Tag: Stephanie Labbé

A Conversation on Goalkeeping: The Top 5 NWSL Keepers of the First Third

Posted on by RJ Allen

Goalkeeping is hard. Really hard. And 8 weeks into the season Jordan and I picked out the five NWSL goalkeepers we think have done the best job of doing a hard thing well.

We’re not saying they have been perfect. No goalkeeper ever is over this many games. But these five, we feel, have really stood out.

Number 5 – Nicole Barnhart – FC Kansas City

RJ Allen:

I know some of you might be tuning your pitch forks because Barnie is so low. But hear us out.

Jordan Small:

So here we have Barnie. Can we think of a more consistent goalkeeper over the last five years? This weekend she made her 300th career save. That should speak for itself.

She also has the benefit of having a really great defense in front of her which definitely helps.

RJ Allen:

Averbush and Sauerbrunn might be the best centerback pairing in the NWSL right now. And Barnie really has benefited from having them in front of her. Not her fault but it does knock her a bit down the list. She just hasn’t had as much to do.

Jordan Small:

I think when you look at the other goalkeepers in the league that won’t make our list, it makes a lot of sense where she ended up. She’s just the first one up on a great list of five.

RJ Allen:

She really is great at organizing her backline. Which, when you have who she has on her line might sound easier. But still experienced players sometimes need a firm hand too.

Jordan Small:

That has always been one of her best qualities. Great leader back there.

RJ Allen:

One of the very few downsides is she has lost about 1/4 of the step in the last year or two. And sometimes that does show when she’s coming out for a ball or trying to get a shot. She’ll get a glove on it but not make a grab like she could before. But Father Time pulls no punches.

Jordan Small:

And I think that is what makes her great performances even better. She is just that skilled. I hope to see her for another few years because she is so much fun to watch.

RJ Allen:

She really is fun to watch. And like you said, hitting that 300 saves mark is pretty amazing.

Jordan Small:

She’s obviously doing something right.

#4 – Abby Smith – Boston Breakers

RJ Allen:

The is one of the moves on our list. We tackled the top 10 in our very first look at the goalkeepers. Smith was 6th on our first list. Why the move up, Jordan?

Jordan Small:

Because she is just getting better and better each week. She is making tough saves look easy which is the sign of a great goalkeeper. She has really proven that she has recovered from her injury. And now she has a much deserved call up to the US squad for her efforts.

RJ Allen:

I was really happy to see her called up to the senior team. We don’t know if she will be playing at all against Norway or Sweden but just being on the trip I think is a great reward for her level of play.

Jordan Small:

I think she has been the best goalkeeper in the US system so far this season so I hope she gets at least a few minutes.

RJ Allen:

I really do agree with you on that. We’ll talk about another American later on but they haven’t gotten a sniff at from either the U teams or the full NT. With Smith I think she does have a chance to challenge for a spot.

Jordan Small:

Unlike Barnie, she really isn’t working with a great backline so I think she should be given a lot of credit. I mean who would have thought that Boston would have been able to shutout a team like Seattle? Smith deserves a lot of recognition for her efforts so far this year.

RJ Allen:

She is already better than her first game at knowing when to hold back and knowing when to challenge. That’s a lot of improvement in a pretty short window.

Jordan Small:

Her ability to read the game is amazing. And her distribution is one of the best in the league which is a really underrated skill.

RJ Allen:

If she’s like this now I can’t wait to see what some NT training and more games does to her game.

Jordan Small:

She can only get better from here.

#3 – Kailen Sheridan – Sky Blue FC

RJ Allen:

This is the biggest jump on our list. From #8 to #3. We have been talking about this update for a few weeks and every time we do we seem to move Sheridan higher and higher.

Jordan Small:

We even moved her higher today. I’ve been incredibly surprised with her play. Back when we originally did this, we had her as the third-ranked Canadian goalkeeper. Over the past few weeks, I really see her competing for that second spot and maybe even the first because I think she has played better than D’Angelo as of late.

RJ Allen:

I’ve been to the last three Sky Blue home games and it seems like at each game she is just leaps and bounds better than the game before. She hasn’t been perfect but I have to keep reminding myself she is a rookie. She is playing like someone who has no fear.

Jordan Small:

I think the midweek game vs. North Carolina and then the Orlando game just after that were her two best games. She was playing out of her mind in both of those games. I think she has put in a serious case for Rookie of the Year. She has been that good so far.

RJ Allen:

Honestly I am really thinking she should be in the three nominations for Goalkeeper of the Year. Not that Rookie of the Year isn’t important, it is, but I think she has moved past the rookie designation and just been flat out one of the best in her position.

Jordan Small:

I totally agree with that. I really think our top three all have great cases for Goalkeeper of the Year. It’s been an incredible year for goalkeepers.

RJ Allen:

One other thing I think it’s worth taking note of for Sheridan. Her first choice backline? Two rookies, a sophomore and the GOAT of defending. Mandy Freeman and Kayla Mills are both rookies, Erica Skroski is a second-year player, though Christie Pearce’s resume couldn’t fit on a foot of parchment at 10 point font.

Jordan Small:

I’ve mentioned this on The Scouting Report many times, Christie Pearce has helped so much. I would take just about anyone on my backline if that meant having Pearce back there. A goalkeeper’s dream, especially a rookie goalkeeper.

RJ Allen:

You can tell Sheridan is learning from her which is great to see. And Sheridan has been more vocal and taking more more of the duties that Pearce had taken on herself that should be on the goalkeeper at the start of the season. It’s really one of the best mentorships in the league.

#2 – Stephanie Labbe – Washington Spirit

RJ Allen:

Here is where I turn everything over to Jordan and just let her tell you why Steph Labbé is a rock star.

Jordan Small:

Where do I even begin? First, I want to take a saying from our good friend Sandra and just say that Steph Labbé, we do not deserve you.

She picked up her first shutout of the year this past weekend after making eight saves. Each and every week it seems as if she has a save that could be a Save of the Week candidate. She does not have the greatest backline but somehow she still it keeping them in games. Aside from the week against Seattle, she has been a straight up beast.

RJ Allen:

It’s like she has decided that she is going to keep Washington from being blown out each and every game through sheer force of will.

Jordan Small:

And when we talk to her after the game, it seems that way too. It was nice to see her hard work pay off and to finally have a happy Labbé after a game. Can’t wait to see her play with Canada this week.

RJ Allen:

I say it on The Scouting Report all the time. Canada right now has the best cabal of goalkeepers in the world. It’s really amazing how deep they are and Labbé is leading the way for them.

Jordan Small:

Absolutely. If I’m John Herdman, I’ve got to be loving life right now.

RJ Allen:

I do wonder if there does come a point she just can’t keep up with Washington’s bad backline. That’s a lot of saves, a lot of amazing saves too, she has to make every week. Does there come a point she hurts herself trying to save them or just gets really lit up?

Jordan Small:

She is in such great shape, I hope that helps her. I never want to think about players getting hurt.

RJ Allen:

No, that’s never a fun place to go to. But as long as she keeps playing like she does Washington has a shot to get a few wins under their belt after the FIFA break.

Jordan Small:

I sure hope so. I think the shutout was good for everyone’s confidence.

#1 – Haley Kopmeyer – Seattle Reign

RJ Allen:

Who else but Kopmeyer?

Jordan Small:

Where do you even start with Kopmeyer? She has been amazing all year. I mean looking at the game vs. Chicago this weekend, it seemed as if all the tweets from Seattle were about saves from Kop. The girl is having herself a year. She is definitely embracing this starter gig.

RJ Allen:

She has 38 saves this year according to the NWSL stats. She had 34 all of 2016 with her 11 games. So already she is putting in more work with a backline that, frankly, should be better than how they are playing.

Jordan Small:

You and I both would love to see her with the NT but for some reason it just isn’t happening. It’s frustrating.

RJ Allen:

It is. She has more than proved at this point that she has room for growth. She has the size, frankly something the US hasn’t always had on their side, she reads the game beautifully, she is vocal, she is athletic but doesn’t overcompensate with it. I don’t understand the lack of attention.

Jordan Small:

And she learned from the best.

I just hope she keeps proving Jill Ellis wrong and continues to get better.

RJ Allen:

I really think we haven’t seen her best soccer yet. Which with how she is playing is something big to say.

Jordan Small:

There are a few areas that I think she can improve on and if she does, it’ll be scary for other teams in the league.

Final Thoughts

RJ Allen:

We’ve talked about our top five, Jordan, any final thoughts as we look back at the first 8 weeks of the 2017 NWSL season?

Jordan Small: 

A cool stat that I found today is that 11 different goalkeepers have shutouts this season. I love great goalkeeping and I love seeing goalkeepers get clean sheets. It has been really exciting so far.

RJ Allen:

I really think the goalkeeping in the league has taken a giant step forward this season. Each game now I’m expecting goalkeepers to have big games. And often times I’m not disappointed.

Jordan Small: 

Even the goalkeepers that struggled at the beginning of the season have improved. That is great for the league.

RJ Allen:

It really is.

So, what do you say? Revisit the wonders of goalkeeping say around week 16?

Jordan Small: 

If it was anything like the first 8 weeks, it should be fun!

Thank you everyone for reading. You can catch Jordan and I talking about the great goalkeeping in the league and more every Monday at 8 pm ET on YouTube. The feed is also up on iTunes, Podbean and Spreaker. 

Off the Bench with Backline Soccer: 2017, Week 1

Posted on by RJ Allen

Welcome to our first installment of “Off the Bench,” the latest Backline Soccer weekly series.

Backline Soccer Recap:

This last week on Backline Soccer, we posted all ten of our 2017 NWSL team previews. If you haven’t yet read them, please visit our site to check them out and let us know what you think!

NWSL Week One Game Recaps:

What a great first weekend back for the NWSL we had! Let’s dive straight into a recap of the five matches we had this past weekend.

 

Game 1: Houston Dash 2 vs Chicago Red Stars 0

Houston Dash record: 1-0-0
Chicago Red Stars record: 0-1-0
Attendance : 4,484

First up, to kick off the 2017 NWSL season, the Houston Dash took on the Chicago Red Stars at BBVA Compass Stadium in Houston. Kealia Ohai opened up the scoring giving the 2017 season its first goal in the 15th minute. Alyssa Naeher stuck to her line a little too long and Ohai made her pay. Then, in the 80′ minute, Rachel Daly sent a rocket past Naeher, for goal number two, and was featured on ESPN’s SportsCenter for it!

 

Game 2: Portland Thorns 2 vs Orlando Pride 0

Portland Thorns record: 1-0-0
Orlando Pride record: 0-1-0
Attendance : 16,145

The first Lifetime Game of the Week started shortly after the Houston game, with the Portland Thorns taking on the Orlando Pride. It was a pretty even game for most of the match. The 24th minute saw a killer diving header from Ashlyn Harris to keep the Thorns from scoring but an unfortunate handball on Alanna Kennedy in the 32nd minute led to a converted PK by Nadia Nadim. Christine Sinclair netted home the final goal to seal the Thorns’ win in the 67th minute.

 

Game 3: Washington Spirit 0 vs North Carolina Courage 1

Washington Spirit record: 0-1-0
North Carolina Courage record: 1-0-0
Attendance : 2,400

Next up were the Washington Spirit and North Carolina Courage, in their inaugural match. McCall Zerboni scored the game’s lone goal–and the first in NC Courage history–in the 19th minute but it was Spirit goalkeeper Stephanie Labbé who put on a spectacular performance that kept the Courage from scoring any more after that. With one spectacular save after another, Labbé demonstrated to everyone just what an asset she will be for the Spirit this season. Unfortunately for the Spirit, Joanna Lohman went down in the first half with what was confirmed on Monday as a torn ACL in her left knee.

 

Game 4: Seattle Reign 1 vs Sky Blue FC 1

Seattle Reign record: 0-0-1
Sky Blue FC record: 0-0-1
Attendance : 3,521

The final match of the day was between the Seattle Reign and Sky Blue FC, which ended up being the game of PKs. A foul committed by a Sky Blue player saw Megan Rapinoe convert a PK in the 56nd minute. Then in the 62nd minute, a foul by a Reign player saw Sarah Killion bury a PK to level the game. Seattle Reign goalkeeper, Haley Kopmeyer, who had a player of the week worthy game as well on Saturday, almost stopped the PK taken by Killion.

 

Game 5: FC Kansas City 2 v. Boston Breakers 0

FC Kansas City record: 1-0-0
Boston Breakers record: 0-1-0
Attendance : 3,340

The final game of the first weekend back for the NWSL between FC Kansas City and the Boston Breakers saw the return of Amy Rodriguez and Sydney Leroux to the pitch after maternity leave. Leroux kicked off the party early with her first goal in over a year in the 7th minute. Amy Rodriguez decided she wanted to be part of the goal scoring party too and netted herself one in the 48th minute. Then in the 58th minute, we all held our breath as Rodriguez went down with a non-contact injury and was stretchered off shortly after. Official confirmation has not been given but it was reported to be the left leg which was then immobilized with a brace.

The weekend ended with the Dash, Thorns, Courage, and FCKC all taking home 3 points, while Sky Blue and the Reign each left with a point. Held winless and pointless in the first weekend were the Red Stars, Pride, Spirit, and Breakers.

The Scouting Report:

The Scouting Report went live last night with the first official NWSL weekly TSR recap of all NWSL games from the weekend. Make sure to tune in every Monday at 8pm EST to catch our weekly series!

You can find last night’s TSR here:

Come back next week for the next edition of Off the Bench!

Catching Up with Olympic Bronze Medalist, Stephanie Labbé

Posted on by RJ Allen

Going to training and being able to speak with the players afterward is something that I value and appreciate greatly. It’s not every day that you get to have a conversation with an Olympian, let alone a bronze medalist.

It may be her first year in the league, but Stephanie Labbé has made quite the splash here in DC. We at Backline Soccer do enjoy a good defense, and that starts with a great keeper.

I had a few questions for Labbé, and she was kind enough to answer them for me.

Backline Soccer (BS): With knowing that Kelsey Wys had dealt with the same situation last season, with Ashlyn Harris at the World Cup, and knowing the depth of this team, did it make it easier to go and concentrate on Canada before the break?

Stephanie Labbe (SL): For sure, I mean Kelsey is incredible, she’s always been ready. It’s always been a battle between us, nothing has ever been set in stone and we challenge each other all the time in training and I think that it’s a really good partnership for us. Whether it’s her or me in goal, I don’t think the team misses a beat. We both bring something different to the team, and it wasn’t even a thought in my mind.

BS: Canada was the only team that repeated as medalist in Rio. Does that give you a little bit of confidence going into the next cycle, knowing that it’s something that is not out of reach?

SL: Going in, there were doubts on us, and the team that won in London was a different team, and that was a team that got success through team connection. It wasn’t necessarily a team that out-performed other teams; they had the connection and that energy of never giving up, and they fought and battled through games and got results.

This time around going in, this was a much different team, we had so much more youth, and it was a different blend of youth and experience. We went out and out played top 5, top 6, teams on a consistent basis. For us to do that and do it back to back, it solidifies our spot in the world and shows we’re a top team and we’re a team to beat. I think it changes the mentality of Canadians and Canada soccer and proves that it wasn’t a fluke and we’ve earned this and we earned our spot on the top stage.

BS: How was your prep different from the World Cup, going into the Olympics as Canada’s number 1, especially after Erin McLeod went down very close to the Olympics?

SL: My individual prep wasn’t too much different. Going into the World Cup, it was a battle for who was going to play, going in, and I had that mentality the whole time. Going into this, yeah it was a bit different, but at the same time Sabrina and I still had to battle. Nothing was ever set in stone, once Erin was injured it was never my spot, it was something that Sabrina and I battled until the end with. I’m thankful for that because I think that that connection and that battle and competition that we had between each other just made us both so much stronger and pushed each other to new levels. I think that’s the reason why I was able to step out there with full confidence, knowing that I worked my butt off to earn that. And, at the same time, I had the confidence to go out and play well because she pushed me to be the best me.

BS: Who, after you, was the first person that you let hold your bronze medal?

SL: First person was my goalkeeper coach. Our staff don’t get medals, so we made sure that all of our staff got to feel the medal, because they’re just as much a part of it, and they earned it just as much as we did. So my goalkeeper coach got my medal. And when I got home, my mom, she had it.

BS: With clinching playoffs on Saturday, does it make it a little bit different, leading in and knowing you made the playoffs, so now you can work on the little things that maybe need to be tweaked, heading into the playoffs, over the next couple of games?

SL: For sure. [It] definitely takes a little bit of weight off your shoulders. That’s the first goal, to make playoffs. Now we have a new goal, and that is to make sure we stay in first and clinch that first spot. Of course, like I said, there is that weight off your shoulders of making the playoffs, so you know you’re in now, and now it’s about fine tuning the little things so we’re ready for the semifinal.

Catching up with Stephanie Labbé

Posted on by RJ Allen

The Washington Spirit are sitting atop the NWSL standings, having taken 9 out of 9 possible points from their matches with a 3-0 record. Leading up to the Portland game this week, arguably the first real test for the Spirit this season, I was lucky enough to catch up with the new keeper in town, Stephanie Labbé. She was gracious enough to answer a few of my questions after training.

Backline Soccer (BS): What has been the biggest adjustment coming over to the NWSL?

Stephanie Labbé (SL): The speed of play and the quality of strikers that I face. I had the same backline in front of me for 6 years in Sweden, so figuring out everyone’s strengths and weaknesses on this backline and getting to know their styles of play.

BS: Do you think that the Olympic break helps with national team players not having to miss as many games and helps keep team chemistry in the club teams?

SL: Yes, I definitely think it’ll help. Anytime you get to play together, and the longer you get to play together, the more chemistry and the stronger the team becomes. We have a deep bench with a lot of good players, and the more we can play together, the better.

BS: Who is the crazier captain to play with Ali Krieger or Christine Sinclair?

SL: They both have different leadership styles. Ali tends to be more vocal, giving the pregame speeches and talking a lot on the field. Sinc is more of the lead by example, putting her body on the line and going all out. They are similar in that they are both very humble and have worked for everything they have, nothing in their careers have been given to them.

BS: What is the mindset going into the next four weeks knowing you play the same two teams back to back?

SL: I haven’t really thought of that too much. We’ve been keeping it game by game and really concentrating on the next opponent for the upcoming week. This week is Portland and we have to step up our performance from last week and play better against them then we did against Western New York.

BS: Do you ever wish, just once, that when your team scores, someone would come and give the keeper some love?

SL: Yes! I can’t really go running to the huddle and then all the way back to goal, maybe I can run to the bench. I will definitely have to talk to the defenders about this and maybe one of them can give me a hug or something—show me some love.

Hopefully one of the defenders will agree, and maybe when Ali Krieger scores again, she’ll show Steph some love.