NWSL Week 1

Hello, and welcome to the fourth season of the NWSL. The league is up to ten teams, and all of them are in action over this weekend. On Saturday, there are three games, beginning with...

The Washington Spirit hosting the Boston Breakers. Libby Stout and Stephanie Labbe will play in goal as the season begins. The game can be found at this link. Washington opened the scoring early with a third minute goal by Joanna Lohman on a bicycle kick, assisted by Crystal Dunn. In the twenty-third minute, there was an interesting occurrence on a Boston corner kick, where a foul was called as Labbe caught the ball over the line, but no goal came from the play. The Spirit almost found another when McCall Zerboni was lazy on the ball, and Dunn stole it, but her pass to Katie Stengel was deflected. Kristie Mewis nearly had an equalizer for the Breakers in the fortieth minute, but the shot went high. The first half ended with the Spirit up 1-0, and they've controlled most of the play. The Breakers defense has occasionally looked shaky, and Stout struggled early on before settling in. Caprice Dydasco has looked really good for the Spirit on the back line. The second half opened with more end-to-end action, but with another slight tilt in Washington's favor due to sloppy passing from Boston in their own half of the field. In the sixty-eighth minute, Dunn laid off to Ali Krieger, and Krieger's cross to Christine Nairn was denied by Whitney Engen to keep the Breakers alive. In the eighty-sixth minute, the Spirit's Megan Oyster received a yellow card for a hard foul on Kyah Simon. The game ended at 1-0, with Lohman being the Outsider Sports Woman of the Match, with honorable mentions for Dydasco, Engen, and Zerboni.  

In the Midwest, FC Kansas City welcomes the Western New York Flash. The goalies are Sabrina D'Angelo and Nicole Barnhart. You can watch the game here. Kansas City came out in a strange formation, going with three in the back for this game. The game started out with a bit of balance between the teams, and a bit of physicality as well. Shea Groom had the best early chances in the thirteenth minute for the Blues. Jessica McDonald couldn't quite connect on a Lynn Williams cross in the sixteenth minute, sending the ball wide on Western New York's best early chance. McDonald missed another one wide in the eighteenth minute as the Flash press early. Groom went wide again in the twenty-ninth minute. At the half hour mark, the scoreless game has seen a fair share of shots for each side, but the goalies have been up to task. The Flash are a bit more reckless than the Blues so far, making it seem like Kansas City will get a breakthrough soon. Williams sent a shot high in the thirty-seventh minute, squandering the work of a good pass from Adriana Leon. Barnhart made a save on McDonald shot on a pass from Elizabeth Eddy. Barnhart made two more huge saves in the forty-second minute among a flurry of action by Western New York as they make a big push late in the half. Additionally, Erika Tymrak has been impressive in drawing fouls for Kansas City. The game goes into halftime scoreless. Defensive backs Becky Sauerbrunn and Yael Averbuch also handled most everything that came their way in the first half. Barnhart was called into action for a save early in the second half. The Flash had trouble clearing their lines in the sixty-third minute, and Jen Buczkowski nearly picked the lower left corner, but D'Angelo stretched out for the save. In the seventieth minute, Barnhart saved a free kick from Abby Dahlkemper, continuing an impressive game that has seen the Flash pull away in shots. Samantha Mewis converted a penalty kick in the seventy-second minute, finally breaking Kansas City's resistance as she sent Barnhart the other way to give Western New York the lead. Sauerbrunn's handball created the spot kick. In the seventy-fourth minute, Heather O'Reilly received a yellow card for her foul. In the seventy-eighth minute, Fran Silva made a weaving run through the defense, but D'Angelo made another strong save to deny the equalizing attempt. Barnhart pulled off another save of a curling Williams shot in the eighty-eighth minute. In stoppage time, Groom nearly got one past D'Angelo, but she knocked it out. Sub Tiffany McCarty was hauled down in the box by Eddy. O'Reilly stepped up for the Blues, but missed the penalty kick off the post, and the Flash escaped with a thrilling 1-0 win. The Outsider Sports Woman of the Match honors go to D'Angelo for her solid work in goal, while McDonald and Williams also impressed on the Flash side. For the Blues, Barnhart couldn't do anything about the penalty kick, and Groom also looked good in the attack for the hosts.

The last game on Saturday has the Houston Dash hosting the Chicago Red Stars. Alyssa Naeher and  Lydia Williams protect the nets. The game can be found by following this link. In the second minute, a Janine Beckie cross led to a distance shot from Rachel Daly that went over the bar as Houston's rookies combine for early skill. Chicago's Julie Johnston made a big block on a Beckie cross to prevent a shot by the Dash's Kealia Ohai. The Red Stars struck first in the thirteenth minute as a back pass got through multiple Houston defenders, and Christen Press pounced on it for the easy goal, coming somewhat against the run of play as Houston has been dominant up to that point. In the twenty-second minute, it was Chicago's turn for a defensive breakdown, as Sam Johnson's poor slide set up Daly for a long-range one-touch strike to tie the game for the Dash. In the twenty-seventh minute, Naeher's defense had to bail her out when she got knocked down, and Johnson stood tall against a sharp Carli Lloyd shot. The Red Stars continued under an onslaught of shots for a few minutes. In the thirty-third minute, Chicago's Danielle Colaprico nearly had one from outside the box, but the keeper Williams punched it over to keep things level. The latter parts of the half were pretty calm, and they entered the locker rooms tied at 1. Houston has seen good work from their forwards Ohai, Beckie, and Daly, while also a solid half from Allysha Chapman, the left back, and Amber Brooks in the defensive midfield. Chicago's best play has been from Johnston at center back. Naeher, and Press up front providing pressure and a dangerous shot. The Dash have had the better of play so far. Houston took the lead in fifty-first minute with a Lloyd goal set up by Daly with a strong cross to create the header by Lloyd. Houston added on with a Beckie goal in the fifty-third minute, passed from Ohai, who did well to get onto a ball into space behind Johnston, who didn't attack the ball with as much pressure as Ohai did. In the sixty-first minute, Alyssa Mautz of the Red Stars received a yellow card for persistent infringement. In the seventy-fifth minute, Johnson took a yellow card for her foul. As the game winds down, the Dash are protecting their lead, and the Red Stars have failed to really make waves in the second half. In the eighty-second minute, Houston nearly got another when Stephanie Ochs deflected a ball off the Chicago defense, but it went wide for a corner kick. The Red Stars had to stave off more in the eighty-fifth minute, blocking three shots in rapid succession. A minute later, Ochs was denied by Naeher from close range. The game ended 3-1 for the Dash, with Daly the Outsider Sports Woman of the Match. Impressing in the second half was Ellie Brush with her subtly solid defense.

On Sunday, the first of two games sees the Seattle Reign FC bring in Sky Blue FC. Caroline Casey and Hope Solo protect the nets. The game can be found here on YouTube. Seattle got a bit of break going in the fourth minute, but Kim Little's low shot was easily gobbled by Casey. The Reign nearly got one when Casey's clearance hit Manon Melis, but the spin kept it out of the net and kept the game scoreless. Seattle is controlling the game a bit more at the start. Sky Blue proved lethal on a counter in the fifteenth minute with a goal by Natasha Kai, set up by Kelley O'Hara with a brilliant cross. Seattle kept the pressure up with Melis running at goal but firing a bad-angle shot straight at Casey. A counter in the twenty-sixth minute, again led by O'Hara led to a wide shot by Kelly Conheeney. In the thirty-sixth minute, Merritt Mathias got called for a foul in the box on O'Hara, but Hope Solo turned aside the penalty kick by Sarah Killion, and the rebound went out for a goal kick to preserve things. Solo did receive a yellow card prior to the spot kick for dissent. The end of the half lacked much drama, and Sky Blue will take a 1-0 lead into the half. Impressing so far in the game, O'Hara, Kai, and Casey have provided a strong core for the visitors. Also, the Reign have gotten good performances from Jess Fishlock, Melis, and Beverly Yanez as they have had the quantity, if not quality, of shots. In the fifty-second minute, Fishlock found Mathias near the post, and she headed it in past Casey to tie the game after applying a lot of pressure to start the second half. They nearly had another as Mathias led a break the other way, but Sky Blue cleared the attack. The Reign have kept up a lot of pressure since getting the equalizer, but the back line has held strong for Sky Blue. Raquel Rodriguez led an attack in the sixty-seventh minute, seeing O'Hara shoot right at Solo, but her bad distribution allowed Conheeney to score on a pass from Taylor Lytle, regaining the lead for Sky Blue. The Reign are continuing to press as they try to find another equalizer in the last fifteen minutes. In the eightieth minute, Seattle sub Rachel Corsie took a yellow card for her foul on O'Hara. Sky Blue has remained in a defensive shell to protect their lead, and sloppy passing from the Reign has neutered most of their forays on offense. The final stood at 2-1 for Sky Blue FC, with O'Hara the Outsider Sports Woman of the match. Other impressive players not mentioned at halftime include Conheeney and Lytle, while Seattle's Mathias did do well to get her goal and sub Kiersten Dallstream played well in limited minutes.

Finally, the Portland Thorns FC host the brand new Orlando Pride. The goalies are Ashlyn Harris and Michelle Betos. The game is available at this link. Portland has had the bulk of the early possession, and a corner kick from Tobin Heath led to a high shot by Allie Long on the rebound. Orlando got a shot from Maddy Evans in the sixth minute, but it was blocked by the Thorns back line. An eighth minute free kick from Steph Catley beat Betos, but hit the crossbar on a rope, narrowly denying the Pride an early lead. Kristen Edmonds gave Orlando a free kick on the far edge of the box after being fouled by Tobin Heath, and the free kick produced a goal from Catley directly from the kick as Betos couldn't get a mitt on it. Orlando leads 1-0 in the twelfth minute after that goal. Heath had a solid effort, beating two players before Laura Alleway knocked it out for a corner that Heath couldn't make anything of. Portland equalized on a Heath cross after Nadia Nadim missed on the first attempt, and Dagny Brynjarsdottir finished right in the middle of the box, past Harris, to tie the game at 1. Around the half hour mark, the physicality came into play quite a bit, making things a tad chippy. In the thirty-third minute, Lindsey Horan was the only thing stopping an Evans cross from finding Alex Morgan. Nadim nearly had one in the thirty-ninth minute, but only because she was offside. In the forty-second minute, Morgan played Jasmyne Spencer in, but Betos made a point-blank save to preserve the score. A late half cross from Heath led to Dagny and Harris colliding in the air, and Dagny received a yellow card for the play. Harris remained down for awhile. The first half ended tied at 1. Looking good so far for the Pride are Catley, Alleway, Morgan, and Evans, while the Thorns have seen good efforts from Dagny, Heath, Long, and Nadim. The game has often been wide open to this point. Portland's offside problems finally proved costly, as Meghan Klingenberg teed up a Nadim cross, and Long was caught offside as she headed the ball past Harris for a near-goal negated by the call. Betos nearly gave one up when she was slow to clear the ball, and Spencer slid in just a second late looking for a go-ahead goal. In the sixty-second minute, Kaylyn Kyle just chipped a ball over the crossbar off of a corner kick. Things have gone end-to-end somewhat in the second half. Alleway nearly had one for the Pride in the seventy-eighth minute, but it went right to Betos and the score is still tied late in the game. In the seventy-ninth minute, Alleway took a yellow card for a foul on Dagny as the latter tried to make a break toward the Pride net. In the eighty-first minute, it was Orlando's Morgan making a run into space to take a shot on Betos, but she too was denied, earning a corner kick. The frantic play finally burst as Heath found her national team teammate Horan in the middle of the box around US #3 keeper Harris, giving the Thorns a late 2-1 lead. Lianne Sanderson had a good cross in the eighty-seventh minute, but Dani Weatherholt and Kyle both missed, and Betos let it roll out harmlessly as Orlando is desperate to tie the game. In the eighty-ninth minute, Klingenberg took a yellow card for time wasting. Dagny nearly had another in the same minute, but she shot high on the pass from Heath. In the ninetieth minute, Heath was fouled by Orlando's Kyle, and that received a yellow card for the midfielder. Heath hammered another shot in stoppage time, going just wide of the Pride net. The game ended 2-1 for the Thorns, and Heath is the Outsider Sports Woman of the Match. Earning some additional mentions include Spencer of Orlando and Horan of Portland for their strong second halves.

WEEK 1 BEST XI
GK Sabrina D'Angelo
RB Kelley O'Hara
CB Laura Alleway
CB Whitney Engen
LB Caprice Dydasco
DM Amber Brooks
RW Joanna Lohman
LW Tobin Heath
RF Rachel Daly
CF Natasha Kai
LF Janine Beckie