NWSL 2017: Week 11

It's a midweek edition of NWSL action, with four games on Wednesday, June 28. We begin in...

New Jersey, as Sky Blue FC hosts the Orlando Pride. Aubrey Bledsoe and Kailen Sheridan make the starts in goal. Orlando opened in the eleventh minute with a Chioma Ubogagu goal. Sky Blue tied it in the forty-fifth minute with a Kelley O'Hara penalty kick goal, drawn after the Pride's Steph Catley fouled Sky Blue's Sam Kerr in the penalty area. Sky Blue took the lead in the forty-sixth minute on a bicycle kick goal by Kerr, set up by Maya Hayes. In the seventy-fifth minute, Orlando's Jasmyne Spencer had a yellow card for a foul. The Pride retied it in the seventy-seventh minute on a Marta goal after a poor clearance from Sky Blue's Mandy Freeman. Orlando gained the lead in the eighty-sixth minute with a Rachel Hill goal, via Catley and Marta after a crafty passing sequence. In stoppage time, Sky Blue's Nikki Stanton took a yellow card for her foul. The game ended 3-2 for the Pride, with Marta the woman of the match. Also impressing were center forward Jamia Fields, center back Ali Krieger, and right wing Ubogagu. For Sky Blue, center back Christie Pearce, right back O'Hara, and forward Kerr were the best players.

Down in Houston, the Dash welcome the Boston Breakers. Sammy Jo Prudhomme and Jane Campbell are the backups in goal. Boston's Morgan Andrews took a yellow card for a twenty-fifth minute foul against Houston's Rachel Daly. The Breakers' Allysha Chapman had a yellow card for a late foul in the fifty-eighth minute against the Dash's Poliana. The game ended in a 0-0 draw, with the Breakers' Megan Oyster being the woman of the match. Also good for the Breakers were the goalie Prudhomme and defensive midfielder Angela Salem. For the Dash, defensive midfielder Morgan Brian, and forwards Carli Lloyd and Daly had the best efforts.

To the Northwest, where the Portland Thorns FC bring in FC Kansas City. Nicole Barnhart and Adrianna Franch are in goal. Portland started in the fifteenth minute with a Christine Sinclair goal, a rebound off the post from an Allie Long shot. The Thorns added on in the thirty-second minute with a Hayley Raso goal, assisted by Lindsey Horan on an angled shot from outside the box. In the fifty-second minute, Portland's Horan took a yellow card for her foul on Kansas City's Desiree Scott. Alexa Newfield of Kansas City received a yellow card in the fifty-fourth minute for fouling the Thorns' Long. Portland's Raso took a yellow card in the sixty-sixth minute for a foul on Kansas City's Christina Gibbons. Sinclair took a yellow card for dissent in the seventy-first minute after a goal was called back for a hand ball. The Thorns extended the lead as Sinclair scored in the seventy-fifth minute, with the help of Raso. In the eighty-third minute, Kansas City saw a yellow card for a Brittany Ratcliffe foul against Raso. Maegan Kelly of Kansas City took a yellow card for a foul in stoppage time. The game ended at 3-0, with the woman of the match being Sinclair. Also impressing for the Thorns were Raso and Long, while Kansas City's best were right back Brittany Taylor, defensive midfielder Scott, and right wing Shea Groom.

Finally, the Seattle Reign FC hosts the Chicago Red Stars. Alyssa Naeher and Haley Kopmeyer are the gloved women. Chicago struck first in the forty-first minute on an Alyssa Mautz goal, coming off of Julie Ertz. Seattle tied it in the fifty-eighth minute with a Megan Rapinoe penalty kick goal, after the Red Stars' Taylor Comeau committed a hand ball in the box. Sam Johnson of Chicago received a yellow card for her foul in the sixty-ninth minute. The Reign took the lead in the eighty-fourth minute with a Rapinoe penalty kick goal, which she earned herself after being fouled by the Red Stars' Casey Short in the box. The Reign won 2-1, with Rapinoe the woman of the match, aided by standout performances from the outside backs Carson Pickett and Merritt Mathias. Chicago's top players were right wing Mautz, defensive midfielder Ertz, and attacking midfielder Vanessa DiBernardo.

NWSL Midweek Best XI
GK Sammy Jo Prudhomme
RB Merritt Mathias
CB Megan Oyster
CB Ali Krieger
LB Carson Pickett
DM Morgan Brian
AM Hayley Raso
AM Shea Groom
RF Marta
CF Christine Sinclair
LF Megan Rapinoe