Tag: NWSL

The NWSL Podium: Top Performances in Week 3

Posted on by RJ Allen

The NWSL Podium: Top Performances is a weekly series looking at the top three goalkeeping, defensive, and attacking performances each week. In week three of the NWSL, it was the attacking power that shined. There were 11 goals scored across the four matches, including six goals in the match between the Washington Spirit and the North Carolina Courage. Defenses struggled this weekend, but there were a handful of shining moments, including a goal-line save by the Utah Royals. The North Carolina Courage continued to prove why they are the best team in the NWSL, and in all matches except one, the away teams walked away with a win. 

These were the week three matches: 

Utah Royals vs. Chicago Red Stars (0-1) 

Washington Spirit vs. North Carolina Courage (2-4)

Sky Blue FC vs. Seattle Reign (0-1)

Portland Thorns vs. Orlando Pride (2-1) 

Top Three Goalkeepers 

1. Kailen Sheridan— While Sky Blue FC failed to walk away with the win, Sheridan had the best save percentage in the NWSL this weekend. She faced eight shots from the Seattle Reign and saved three of them, including Seattle Reign’s second penalty kick late in the match. Sheridan blocked the initial shot and the rebound before her team cleared the ball, and while Sky Blue ultimately weren’t able to come back, Sheridan’s save kept them in the match.

2. Ashlyn Harris— Yes, Harris let two goals in during the match against the Portland Thorns. But one of those goals was a defensive failure and the other was a beauty from Lindsey Horan. Similar to Sheridan, Harris’s saves towards the end of the match kept her team alive. Ana-Maria Crnogorcevic had a chance to put the match away in the 85th minute, with some help from Ifeoma Onumonu, but Harris stretched her entire body out and blocked it on the ground. She also had an impressive diving save off a shot from Tyler Lussi in the 17th minute. 

3. Michelle Betos— Statistically, Betos is the best goalkeeper in the league. She wasn’t tested too often in the Seattle Reign’s match against Sky Blue this weekend, facing only three shots. But her one save of the match came at a critical moment. In the 73rd minute, Shea Groom came charging down the field. Groom beat her defender and faced Betos with a chance for the equalizer, but Betos deflected the shot. The Reign maintained their lead and went on to win the match 1-0. 

Top Three Defenders

1. Katherine Reynolds— Reynolds is a veteran NWSL defender who often goes unnoticed. But Reynolds is a consistent presence on the backline for the Portland Thorns and had a solid match on Sunday against the Orlando Pride. The Pride were itching for more after Chioma Ubogagu scored their first goal in the 20th minute, and the Thorns only had a one-goal margin. But Reynolds, along with Emily Sonnett and Kelli Hubly, kept the Pride at bay. 

2. Lo’eau LaBonta— LaBonta is an attacking midfielder, but she had the nicest single moment of defense from the weekend. In the 48th minute, Chicago earned a corner kick. Danielle Colaprico sent the ball into the box. Eventually, Sofia Huerta headed the ball past Abby Smith, but LaBonta cleared the ball on the goal line. There weren’t many shining moments of defense this weekend, but this was one of them.

3. Ali Krieger— Krieger has an energy that is infectious on the field, and that came across in this weekend’s match against the Thorns. Krieger played on the right side in the Pride’s triple-center back formation, and kept her energy high the whole match. She even had a few shots of her own, but ultimately the Pride failed to get their second goal. 

Top Three Attackers 

1. McCall Zerboni— Zerboni had two goals in Saturday’s explosive 4-2 win for the North Carolina Courage over the Washington Spirit. Zerboni’s first goal came off a free kick in the 24th minute. After a tap from Lynn Williams, Zerboni snuck the ball just past Aubrey Bledsoe on the far left. Her second goal came in the 48th minute, off an assist from Kristen Hamilton. Hamilton kept the ball in play and drew Bledsoe towards her. She passed the ball to Zerboni, who turned and put it in the back of the net. 

2. Danielle Colaprico— Colaprico scored the lone goal in the match between the Utah Royals and the Chicago Red Stars, and it was arguably the best goal of the weekend. In the 24th minute, the Utah Royals defense attempted to clear the ball from their 18-yard box. Colaprico stood on the edge of the box and blocked the clearance. Before settling the ball, she threw her power behind the shot and nailed it in the top right corner. 

3. Lindsey Horan— Horan had another stellar goal from outside the box this weekend. The Thorns went down early on in their match against the Pride, but shortly after Chioma Ubogagu’s goal for the Pride, Christine Sinclair passed the ball to Horan just outside of the Pride’s 18-yard box. Horan dribbled a bit before setting up the shot on her left foot and finding the back of the net. The ball shot across the box, past goalkeeper Ashlyn Harris, and into the far corner. Horan also assisted on Christine Sinclair’s game-winning goal about ten minutes later and was an attacking presence for Portland the entire match. 

The 123rd Minute: The Sky Is Not Falling

Posted on by RJ Allen

Charles and RJ discuss the recent USWNT’s friendlies against Mexico–what worked, what didn’t, and why there’s no need to worry too much about the team–and then cover some of the recent NWSL news. There’s also a bonus chat between RJ and Cindy Lara from RSL Soapbox about all things Utah.

Follow us on Twitter: @123rdminute

Intro music: Those Better Days by Mimi Page

QuickLook Week 4 Part I: The Phantom Schedule

Posted on by RJ Allen

Welcome to NWSL Two-In-One, featuring twice the games and twice the marshmallow goodness per game. We’ll get one match week of three games Wednesday through Friday and another set of games Saturday and Sunday. Today I’ll look at the first half, since I’m sure there will be returns, absences, injuries and all the assorted coaching suspensions that moot advance drafting.

North Carolina Courage (3-0-0) vs. Seattle Reign (2-0-0)
Wednesday 4/18 7:00pm EST

The battle of the unbeaten. The tussle of the titans.

Samantha Mewis has made her way onto the questionable side of the injury report, which is a big step forward for the NCC midfield. They’ve been a powerhouse, with goals from a wealth of players (Zerboni, McDonald, Williams and Dunn) and a solid back line, but the Washington game is the only one they’ve looked loose and flying after two 1-0 wins. Debhina remains on international duty, while the NWSL bubbles about whether she was released later than requested, giving a potential advantage to NCC.

Seattle comes in with Megan Rapinoe (a league leading 13 shots, with two goals and an assist) out with a hamstring injury and Williams, Catley, Kawasumi, and Utsugi all on international duty. This is a depleted Seattle team will lean on Michele Betos in goal and Jodie Taylor up front, but there’s a risk of domination by the Courage. If you’re the betting type, now put everything on Seattle with five Fishlock-to-Long goals, because they certainly have talent that hasn’t shone through this season.

Chicago Red Stars (1-1-1) v. Houston Dash (0-0-2)
Wednesday 4/18 7:30PM EST

Chicago will still be without reigning MVP Sam Kerr (international duty) and Julie Ertz (injury), among others, and last weekend in Utah they looked like a team with some issues—merely offensive issues and defensive issues, though, so they’ll rebound at some point if the head coach didn’t lose everyone by calling out player(s) a few weeks ago. Taylor Mautz continues to lead the team in goals (2) and Sofia Huerta leads the league in assists (2) but they haven’t been producing in that end of the field.

Houston was expected to be a flaming dumpster fire this season and has been at least mildly competent in both of their games, with potential to be highly competitive. Their only scoring has been a Savannah Jordan to Kimberly Keever tally in the first game (and neither player has a profile image on the league site, still). The Dash are only scheduled to miss Kyah Simon (international duty) so the possibility of a Kealia Ohai/Rachel Daly/Kristie Mewis build-up could be quite promising in front of future All XI Jane Campbell.

Portland Thorns (2-1-0) vs. Washington Spirit (0-2-1)
Friday 4/20 10:30PM EST

In a diabolic move, the league has scheduled the Spirit to play after their young stars’ bedtimes. BAON’s Tobin Heath should get minutes opposite Skyline Chili’s Mallory Pugh in the sort of match that puts eyes onto screens.

Portland remains a superteam, with Christine Sinclair leading the league in scoring and Adriana Franch showing that she should be in the USWNT mix. Portland’s back line will probably still be missing Emily Menges, but has mostly gotten the job done without her so far. Washington, apart from Pugh, has had a solid start from less-heralded talents like Joanna Lohman.

Upcoming Games

Saturday:

North Carolina Courage vs. Utah Royals 3:30 PM/Lifetime

Chicago Red Stars vs. Sky Blue FC 8:30 PM

Sunday:

Orlando Pride vs. Houston Dash 5:00 PM

Hot and Not: NWSL Week Three Power Rankings

Posted on by RJ Allen

Warning:

This power ranking is not reactionary.

This power ranking takes outside factors like weather and injuries into account.

It has bias—yours when you read it and mine when I wrote it.

Enjoy it.

It will soon change.

Not many teams moved this week. Two games impacted by rain will do that. 

NWSL QuickCap 3: A Reign-y Weekend

Posted on by RJ Allen

Week three is in the books. Let’s get to it. 

Utah Royals 0-1 Chicago Red Stars

I thought about becoming a Utah fan, but then I remembered we can never be royals.

This game featured great defense by Utah, other than giving up a single goal to Danielle Colaprico in the 27th minute. It also featured no offense from Utah, meaning Chicago probably could have had at least a draw if they hadn’t shown up. Utah lead in fouls (10-6) and more notably in offsides (6-1).

Kelley O’Hara played the first half and Amy Rodriguez returned to the field in the 77th minute. Stephanie McCaffrey returned for Chicago, very late, which is something of note, I guess. I said a couple weeks ago that A-Rod couldn’t take over a game and I stand by that only because she didn’t, but with five more minutes I think she would have tied this one.

Washington Spirit 2-4 North Carolina Courage

Mallory Pugh opened the scoring at 3’ for Washington, then Crystal Dunn responded at 20’ and McCall Zerboni at 24’ and then everyone took a break on the scoring until the second half, just to toy with my prediction that this would be a high-scoring affair.

Zerboni scored again at 48’, Washington’s Francisca Ordega closed the gap in the 58th, and then Lynn Williams put it away at 66’. I think both teams could have scored more, but didn’t want to make the other franchises feel bad. I would have expected Zerboni to go for the Gordie Howe hat trick late in the second half.

Sky Blue FC 0-1 Seattle Reign

Seattle remained undefeated and very visible in uniforms that should have a sponsorship deal with Mountain Dew or toxic waste.

Megan Rapinoe converted a PK on an inexplicable hand ball in the early part of the first (6’ for the purists) but Kailen Sheridan saved a Jodie Taylor penalty in the 86th, plus a stunning stop on the follow up by Seattle’s Dallstream.

The majority of the stream, when not obscured by rain, featured Seattle possessing the ball and pounding away but never breaking through for a run-of-play goal. New Jersey put together some offense in streaky spurts but seems to be lacking cohesion at all areas of the pitch.

Portland Thorns 2-1 Orlando Pride

Chioma Ubogagu for the Pride at 20’, The Great Horan for the Thorns at 28’ and the ageless Christine Sinclair with the final scoring at 39’. Then they did a second half which featured the lack of an Orlando midfield, a lot of Thorns rolling around holding ankles (and laughing, if you’re Emily Sonnett), plus Sydney Leroux making a case for the Selke Trophy as best defensive forward.

Post-game stats say 54% possession for Portland but that is why statistics lie, because I watched the game and don’t think Orlando ever had the ball, apart from rebounding shots and passing them back out to Thorns players.

NWSL QuickLook Week 3

Posted on by RJ Allen

I’m starting to think Australians aren’t ever coming back.

Utah Royals vs. Chicago Red Stars – 4/14 @ 3:30pm ET

Utah: 0-0-2

Chicago: 0-1-1

The Lifetime Game of the Week Sandwiched Between Less Appealing Movies will feature perennial contender FCKC-Plus-O’Hara vs No-Really-We’re-Contenders-This-Time-Chicago.

Perhaps no game would benefit more from the return of Australians than this one, as Utah looks forward to improving markedly with the addition of Katrina Gorry. Chicago, meanwhile, is missing former savior of New Jersey Sam Kerr, too, I guess, if you’re into that sort of thing. ARod, Kelley O’Hara, Casey Short, and Julie Ertz, if they are still out, will have a majority of the payroll and the star power as spectators, but both teams have had unexpected scoring.

Chicago’s Sofia Huerta leads the league in assists (2) and Alyssa Mautz is tied for the league lead in goals (2).

Washington Spirit vs. NC Courage – 4/14 @ 7pm ET

Washington: 1-1-0

North Carolina: 2-0-0

Samantha Mewis and Rose Lavelle are still on the injury report, but if any team can survive a marquee player’s absence, it’s the Courage.

Washington’s Ashley Hatch is only one of two players in the league with a goal and an assist, and Washington is the only team with three different goal scorers. The young and balanced attack may balance a less notable defense, which has keeper Aubrey Bledsoe leading the league in saves with 14 (six more than the next.) North Carolina has two 1-0 wins but really should be putting more on frame from towers of power McDonald and Williams. This could be an offensive shootout that puts players from both teams ahead on the league leaders list, or Bledsoe and Sabrina D’Angelo could set saves records.

Sky Blue FC vs. Seattle Reign – 4/15 @ 5pm ET

Sky Blue: 0-1-0

Seattle: 1-0-0

Megan Rapinoe leads the league in shots at 11, with the rest of the Reign adding eight more. Are they relying too much on her or is she a powerhouse that’s making a case for MVP again this year? Sky Blue only appears on the League Leaders list for yellow cards, but their young cast has to click and produce at some point, right? Keeper Michelle Betos has looked to be in standard form in her return to the NWSL, while Kailen Sheridan remains in the mix as one of Canada’s best young players.

Portland Thorns vs. Orlando Pride – 4/15 @ 6pm ET

Portland: 1-1-0

Orlando: 0-1-1

I have tickets to the Orlando game next week, so naturally, this game will be the one where everyone gets hurt and the league contracts the team. Ashlyn Harris and the defense have fueled stan attention (that puppy, though) and looked solid, but the Alex Morgan/Marta/Sydney Leroux powerhouse Cerberus of scoring has yet to melt other teams (and Marta is still on international duty, anyway). Portland, in front of future Best XI keeper Adrianna Franch, is still a massive collection of talent, with ageless Christine Sinclair tied for the league lead in goals—yet this roster needs more than Sinclair and Horan scoring.