Sunday, October 1, 2017

NWSL 2017 Regular Season Finale

This is the last week of the NWSL Regular Season. We begin with four games on Saturday, first in...

Portland, as the Thorns FC host the Chicago Red Stars. Michele Dalton is mismatched with Adrianna Franch. Portland led off in the second minute with a Hayley Raso goal. The Thorns added on in the thirteenth minute with an Ashleigh Sykes goal. Chicago's Arin Gilliland took a yellow card for her twenty-fifth minute foul. The Red Stars saw a yellow card given to Lauren Kaskie in the thirty-third minute. Amandine Henry of Portland took a yellow card for a foul in the forty-second minute. Chicago got on the board with a Sofia Huerta goal in the seventy-first minute. Portland replied in the eighty-third minute on a Nadia Nadim penalty kick. The final stood at 3-1, with the woman of the match being Sykes. The Thorns also got good games from Raso, Christine Sinclair, and Emily Sonnett. The Red Stars' best were Gilliland, Vanessa DiBernardo, and Huerta.

On the east coast, the Washington Spirit welcome the Seattle Reign FC. Madalyn Schiffel and Didi Haracic are the young goalies. Washington began with a Mallory Pugh goal in the twenty-seventh minute, set up by Meggie Dougherty Howard. The Spirit added on with a Pugh goal in the thirty-second minute, coming off of Havana Solaun. Seattle got on the board with a Jess Fishlock goal, via Kiersten Dallstream. The Reign tied it on a Larissa Crummer goal in the eighty-third minute, passed from Fishlock. Seattle took the lead with a Fishlock goal in the ninetieth minute, courtesy of Dallstream. This made it 3-2, the final, with Fishlock named woman of the match. Also starring for the Reign were Lauren Barnes, Dallstream, and Beverly Yanez, while the Spirit got good games from Caprice Dydasco, Tori Huster, Dougherty Howard, and Pugh.

Up in Boston, the Breakers host Sky Blue FC. Caroline Casey and Abby Smith draw the starts in goal. Boston opened in the twenty-fifth minute with a Natasha Dowie goal, helped along by Midge Purce. The Breakers added on with a Dowie goal in the twenty-eighth minute, coming off of Tiffany Weimer. Sky Blue got on the board with a thirty-fourth minute goal by Sam Kerr, via Maya Hayes. In the sixty-fourth minute, Boston's Purce took a yellow card for a foul. Madison Tiernan of Sky Blue had a yellow card for a seventy-second minute foul. Sky Blue tied it in the seventy-sixth minute with a Tiernan goal, set up by Kelley O'Hara. Sky Blue took the lead with an Erica Skroski goal in the seventy-eighth minute, assisted by Taylor Lytle. Boston retied it after Sky Blue's keeper Casey pawed at a shot three times before it fell in the net, officially credited as an own goal in the eighty-fifth minute. Sky Blue retook the lead in the eighty-seventh minute with an O'Hara goal, guided in by Leah Galton. The final held at 4-3, with O'Hara named woman of the match. Sky Blue also saw good games from Skroski, Mandy Freeman, and Kerr, while the Breakers' best were Brooke Elby, Dowie, and Weimer.

South to North Carolina, where the Courage bring in the Orlando Pride. Ashlyn Harris and Katelyn Rowland are the gloved women. Orlando started in the twenty-second minute with a Kristen Edmonds goal, passed from Chioma Ubogagu. The Pride added on in the fifty-first minute with a Marta goal, made possible by Alex Morgan. North Carolina got on the board in the sixty-second minute with a Lynn Williams goal, set up by Taylor Smith. The Courage tied it in the sixty-seventh minute with a Williams penalty kick goal. Harris also received a yellow card for delaying the game before the spot kick was taken. In the seventy-second minute, Orlando's Marta took a yellow card for a foul. In the ninetieth minute, Abby Dahlkemper of North Carolina received a yellow card for a foul. The Pride took the lead back with an Alanna Kennedy free kick goal in stoppage time. This made it 3-2, the final, with the woman of the match being Kennedy, while Orlando saw good games from Marta, Ubogagu, and Edmonds, while the Courage's best were McCall Zerboni, Smith, Debinha, and Williams.

On Sunday, the regular season ends with FC Kansas City hosting the Houston Dash. Jane Campbell and Nicole Barnhart protect the nets. Kansas City struck first in the tenth minute with a Maegan Kelly goal, assisted by Desiree Scott. In the forty-eighth minute, Bruna of Houston took a yellow card for a foul. In the fifty-first minute, Cari Roccaro of the Dash received a yellow card for a foul. Houston tied it on a Rachel Daly goal, via Kristie Mewis and Nichelle Prince. In the sixty-third minute, Kelly of Kansas City received a yellow card for a foul. In the seventy-first minute, Shea Groom took a yellow card for her foul. The final held at 1-1, with the woman of the match being Daly. Also strong for the Dash were Campbell, Amber Brooks, and Mewis, while Kansas City's best were Sydney Miramontez, Scott, Kelly, and Sydney Leroux.

NWSL Team of the Week
GK Jane Campbell
RB Kelley O'Hara
CB Lauren Barnes
CB Alanna Kennedy (out of position)
LB Erica Skroski
DM Jess Fishlock
AM Kristie Mewis
AM Kiersten Dallstream
FW Mallory Pugh
FW Natasha Dowie
FW Lynn Williams

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