NWSL 2018 Week 12

All four games kick off within an hour of each other as the NWSL returns to action. We begin with...

The Washington Spirit hosting the Seattle Reign FC. Lydia Williams and Aubrey Bledsoe play in goal. Seattle's Elizabeth Addo had a yellow card for a forty-seventh minute foul. Rebecca Quinn of Washington had a yellow card for a sixty-third minute foul. The Reign's Jodie Taylor had a yellow card for her foul in stoppage time, as did the Spirit's Ashley Hatch. The game stayed at 0-0, with the woman of the match being Bledsoe (six-save clean sheet). Also good for the Spirit were Estelle Johnson, Andi Sullivan, Quinn, and Francisca Ordega, while the Reign's best were Steph Catley, Lauren Barnes, Theresa Nielsen, Rumi Utsugi, and Addo.

Down in North Carolina, the Courage welcome the Utah Royals FC. Abby Smith and Katelyn Rowland draw the starts in goal. Utah's Desiree Scott had a yellow card for a twenty-sixth minute foul. The Royals won 1-0 in stoppage time on a Brittany Ratcliffe goal following disorganization in the box from the Courage on a Diana Matheson free kick. The woman of the match was Ratcliffe, while also starring for the Royals were Becky Sauerbrunn, Gunnhildur Jonsdottir, and Katrina Gorry. For North Carolina, Abby Erceg, Jaelene Hinkle, McCall Zerboni, Samantha Mewis, and Jessica McDonald had good performances.

Further to the south, the Orlando Pride bring in Sky Blue FC. Kailen Sheridan and Ashlyn Harris protect the nets. Orlando began in the second minute with a Sydney Leroux goal, made possible by Chioma Ubogagu. Sky Blue tied it in the sixteenth minute with a Savannah McCaskill goal on a rebound from Imani Dorsey's shot. The Pride retook the lead in the thirty-first minute with another Leroux goal, assisted by Christine Nairn. Sky Blue tied it again in the thirty-seventh minute on a Madison Tiernan goal, after Katie Johnson's shot was parried away poorly by the keeper Harris. Christina Gibbons of Sky Blue had a yellow card for dissent in first half stoppage time. Leroux had a yellow card in the seventy-fifth minute for a foul for Orlando. The Pride took the lead in the eighty-third minute with a Rachel Hill goal, passed from Alex Morgan and Marta. In the eighty-fifth minute, Carli Lloyd of Sky Blue received a yellow card for a foul. The final stood at 3-2, with the woman of the match being Leroux. Also strong for the Pride were Carson Pickett, Alanna Kennedy, Ubogagu, and Nairn, while Sky Blue's best were Mandy Freeman, Tiernan, Johnson, and McCaskill.

Finally, the Chicago Red Stars host the Portland Thorns FC. Britt Eckerstrom is mismatched with Alyssa Naeher in goal. Kelli Hubly of Portland had a yellow card for a forty-second minute foul in the box. Yuki Nagasato missed the penalty kick for Chicago, but buried the rebound to lead off the scoring. The Thorns tied it in the forty-eighth minute with a Lindsey Horan goal on a deflected free kick from Andressinha. In the fifty-fourth minute, Portland's Horan received a yellow card for a foul. In the sixty-second minute, the Red Stars' Nikki Stanton took a yellow card for a foul. Tyler Lussi of the Thorns took a yellow card for a seventy-first minute foul. The game ended in a 1-1 draw, with Nagasato as the woman of the match. Also starring for the Red Stars were Sarah Gorden, Julie Ertz, Arin Gilliland, and Sam Kerr, while the Thorns saw good games from Emily Menges, Horan, and Eckerstrom (six-for-seven in saves).

NWSL Team of the Week
GK Aubrey Bledsoe
RB Theresa Nielsen
CB Lauren Barnes
CB Julie Ertz
LB Arin Gilliland
DM McCall Zerboni
DM Andi Sullivan
AM Yuki Nagasato
AM Chioma Ubogagu
AM Savannah McCaskill
FW Sydney Leroux