In this weekly series, I will be highlighting a player from the weekend who was their respective team’s unsung hero, win, lose or draw. A player who does the dirty work, does the little but important things in a game and someone who didn’t exactly fill up the stat sheet but found other ways to contribute.
This week I’ve chosen FC Kansas City midfielder Lo’eau LaBonta.
The 24-year-old playmaker seems to have found a home with the Blues. After a solid college career at Stanford, she was drafted 37th overall by Sky Blue in the 2015 College Draft. After making six appearances for the New Jersey Club, the California native was let go, only to be signed by FCKC in 2016. Now in her second season in the Midwest, LaBonta has earned a starting position with head coach Vlatko Andonovski utilizing her at forward, holding mid and now at attacking mid. LaBonta has played and started in 13 games this season, quietly improving while at the same time finding her confidence.
Kansas City 2-2 Boston:
Right off the bat, LaBonta worked her way onto my radar in the sixth minute. Commanding the middle of the field, she took the space racing towards the Boston box and slid a perfectly weighted ball to Shea Groom. Groom, in turn, got a toe-poke in but the ball went just wide of the goal. I love the energy LaBonta started the game with, showing on this particular play that she can make those kinds of passes in tight spaces.
One minute later, LaBonta and Groom connected once again, a partnership that would be on display all night. In the final third, Labonta dropped a ball over the top of the Breakers defense, in a spot that only her teammate could get to. Groom’s attempt went wide for the second time, but the two players were already setting a tempo for the game, which is important for any team to do, especially when on the road. The tiny and talented midfielder’s passing is an area of her game that is a joy to watch, and her vision has been a key part of her continuing development.
In the 17th minute, LaBonta fought for the ball, daring the backline of Boston to step in, make a decision, and take a risk. She won possession against Julie King just 20 yards from the Breakers goal, and somehow managed to provide service from a wide position. Her effort found Brittany Taylor, whose shot, unfortunately, went wide. At this point, Kansas City was getting all the right opportunities but not finishing the way they need to. Still, LaBonta was on fire, and the fight against King and service into Taylor was a nice example of LaBonta’s aggressiveness and ability to pressure an opponent and win the ball anywhere on the field.
That pressure paid off for Kansas City just a few minutes later, when Christina Gibbons found Maegan Kelly, who tapped the ball in for the go-ahead goal in the 20th minute.
LaBonta would push the ball forward in the 24th minute, taking space once again in the middle of the park, this time drawing two Boston defenders with her. She sprayed a pass out wide to Taylor who sent it to the back post looking for Kelly. For the fourth time in under 25 minutes, the Kansas City shot went wide. It was positive to see the attack clicking but at the same time, not finding the back of the net was giving viewers some serious deja vu.
Boston would respond in an empathic way thanks to New Zealand international Rosie White, who scored a brace in a span of 4 minutes (26’, 30’) to take the lead.
But despite Boston’s quick scoring, the first half was so encouraging for Kansas City, with LaBonta leading the way on the offensive side of things. She facilitated, created opportunities, pressured the backline, and really set the tone for the game.
One of LaBonta’s last contributions was in the 65th minute (she was subbed out in the 70th minute). All night we saw her make magic in the middle but on this play she found space on the wing and took a chance on stretching the Breakers backline one more time. LaBonta received a floating ball from Groom and pushed it deep towards the corner flag but Amanda Frisbie recovered in time to take it away and give Boston possession.
In her 70 minutes, LaBonta was the best player for Kansas City. Her quality really showed on the night, and she did her part in so many ways. It’s clear that she has put in the work in the off-season to get to this level of play and to maintain it as well through. LaBonta has become an important player for the Blues and I have a feeling she will have much more to offer as time goes on.
The Blues did manage to find the equalizer in the 81st minute thanks to Erika Tymrak, whose effort secured a point in Boston. The Breakers sit in eighth place with 15 points while Kansas City are currently in 10th with 14 points.
2017 has been a good year for defenders moving into the midfield. First, was Julie Ertz with Chicago. And this weekend, we got another fascinating (and potentially transformative) example, with Christina Gibbons stepping out from her traditional left back role to patrol the central midfield for KCKC.
It’s impossible to discuss any part of KC’s season this year, without mentioning Amy Rodriguez, whose injury in the first game of the season threw everything into chaos. It’s hard to think of many players in the league that would have been more essential to the team’s plan going into the year. Without Rodriguez, they lack a true linking player in their attack. Despite immense talent (the KC frontline looked to be one of the most dangerous in the league at the start of the season), they’ve struggled mightily to find the creativity that can help unleash the full talents of Sydney Leroux and Shea Groom—who both work better as slashing attackers rather than as central strikers. Combined with the absence of Mandy Laddish, it’s been tough times down the middle for Kansas City this year.
Now, they are hardly without resources, and Vlatko has managed to put together a solid Plan B: a system with two holding midfielders at the base of a compact 4-2-3-1. The goal is to put a firm hand on the throttle, keep control of the game, and prevent the other side from getting the chance to come at you. But it’s hard to spend the whole year in a defensive crouch, and to his credit, he’s continued to tinker at the edges—looking for a way to get his talented attacking players better looks at goal.
A bit of serendipity brings Gibbons to central midfield
And this weekend, against Sky Blue, a small bit of serendipity seems to have helped that process along. With Lo’eau LaBonta suspended for the match, Andonovski asked Christina Gibbons, his rookie left back, to try her luck in the midfield.
On paper the move makes a lot of sense. Gibbons is very skilled on the ball, an excellent passer, with good field vision, and good pace. And while she still has work to do with her defensive positioning and tackling, she’s a good defender one-on-one. All of those skills suggests an able box-to-box midfielder, something KC has really been lacking this year.
Still, it was a gamble since, despite having moved around a lot—as young and talented players are often asked to do—central midfield is not one of the positions she’s spent much time in. And with only a few days to practice, there wasn’t much time for direction. As Gibbons described her training: “He gave me a few directions going into the weekend, but mostly just said ‘I want you to feel it out yourself and make adjustments as you go.’” She had a few days to try and get comfortable working with Desiree Scott to manage her new responsibilities covering arguably the most important area on the pitch.
So this was by no means a sure thing. But this sort of move—slightly outside the box, based on an expectation that his players all understand the team’s overall approach and setup, grounded in a deep sense of trust between player and coach—that’s been the hallmark of Vlatko’s tenure at Kansas City. After all, this is a coach who looked at Yael Averbuch and saw one of the league’s best center backs.
And once again, Andonovski’s vision paid off. It seemed to take Gibbons five or ten minutes to really get comfortable in the role, but before long, things started to click.
A fluid 4-4-2
One crucial advantage to playing Gibbons is the additional flexibility she brings to the role. Desiree Scott, Becca Moros, and even Lo’eau LaBonta (who has shown some flair this year) are all excellent players, but they’re generally best utilized as true holding players. They can get forward in the attack, but that’s not their primary role. With Gibbons, KC instantly becomes more expansive.
And in an effort to take advantage of that opportunity, the formation needed some tweaking as well, moving away from the 4-2-3-1 that looked to pack the midfield and seize control of the game and toward a 4-4-2 that played more expansively. And which played at a much higher tempo.
On defense, they generally worked with two banks of four in the defense and midfield, with Gibbons and Scott spread out to cover the midfield horizontally. On offense, however, Gibbons had a lot more freedom to move forward aggressively into an attacking midfield role. In fact, at times, the 4-4-2 actually split apart a bit, playing more like a 4-1-4-1, with Scott staying back as the only true holding player, and with Gibbons and Groom almost playing side to side as a pair of inside forwards.
Closer to a 4-1-4-1
And this raises another key point. This setup is notable for the flexibility it provides for the strikers. Groom, in particular, seemed to relish the opportunity. It gives her the chance to come back, pick the ball up high, and take people on going forward. There are few in the league who can match her at full flight with the ball at her feet, but playing out wide for most of the year, she’s had fewer chances to exploit defenses this way. In this 4-4-2, she had that freedom, and it made a huge difference.
A scary sight for opposing defenses
For almost the first time since that opening match, Kansas City looked like the dominant attacking force a lot of us expected them to be. And while Gibbons is still a long way from being ‘the next Amy Rodriguez,’ it was still notable just how much this setup seemed to revolve around her creativity and passing acumen on the center stage. You can see clear evidence of this in the first KC goal, of course, but there are plenty of other examples. The thing that immediately strikes you when watching Gibbons is how quickly the ball moves. One-touch passes, quick touches to produce an angle, and then moving the ball along. I’d love to see the Opta stats on this one, because at least subjectively, it didn’t seem like she necessarily had all that many touches. But when she did get involved, things tended to happen.
A (much) more open game
For all the benefits of this approach, there are of course consequences as well. If their previous setup was focused on managing and limiting the other side, this more fluid attacking approach depends on sacrificing some defensive stability. When the game is more open, there are more chances for both sides to step into that space. And if the KC attack is generally going to play higher up the pitch, it requires the whole team to do more pressing in order to close down counterattacks before they can get going. This is an approach that emphasizes disruption over control.
But (at least in the first half), this gamble more than paid off. Sky Blue spent most of the half looking a bit overwhelmed, and were often at a loss to make much of their possessions—turning the ball over as soon as they won it on quite a few occasions. In particular, neither of their central duo, Killion and Rodriguez, seemed to be particularly crisp. Amidst the harrying from Kansas City, they lost the ball far more often than they would have liked.
All of which meant that, very quickly, Sky Blue seemed to settle back into a fairly deep defensive position. They looked to pack their defensive third with bodies, giving Kansas City quite a bit of room on the ball in the midfield and out wide. In general, this probably is the best way for Sky Blue to play. Their defenders are quite good at soaking up pressure and closing down attacks once they’re in the danger zone, but far less good at managing wide-open defensive space. And for the first half hour, it did mostly work, with KC settling for some tame shots from distance and some not particularly well-measured crosses.
But Kansas City was pressing hard, and eventually the dam burst, with Groom moving wide and sending in a cross that Sheridan could only punch away. A delightful bit of insight and creativity from Gibbons and a solid strike from Bowen and KC found the back of the net.
The pressure kept up for the rest of the half, with Gibbons growing into the game, and defensive harassment giving her plenty of chances to shine. Eventually, that’s what produced the second goal, with Killion losing the ball on a tough challenge from Scott. A quick KC counterattack unfolded, with the Sky Blue defenders dropping away to try and set up their bunker. But Gibbons found the ball at her feet, with space to run, and simply went for goal.
A game of two halves
As the cliché goes, this one was very much a game of two halves, with Kansas City rampant for the first half and Sky Blue even more dominant for the second. A huge part of that is Shea Groom’s red card. For the second week in a row, Kansas City found themselves down a player for the second half. But where Houston was content to settle deep and let KC have the ball, Sky Blue was chasing the game and were absolutely relentless in doing so.
And here is where the serendipity turned around a bit. LaBonta’s suspension came with a big silver lining—by inspiring Gibbons’ move to the midfield, it breathed some new life into their attack—but in the second half her absence was felt quite keenly. As set up, KC was depending on aggressive pressing to close down the Sky Blue attack—and to shut off the supply to Sam Kerr at the top. But down a player, this simply wasn’t a viable approach. And with LaBonta unavailable, they simply didn’t have the sort of solid defensive substitute that was desperately needed to shore up the backline.
Sky Blue, who had been so frustrated for the whole first half, were suddenly given space all across the field, and 45 minutes worth of chances to target Sam Kerr in the box. The Kansas City defense managed to hold out for a long time, but eventually, exhaustion seemed to set in and Kerr was able to score a dazzling hat trick to clinch the game.
Going forward
All in all, that made for a bitter defeat, but one from which KC should be able to take a lot of solace. In a year of difficult results, they’re still only a couple of victories away from the playoff race and are now possessing some additional tactical options.
It will certainly be interesting to see how Gibbons is used going forward. In the short term, it’s hard to imagine Vlatko moving her immediately back to left back, but over the long term that may still be her best role. Especially once Laddish returns and can fill that crucial linking role.
And over the even longer term, this is a question that will be interesting to folks above and beyond just Kansas City fans, since Gibbons certainly is in the mix of young and talented players with a chance to break into the full national team. Left back is an extremely deep position right now, but if she has the flexibility to play elsewhere at a high level, that might make a difference in her chances of joining the squad.
This week in the NWSL, we saw two teams start to pull away at the top, and a shakeup at the bottom of the table. There were comebacks, a rare straight red card, and a few (maybe unexpected) shutouts. With four midweek games to look forward to this week, here are our takeaways from Week Ten
Nadia Nadim Meets with TAPS Family after Washington vs. Portland – Jordan Small
After Saturday night’s loss to the Washington Spirit, Portland Thorns forward Nadia Nadim walked over to the side of the field to meet with a group of fans that had been escorted down onto the field. The group was from an organization called TAPS. The Tragedy Assistance Program For Survivors, or TAPS for short, is a program that offers resources and services to those who have lost a loved one while serving in the United States Armed Forces.
A young lady who lost her father in Afghanistan presented Nadim with a bracelet following the match. Nadim, whose father was also killed in Afghanistan, took the time to talk with the family and take a few pictures. This was just another reminder that life is so much bigger than sport and that win or lose, a simple gesture such as a bracelet or a small conversation can have a greater impact on someone’s life.
Does Portland Have Too Much Star Power? – Jordan Small
Looking at the Portland Thorns roster, it is incredible to see the amount of talent that they have. As a team, they have combined for over 625 caps for six different national teams. Against the Washington Spirit, they had 62.7 percent of possession. What do they have to show for all of that? Getting shutout on the road for their second straight loss. Against a team that’s only just barely broken away from the bottom of the table over the past few weeks.
In 10 games this season, the Thorns have scored 12 goals while only giving up nine. Not bad all things considering. But when you look at the goals, three have come via the penalty spot and two were own goals. Sure they are scoring, but they aren’t creating many opportunities for themselves. Against Washington, Lindsey Horan, Allie Long, and Christine Sinclair were nonexistent on the field. Amandine Henry was subbed out at the half and won’t be around for much longer because of the upcoming EUROs. Is Tobin Heath coming back from injury the answer to this struggling Portland attack? I’m not so sure. But I do know that they are going to have to figure some things out if they want to be in the hunt for a playoff spot come September.
Dash Put it Together (at Least for One Week) – Luis Hernandez
As unlikely as it seemed, the Houston Dash bounced back from the four-goal drubbing at home to enact payback against the Orlando Pride this weekend, taking home three points on the road for their effort. Head Coach Omar Morales made several key adjustments while taking advantage of the lackluster performance from Orlando. Perhaps the post-match comments from Carli Lloyd last week also lit something under her teammates as she took the field in just her second game back from the UK.
The Dash rolled out a new combination on the backline, the sixth different version of the season, to clamp down on the Orlando attack. Limiting the Pride to three shots on goal allowed Jane Campbell to bounce back for her second start of the season, a much better showing from the rookie even with the few shaky moments she had in the beginning of the match. As the Lifetime game of the week, Houston proved to the national audience which team wanted to win more. The result moves the Dash out of last place on the table and puts them in ninth, sitting just above the Boston Breakers, who they’ll host in their midweek game on Wednesday. Houston is positioned to give themselves some separation from the Boston while gaining confidence for the weekend showdown at FC Kansas City.
Missed Opportunity for FC Kansas City on the Road – Luis Hernandez
If you had told Vlatko Andonovski on Friday that his team was going to leave Seattle with a point on the road, he would have been happy. A point would have been a great result in the first of two road games for the Blues after already drawing against the Reign the week before. However, Seattle were left with just ten players on the field after Lauren Barnes was issued a straight red card in the 4’ for an armbar of striker Shea Groom. Kansas City took advantage of the imbalance early on, making Seattle pay in the sixteenth minute with a goal from Brittany Ratcliffe. However, FCKC couldn’t hold on to the lead, and the Blues leave the Emerald City dropping two points.
The draw keeps Kansas City one point behind Seattle, and barely keeps Orlando at bay. As FCKC go into the midweek match at Portland, they will have a challenge getting a result at Providence Park. If FCKC fail to make the playoffs, will they look back at this game as one of the reasons they miss the postseason, dropping two points when they had the clear advantage from almost the very start.
Sportsmanship– Elizabeth Wawrzyniak
Living just over an hour outside of Chicago has its benefits, and one of those is the ability to schedule a trip down to Toyota Park in Bridgeview, IL, to catch matchups between the Chicago Red Stars (my “geographical” faves) and Sky Blue FC (my “absolute” faves). Last year’s trip down was actually my first live, in-person, soccer game ever, and it was an event to remember (and one that ended with a selfie with one of the greatest players of the game, Christie Pearce). This year I was looking forward to another good matchup, and the chance to see Kelley O’Hara play with her club team. She’d been on NT duty in 2016, and though I’d seen her play with them in Chicago and again in Minnesota late last year, club play is different, and brings out different sides of a player’s game.
Unfortunately, O’Hara didn’t play on Sunday, either suffering from a slight injury or being rested in anticipation of a midweek match-up against the Orlando Pride. But them’s the breaks and with any luck, I’ll get to see her play with Sky Blue at Toyota Park next summer.
The thing I noticed, though, that I want to call attention to, is just how much of a leader O’Hara is on and off the field. Sitting on the bench in trainers, she was coaching and offering tips to the younger members of the backline who were out there on the field. Before the game, during the slight break when Chicago’s GK Alyssa Naeher was down on the field and the Sky Blue players came to the sideline for some water, at the half, and so on, O’Hara was demonstrating how to defend against Chicago’s attack, reassuring her teammates, helping them out.
With the news that this year is almost certainly Christie Pearce’s final season with Sky Blue FC, it’s good to see that the backline and the team will have someone as focused on teaching and leading as playing. And most of all, for all the little girls and boys in the stands, for all the grown-ups in the stands, it’s an important and visual reminder that an athlete’s work doesn’t begin and end on the field, and isn’t simply the accumulation of their physical talents. How a player performs on the bench is maybe just as important as how they perform on the field.
And I just felt like this is a good moment to acknowledge that.
Tears and Tears– Elizabeth Wawrzyniak
We need to talk about ACL tears.
Obviously, we’re all tearing up about Kealia Ohai’s unfortunate injury over the weekend, or the fear that we’ll hear the same news from Danny Colaprico after she went down in Sunday’s game against Sky Blue FC. ACL tears are tearing up the league this season, and we need to talk about why that is.
Here’s the thing about this kind of injury. It’s three times (3x) more likely to happen to a female soccer player than a male one. And this year, it’s taken down a number of players in our league (or former NWSL players), starting with Amy Rodriguez and Joanna Lohman over opening weekend, Kim Little over in the UK, and Yuri Kawamura. (Did I forget anyone?) And Diana Matheson, Cali Farquharson, and Kelsey Wys are all still in recovery for injuries suffered late last season or during off-season play.
It’s no secret that the focus in sports kinesiology and physical therapy is imbalanced, that most teaching, studies, and practical therapies and preventative techniques are based on the male body and the way the male body reacts to usage and stress of joints, ligaments, etc. But the male body is not the universal norm, and there needs to be more attention given to the physiological differences of female bodies to male ones, differences that don’t make women weaker or inferior, but ones that requires us to pivot differently, shift our weight differently, run differently, than our male counterparts.
And women’s teams (and leagues like the NWSL) need to make it a priority to find and work with trainers and therapists who understand the different needs and abilities of female athletes.
Who understand the science of playing like a girl.
Well, that’s what we took away from Week Ten as we head to a slew of Wednesday matches. Give us your biggest takeaway in the comments or let us know where you disagree with us. Until next time, fair readers.
In this weekly series, I will be highlighting a player from the weekend who was their respective team’s unsung hero, win or lose. A player who does the dirty work, does the little but important things in a game and someone who didn’t exactly fill up the stat sheet but found other ways to contribute.
This week I’ve chosen FC Kansas City defender Becky Sauerbrunn.
The 31-year-old has been with FCKC since the first year of the club’s existence back in 2013 and has appeared 57 times. And for all that time, the Blues captain has been one of the most underrated and underappreciated players in the women’s game. Everyone knows she’s good, but people don’t quite seem to get just how good she is. Commonly referred to as Broon by fans and media alike, she is quiet, steady, reliable, and hard-working: the sort of player any club or country in the world would love to have.
FCKC 0-0 Portland
Kansas City and Portland each had significant players out due to injury, with Tobin Heath still out for the Thorns and Desiree Scott being added to FCKC’s lengthy injury list. Knowing this, I gave Portland the slight advantage going in. I also had a feeling that it would be a defensive battle, as each team has only given up three goals in five games, tied for best in the league. Portland obviously has a dangerous club on paper, led by Christine Sinclair with a star-studded supporting of Nadia Nadim, Allie Long and Amandine Henry, and more. But Sauerbrunn and her backline held each of these players in check and as a team, Portland mustered just 9 shots total with only two on goal.
Sauerbrunn just doesn’t let anyone get by her. She is calculating, organized and extremely patient in her play. Broon doesn’t have a ton of speed, but has a way of positioning herself to more than make up for it. Where many players would need to race somewhere at top speed, she sees things developing and puts herself in position well in advance of the play. She also rarely gives up free-kicks in dangerous areas, a testament to her awareness and here calm style of play.
An example of her ability to read the game so well was showcased in the 15th minute. Portland were on the quick counter with Haley Raso and Sinclair charging forward into the Blues’ final third. Sauerbrunn tracked 30 yards to snatch a pass that Raso was looking to thread in for Sinclair, cutting off the threat and sliding a cool pass to her keeper Nicole Barnhart. If Sauerbrunn hadn’t read that pass and timed her interception perfectly, Sinclair would’ve had plenty of green in front of her for an enticing 1v1 with Barnhart.
When watching her play, it’s almost as if Sauerbrunn has a magnetic connection with the ball, stopping passes through the middle, long balls over the top, and tough crosses alike. She leads the NWSL with 36 clearances, and you could see plenty of them this weekend. Overall, Portland has a height advantage over FCKC, but every time the ball was served in, Sauerbrunn and Yael Averbuch rose above the crowd to head it away.
While the offense continues to struggle, it’s safe to say that Sauerbrunn and her defense are already in mid-season form.
The captain moves so gracefully around the pitch and her tackling ability is just as pretty to witness. One instance of it came in the 49th minute, Portland again were on the counter. This time it was Lindsey Horan and Raso executing the break. Horan drew three FCKC defenders to her as she charged into the middle of the 18-yard box. She sprayed a pass to her right that found Raso 10 yards from Barnhart, and wide open. But she wasn’t open for long, because Sauerbrunn raced to cover the space and then executed a clean tackle on Raso who must have been stunned to see such a good opportunity snuffed in the blink of an eye. It was a remarkable tackle, and one that I’ve seen her make hundreds of times.
And that’s the essence of Sauerbrunn. She does the amazing so often that we grow accustomed to it. But we shouldn’t let that consistency dull our perception of her brilliance.
Sauerbrunn is constantly working on her game and sharpening her skills, and in my opinion, she has become the best center back in the women’s game since stepping onto the world stage in 2008 for the United States Women’s National team. If Sauerbrunn and FCKC can continue this solid defensive play while somehow finding a match to ignite the attack in the coming weeks, Kansas City could very well make it back to the playoffs this year.
FC Kansas City will be without midfielder Frances Silva coming 2017. She has announced her retirement from professional soccer.
Silva leaves to work at Fox Soccer as a Social Media Specialist.
Below is their statement.
KANSAS CITY (Nov. 16, 2016) – Two-time National Women’s Soccer League champion midfielder Frances Silva announced her retirement from professional soccer this morning. She plans to join Fox Soccer as a Social Media Specialist.
“I want to thank the FC Kansas City organization for allowing me to live out my lifelong dream of playing professional soccer,” Silva said.
“Getting to play in my hometown and winning two titles for this great city is more than I could have ever hoped for. I want to also thank my teammates and coaching staff for making the experience something I’ll always remember. Walking away from the game you love is never easy, but I’m excited for the new challenges that are ahead working for Fox Soccer.”
Silva is one of a handful of local talents that have played for the Blues in the first four NWSL seasons. The Overland Park, Kansas native attended Blue Valley North High School, where she set a number of program records and led the Mustangs to the 2007 state championship. She finished her career with 41 goals and 17 assists, which helped earn her scholarship to West Virginia.
She quickly found her place with the Mountaineers, appearing in all 24 matches (starting 20) and earning Big East All-Rookie Team honors in 2010. She contributed 87 points in her next three seasons, which included 15 goals and 13 assists her senior year. West Virginia won the Big 12 Championship and she was tabbed as the conference Player of the Year.
Silva was drafted by the Blues with the 19th overall pick in 2014 and played in 18 games, starting five for the league champions. She scored two goals and had one assist her rookie year. She contributed three goals to the FCKC’s second title run in 2015. This past season, Silva started ten games and played in all but one.
“Every time we lose a player to retirement we’re filled with mixed feelings. It’s not any different this time…we are sad for losing Fran. She was an important part of this team during our most successful times and helped us to win two NWSL championships,” said head coach Vlatko Andonovski. “At the same time, we are happy for her and excited about her new opportunities.”
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