense locked in and kept Seattle out of the net. Menges played a critical role defensively, alongside Emily Sonnett. She had 47 touches and two tackles on the night.
Top Three Attackers
1. Sam Kerr— The Red Stars had some work to do in these last couple of weeks if they wanted to make the playoffs, and they got the job done. First, the Chicago Red Stars faced Sky Blue at home. Sky Blue was playing their second game in 48 hours, after a rain delay in Washington DC on Saturday night led to a Sunday morning match between the Spirit and Sky Blue. Chicago was able to take advantage of their exhaustion, scoring five goals in their win. Amongst those goals was Sam Kerr, who earned the team’s 3rd goal of the night in the 64th minute. Brooke Elby sent a ball into the box and Kerr was able to get her head on it. Sheridan dived to make the save, but the shot was too strong, and the ball bounced off her hand and into the back of the net. Kerr earned an assist on the next goal. After Gilliland sent a ball into box, Kerr was able to send it over to Rosie White, who slipped past the defenders and sent it into the back of the net. Chicago’s second match in these weeks was on the road against the Utah Royals. The lone goal for Chicago came from Sam Kerr in the 39th minute— a stunning header where Kerr actually seemed to hang in the air, waiting for the ball. Kerr took a total of 14 shots between the two games and finished the season with 16 goals, enough to win her the 2018 NWSL Golden Boot.
2. Lindsay Horan— The narrative couldn’t have been better. Under the Friday night lights, the Portland Thorns needed a win to claim the No. 2 spot on the table and earn homefield advantage throughout the playoffs. Their opponents? The Seattle Reign, their biggest rivals. The Reign have been a fantastic team this season, and they went up early in the match, but the Thorns weren’t intimidated. The Great Lindsay Horan made sure they came out on top. Her first goal came in the 30th minute. Midge Purce sent a ball across to Sinclair, but Sinclair was tripped up. The ball rolled out of the box to the feet of Horan, who launched a rocket into the top corner. The Thorns took the lead early in the second half, courtesy of Tobin Heath, but the rest of the match remained tense as Seattle sought their equalizer. Horan put those thoughts to bed in the 82nd minute. Heath took the corner kick and Horan got her head to it, sending the ball into the top corner. The Thorns now have homefield advantage in the semi-final and host the championship, a huge advantage in Portland.
3. Lynn Williams— One of the many records the Courage broke this week was the most goals in a single season. They needed to score three goals to break the record, but always the overachievers, they scored five. Two of those goals came from Lynn Williams. Her first goal came at the end of the first half. Jess McDonald split the defenders, sending the ball to Williams. Williams was covered by Lindsay Agnew, but she was able to cut back and send the ball past Sheridan for the Courage’s third goal of the game. Williams also got the 4th goal of the match, in the 57th minute. McDonald sent the ball into the box, and Williams tapped it into the bottom corner. Williams finished the season with 14 goals, just two behind Golden Boot winner Sam Kerr.
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