Listen To The Women

Posted on by RJ Allen

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.”

View this post on Instagram

It is no secret how strongly I feel about women’s equality and the lack there of. What @serenawilliams is saying here is 100% accurate. Women are expected to act a certain way and carry themselves “appropriately.” This is a perfect example. Serena shows passion and her true feelings and is penalized. Let’s face it… if a man did this same exact thing you would all be bowing down to him. It is so sad to me to see those that want to act like they believe in equality not supporting a female that has been put in this situation. Sadly this has taken so much glory away from @naomiosakatennis and regardless she earned the trophy! We are all in this fight together as women and the most important thing we can do is support one another. It’s just very unfortunate this male chair umpire took her shine. Congratulations to Naomi.

A post shared by Elena Delle Donne (@de11edonne) on

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

Posted on by RJ Allen

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. 

Adding to his confusion is the fact that the NWSL has neither made a decision nor made it clear who would have the final say. “ I think the normal answer is the commissioner,” said Dames when asked where the buck stops. “But since there isn’t one. I’m honestly not sure. You know, I’m sure there’s a lot of people involved.” The NWSL has operated without a commissioner since March 2, 2017.  If the league decides to have the game in North Carolina on the scheduled day or otherwise, Dames will leave the final decision to whether to travel to his players and staff.
“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

Posted on by RJ Allen

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.

The NWSL Weather Woes: Playoff Edition

Posted on by RJ Allen

The National Women’s Soccer League 2018 season will be remembered for the extremes of the standings with the dominance of the North Carolina Courage and the woes in New Jersey both on and off the field with Sky Blue FC. Among the lesser stories which will be nothing more than footnotes in the season, will be the impact of the weather in the season.

Unlike the increased risk of heat which had to be dealt with in 2017 by the league with a change to the extreme heat policy and hydration breaks mid-season, this year the league’s weather bone of contention was lighting delays. Multiple matches throughout the season had to be rescheduled, most notably was Sky Blue’s match against the Washington Spirit on Sunday, September 2nd which caused the side from the Garden State to play the Chicago Red Stars the very next Tuesday with less than 48-hours of rest.

Fast forward to the star of the post season and the playoff games scheduled for this weekend where North Carolina is scheduled to host Chicago in the second playoff game on Sunday, September 16.

However, the league is going to face a unique weather related situation, Hurricane Florence is projected on making landfall as a major hurricane somewhere along the coast in the days leading up to the match. The same time the Red Stars will be looking to fly in to North Carolina and the same time fans will be looking to head toward Cary. 

The Saffir-Simpson scale is a wind rating from category one, being the weakest, to category five, the strongest winds causing catastrophic damage. A major hurricane would be a category three or higher. The current projections put Hurricane Florence at a category four. 

[media-credit name=”Chart Source: NOAA” align=”aligncenter” width=”762″][/media-credit]

Several factors to consider is this storm will bring a large amount of rain to the area, and potentially flooding to parts of the state. Tornadoes can potentially occur even several hundred miles away from the center of the hurricane. This isn’t going to be an ideal situation to host a playoff game even with Cary being much further inland that it would be spared much of the initial impacts.

The league should already be working on getting ahead of the situation since the threat is real even with the high level of uncertainty.  Last season, the league moved up the game in Orlando from Saturday to Thursday when the Pride hosted Seattle due to Hurricane Irma. The NWSL could do this as well, but since it is a scheduled televised game that may not work out. That option may be too soon, and not logistically wise since the storm would arrive by the end of the week which could push up the Courage playoff game too early for anyone to travel into North Carolina. Additionally, the teams would have to leave quickly, so they wouldn’t feel the impact of Florence.

The North Carolina Courage have issued a statement advising they are monitoring the situation. 

The North Carolina Football Club is closely monitoring the forecast for Hurricane Florence related to potential impacts on the upcoming home NC Courage NWSL Semifinal on Sunday September 16, as well as travel for NCFC as they visit Penn FC on Sunday evening.

Specific to the NC Courage NWSL Semifinal against the Chicago Red Stars on Sunday, September 16 at 3:00 p.m., at Shalen’s Stadium,  the club is in contact with the League and the visiting team. The safety and well-being of fans, players and event staff is the club’s priority.

Any updates will be posted on NorthCarolinaFC.com and NCCourage.com, as well as shared with fans via email, social media and other communications channels. 

The NWSL needs to act swiftly by coordinating with both teams to move the venue for the playoff game to Chicago or a neutral city since the Chicago Fire will actually host Orlando City on Sunday at Toyota Park.. It will be an unfortunate situation since this will impact attendance and cause North Carolina to travel when they have obviously earned the right to host the playoff match. The prospect for this situation to create another black eye for the league is extremely likely especially if it doesn’t get ahead of this possible weather woe.

Who is the best player in the world? Don’t ask FIFA.

Posted on by RJ Allen

FIFA announced the final three for Best Women’s Player of the year today, leaving many people scratching their heads in bewilderment. The shortlist: Ada Hegerberg, Dzsenifer Marozsan, and Marta. That’s certainly three of the best players in the world over the past few years. But the best over the last twelve months?

It’s worth noting here just how difficult this task is. Comparing players is always tough, and the difficulty is compounded by the sheer breadth of the competition here. Can anyone reasonably watch the top players in five or ten leagues, follow whatever international competitions might exist in a given year, and then confidently assess the relative quality of all the players? It’s a lot to ask.

Still, when faced with a potentially impossible task like this, there are two ways you can approach it. The first is to work with humility, trying your best to distill the key features and seriously consider everyone’s case. You might not succeed, but at least you’re making the effort. The second is simply default to the big names.

Unfortunately, the system established by FIFA is heavily tilted toward the second approach. The initial longlist of ten names didn’t include any glaring mistakes this time (unlike in some previous years), but the final three are tough to justify.

Marta has a credible argument as the greatest player of all time, and is still playing at a high level. But the period covered by this award (July to July) covers only a few months of top performances from her (the end of the 2017 NWSL season). She remains a great player, but hardly one of the top three in the world. Meanwhile, Marozsan and Hegerberg are undoubtedly among the finest players of this generation. And in a year without any major international tournaments, it’s understandable that the most successful club team (Olympique Lyonnais) would dominate the results. But were these two really the best Lyon players this year? I know plenty of people who follow the team closely that would point to Amandine Henry, for example.

https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js

Still, the issue isn’t really that these three specifically were selected. They’re all still very good, and you could at least plausibly build an argument for them being among the finalists. The problem isn’t who was included, then, it’s who didn’t make the cut. Specifically: Sam Kerr and Pernille Harder.

This isn’t the first time for Kerr, who was many analysts pick for the best player last year, but received very little support in the vote. And if anything, her form has actually improved in this cycle. She was a force of nature to close out the 2017 NWSL campaign, form which has continued into 2018. Moreover, she’s dominated for Australia as they have cemented their position as one of the world’s best teams. Compare that to Hegerberg and Marozsan, who are key players on teams that have significantly underachieved over this period.

Meanwhile, Pernille Harder has cemented her place as one of the world’s top players. After an incandescent Euro 2017, she has continued at the top level for both club and country, something that was recently acknowledged as she won the UEFA Women’s Player of the Year award just a few days ago.

Now, these are different electorates, and people are of course permitted differences of opinion. But it is a little puzzling to see Harder take the first trophy, only to then fall behind several of those she had just surpassed when it came time for FIFA balloting.

FIFA does deserve credit for organizing a process that produced a viable longlist. But the way that list gets cut down to three names is clearly broken, at least if the objective is to determine who was in fact ‘the best.’ The problem is that this isn’t necessarily the objective, or at least not the only objective. The electorate for this stage, after all, is comprised of coaches and captains around the world, who receive the task as part of a broad-based effort to register everyone’s opinion, not because of any particular knowledge or expertise.

This is an issue even on the men’s side, where most countries have relatively stable infrastructures, and where the world’s best players are all instantly available to anyone with an internet connection. Even under those conditions, the awards tend to be handed out based more on name recognition than any fine-grained assessment of performance in the designated period. Messi and Ronaldo are great, of course, but the pair of them trading the title for a decade is at least somewhat dubious.

But on the women’s side, it’s far worse. Outside of the top twenty or thirty national teams in the world, the infrastructure is bare at best. The captains and coaches are rarely full-time professionals able to devote all their time to the game. So it’s more than understandable that they would look for easy heuristics to narrow the range of choices. That’s not a full excuse, since it would be hard to consult many sources and not realize that Kerr and Harder were widely regarded as the top candidates, but it’s worth noting.

But this is the problem with FIFA. As an organization, it pays lip service to the idea of equality—granting a vote to everyone—while doing very little to actually grow the game. If FIFA was genuinely committed to expanding access to women’s soccer around the globe, it would be a lot easier to swallow this voting system. But since they aren’t, it comes off as hollow. And every year, we get a new round of complaints about misinformed or uninterested voters.

I don’t see an obvious solution. Narrowing the voting pool might produce objectively better results, but can’t resolve the underlying issues. Would it be worth it to ensure that the top players get their just rewards? Maybe. But in the meantime, the best we can do is call it like we see it. And for me, Sam Kerr has been the best in the world for the better part of two years. That’s true regardless of whether the FIFA voters happen to agree.

The NWSL Podium: Top Performances in Week 22

Posted on by RJ Allen

The NWSL Podium: Top Performances is a weekly series that looks at the best attacking, defensive, and goalkeeping performances each week.

Week 22 has come and gone, and the NWSL playoffs are starting to take shape. This week, the Portland Thorns clinched their ticket to the playoffs with a 2-1 win over Sky Blue and followed it up with a 1-0 victory over the Washington Spirit in their game at Audi Field. The Orlando Pride were eliminated from the playoffs after a 3-1 loss at the hands of Chicago Red Stars. The Dash were also eliminated from the playoffs despite their 6-1 victory over Sky Blue on Saturday, leaving the Red Stars and the Utah Royals competing for the last playoff spot. Here is a full breakdown of the scores from Week 22:

Seattle Reign vs. Houston Dash (2-0)

Washington Spirit vs. Utah Royals (0-1)

Portland Thorns vs. Sky Blue (2-1)

Seattle Reign vs. North Carolina Courage (1-1)

Orlando Pride vs. Chicago Red Stars (1-3)

Washington Spirit vs. Portland Thorns (0-1)

Houston Dash vs. Sky Blue (6-1)

Top Three Goalkeepers

1. Lydia Williams— Williams has had an amazing season, and she put forth two great performances in Week 22. Seattle’s first match of the week was on Tuesday night against the Houston Dash. Williams earned her 10th shutout of the year, making three saves out of thirteen shots faced. But her skills really shined against the North Carolina offense on Saturday, where she made twelve shots out of 29 shots faced. Jess McDonald challenged Williams early on. McDonald snuck behind the defense and launched a shot at Williams, who blocked the shot with her hands and Megan Oyster cleared it off the line. In 27th minute, McDonald had a solid header right in front of Williams. Williams reacted instantly, blocking the shot with her hands and then jumping on the ball to end the play. That save earned her an NWSL Save of the Week nomination. 

2. Adriana Franch— The Portland Thorns faced two of the weaker offenses in the NWSL this week— Sky Blue and the Washington Spirit. But Franch made some important saves in both matches, shutting down any opportunities from the opposing team. In the first match against Sky Blue, Franch faced fourteen shots and made four saves. In the 21st minute, Savannah McCaskill got her head on a nice cross, but Franch was there to calmly collect the ball. In the 69th minute, Raquel Rodriguez sent the ball into the box and Franch caught it, shutting down the Sky Blue offense. In the weekend match against the Spirit, Franch faced nine shots and made two saves. In the 33rd minute, Rose Lavelle launched a rocket from the edge of the eighteen-yard box. Franch got her hands up in time, knocking the ball away and collecting it before the Spirit offense could gain control. The match marked Franch’s third shutout of the year. 

3. Jane Campbell— While Campbell failed to get a shutout in either of her matches this week, she faced a solid offensive effort from both opponents and made some impressive saves. In the Houston Dash’s first match of the week against the Seattle Reign, Campbell faced 16 shots and made six saves. In the 45th minute, Rapinoe tried to send a free kick into the top corner of the net and she might have succeeded, but Campbell read the play and hit the ball over the net. In the 53rd minute, Rapinoe handed the ball off to Jess Fishlock, who took a shot from outside the 18-yard box. Campbell got both hands to it, knocking the ball out of play. That save earned her an NWSL Save of the Week nomination. In the Dash’s match against Sky Blue, Campbell faced fourteen shots and made four saves. 

Top Three Defenders

1. Theresa Nielsen— Nielsen had an impressive week for the Seattle Reign, playing the full 90 minutes in both matches. She had a notable offensive impact in addition to her defensive skill. In the first match against the Houston Dash, Nielsen assisted on Jodie Taylor’s first goal of the night. In the match against the North Carolina Courage, Nielsen scored her first goal of the season. In the 66th minute, Jess Fishlock took a corner kick that went to the far end of the 18-yard box. Nielsen headed the ball, and Jodie Taylor and Katelyn Rowland collided, allowing the ball to bounce past both of them and into the net. Nielsen then turned around and had a goal-line save in the 88th minute. Abby Erceg got her head on a North Carolina corner kick, but Nielsen was able to get her head to the ball as well and clear it off the line.

2. Becky Sauerbrunn— Sauerbrunn played an important role in Utah’s 1-0 victory over the Washington Spirit. In the 15th minute, Mallory Pugh tried to sneak a pass past the Utah Royals, but Sauerbrunn intercepted the pass and cleared the ball. In the 61st minute, Pugh was on the move again. She tried to pass the ball in the 18-yard box to Ashley Hatch, but Sauerbrunn stretched and blocked the pass. The Utah Royals are still in the playoff hunt, with their final game of the season against the Chicago Red Stars on Saturday Sept. 8th. 

3. Lauren Barnes— Barnes also put in two 90 minutes shifts for the Reign this week in the central defense. In the game against Houston, she had a particularly nice block and strip on Rachel Daly. As Daly ran with the ball, Barnes blocked her and gained control of the play. She turned and cleared the ball, sending Houston down to the other side of the field. In the match against North Carolina, she tackled Jess McDonald and regained possession for the Reign. Barnes has been a critical part of the Seattle defense this year and will continue to be going into the playoffs. 

Top Three Attackers

1. Sam Kerr— It was a critical week for the Chicago Red Stars— playing a match on the road against another team vying for the playoffs— and Kerr showed up. She earned two goals and an assist in Chicago’s 3-1 victory over the Orlando Pride on Saturday night. Her first goal came in the 44th minute. Colaprico sent the ball down field, and Nagasato kept the ball rolling towards Kerr, who slipped past most of the Pride defense. She dribbled the ball a bit, getting herself into the best position to slide the ball past Ashlyn Harris and into the net. But Chicago wanted more before the halftime whistle, and Kerr helped make it happen. In the first minute of stoppage time in the first half, Kerr got the ball at her feet, but didn’t have the angle to take a shot. She sent the ball into the box and Vanessa DiBernardo finished off the play, giving Chicago their second goal of the night. In the 59th minute, Kerr stripped Kennedy of the ball and buried her shot in the back of the net, putting Chicago up 3-0. Kerr was voted NWSL Player of the Week in Week 22. 

2. Sofia Huerta— The Houston Dash had a rough start to Week 22 with a 2-0 to the Seattle Reign, but there offense bounced back with a 6-1 win over Sky Blue later in the week. She had one goal and one assist, and drew the penalty that lead to Rachel Daly’s goal in the 67th minute. In the 48th minute, Huerta sent a cross into the box and Veronica Latsko got her head on the ball, getting a nice bounce on the ball that Kailen Sheridan couldn’t stop. In the 65th minute, Huerta got a goal of her own. Kealia Ohai sent the ball into the box and Sofia Huerta got her foot on it. It wasn’t clear if she intended it to be a shot, but the ball went into the far side of the net. She ended the night with seven shots and four shots on goal. 

3. Tobin Heath— Heath scored two goals in two games for the Portland Thorns this week, against Sky Blue and the Washington Spirit. In the match against the Spirit, she dribbled around the defense and put her ball just under the crossbar for the lone goal of the match. The goal earned her the NWSL Goal of the Week honors. In the match against Sky Blue, Heath scored off a free kick. Her ball took a good bounce and went past Sky Blue goalkeeper Kailen Sheridan. She had seven shots and four shots on goal across both games.