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Last weekend was a busy one for the Canadian women in the NWSL. Three different Canadians scored four total goals, and more changes to the top of the table occurred. Here are the details:
Portland Thorns FC 3, Chicago Red Stars 3
Four Canadians went 90 minutes when Chicago visited Portland last Sunday, a game that was broadcasted on Fox Soccer in the States.
Christine Sinclair finally broke her two-month long scoring drought with a brace, burying the Thorns’ first and third goals. Her first goal, in the 23rd minute, was especially impressive. Tobin Heath cheekily chipped the Chicago wall that was slow to set up for a free kick, and Sinclair proceeded to slip between the Chicago defenders. She buried the ball past Erin McLeod into the back of the net on a half volley.
US international Tobin Heath is proving to be the creative and technical midfielder the Thorns have been looking for to provide quality service all season. Despite never playing together before, Sinclair and Heath have had instant chemistry in just their first three games together, setting each other up for looks on goal on multiple occasions.
Portland midfielder Meleana Shim added another goal in the 55th minute, but Chicago scored in the 60th minute to bring the team within one. Sinclair netted her second of the night when she rounded McLeod and escorted the ball into the net in the 63rd minute.
However, an utter breakdown of Portland’s midfield and defense in the last 15 minutes allowed Chicago to score two late goals, one in each of the 75th and 86th minutes to claw their way back to a 3-3 draw.
Adriana Leon is continuing to look exactly like the kind of technical and creative young player John Herdman needs to bolster the Canadian attack. On Chicago’s second goal, Leon drew three Portland defenders out wide before she distributed the ball to Rachel Quon on the top of the box. Quon served a perfect ball into Alyssa Mautz, who headed it past Karina Leblanc into the back of Portland’s net.
On Chicago’s third goal, I can’t help but mention Leon’s positioning off the ball as well. As Julianne Sitch took the long-range shot, Leon can be seen to shake off her defender and be in alone on goal. If the ball wasn’t hit so well and instead veered off track from goal, or Leblanc happened to give off a rebound from a save, Leon was in the perfect position to bury it.
It would be unjust not to mention Sinclair’s shocking miss in the 54th minute that could have easily increased the Thorns’ early lead. After receiving a turnover, Sinclair was in on goal alone and successfully got past Erin McLeod. However, an extra touch was enough to allow for two Chicago defenders to get into position on the goal line, and Sinclair sent her attempt on goal into the side netting. Indeed, her two goals show that her finishing has improved, but misses like that can prove to be game changers as well.
Three points unnecessarily became one point for the Thorns. From Chicago’s perspective, the draw is certainly better than a loss, however it still doesn’t do much to help their hope of getting that last playoff spot.
FC Kansas City 1, Sky Blue FC 0
After a two hour lightning delay, Sky Blue FC and FC Kansas City were finally able to get their top of the table clash underway last Sunday in New Jersey.
Once again, Sophie Schmidt played as a forward for Sky Blue, out of her usual midfield position, and was rather underwhelming, recording just two shots on goal. In fact, moving Schmidt to forward has been an ineffective solution for coach Jim Gabarra who has been struggling with a number of injuries to his players. In the early days of this NWSL season, Schmidt was the leading scorer amongst the league’s midfielders, but as a forward she has struggled to find the back of the net.
Schmidt’s best chance on the night may have been a narrowly missed header in the first half, as the cross played in just sailed over her head.
Lauren Sesselmann had two especially important defensive plays on the night for FC KC. In the first half, she just got a toe in to knock the ball away from Sky Blue forward Lisa De Vanna, stopping her from getting a shot on net. In the second half, Sky Blue had the FC KC goalkeeper beat, however Sesselmann was in the perfect position to stop the ball just yards from the goal line.
The lone goal of the game came in the 76th minute off of a corner kick. The in swinging ball landed right in front of Sky Blue goalkeeper Brittany Cameron, however FC KC’s Courtney Jones was able to get to it first and knock it in the back of the net.
The loss furthered Kansas City’s impressive unbeaten streak (now nine games), and extended Sky Blue’s scoreless streak to three games. While Sky Blue now sits in second place and is all but guaranteed a playoff spot, they will need to explore other options up top while they work through their injury concerns.
Boston Breakers 5, Washington Spirit 2
Saturday’s match between Washington and Boston was a goal fest, but a far superior Boston team fought back after an early deficit and was able to gain the much-needed three points to keep their playoff hopes alive. Diana Matheson and Rhian Wilkinson both got on the score sheet for their respective teams.
Matheson opened the scoring just 78 seconds into the match for Washington when she beat Boston keeper Ashley Phillips with a low drive into the side of the net on a counter attack. The goal was the first for the Spirit from the run of play since May 16th (yes, you heard that correctly- May 16th).
Wilkinson recorded an assist on Boston’s second goal and scored the team’s third in the 48th minute. Wilkinson took advantage of a bobbled save by Washington keeper Ashlyn Harris, and was in the right position at the right time for the easy tap in to give her team the 3-1 lead.
Carmelina Moscato once again was a late game substitute for Boston and came into the match in the 79th minute.
The other story from this one is the injuries to both Candace Chapman and Robyn Gayle. Chapman was back in the starting eleven after missing a game when she re-injured her knee two weeks ago in Seattle. Unfortunately, Chapman had to be removed from Saturday’s game in just the 3rd minute of play, as it looked as though she tweaked the same knee again. As mentioned here before, one can’t help but wonder if we will ever see a 100% healthy Candace Chapman again.
Gayle has missed the last six Spirit games due to a “right knee sprain”, and is now listed as “questionable” for their midweek game against Western New York.
Midweek and Weekend Schedule
Wednesday July 31st
Washington Spirit at Western New York Flash (7:05pm ET)
Sky Blue FC at Portland Thorns FC (10:30pm ET)
Saturday August 3rd
Western New York Flash at Boston Breakers (6:00pm ET)
-Boston pay-per-view live stream can be purchased here
Seattle Reign FC at Chicago Red Stars (7:00pm ET)
Washington Spirit at Sky Blue FC (7:00pm ET)
Sunday August 4th
FC Kansas City at Portland Thorns FC (8:30pm ET)
-No live Internet stream due to Fox Soccer Broadcast
All games can be seen live on the NWSL Youtube Channel.
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