The highlight of Week Six in the National Women’s Soccer League was the six point effort from Sky Blue FC on the west coast. There were people that were unsure if the New Jersey outfit could take their success on the road and back up their early presence on top of the league table. But a late winner on Thursday in Portland and a chippy, but professional win against Seattle on Sunday has given Sky Blue a share of first position with the Thorns, with a third of their schedule in the books. Plus there was high scoring action elsewhere as Washington got their forwards on board this week with a 4-2 win over Seattle and FC Kansas City eliminating the last undefeated team in NWSL play. Lets take a look at some of the key players and moments from Week Six:
The Players
Christine Sinclair: It would be only a matter of time before the Canadian goal scoring machine would find her stride in NWSL play. Through her first five matches with the Thorns, she had two goals, one of those from the spot. But in the two weeks, we saw her in form that is synonymous with her play with the Canadian WNT. Especially in the Thorns match on Sunday with Washington, she picked up the ball in the midfield and consistently put her head down and ran ahead full steam. She hit some great crosses as well in that match, but her goal late in the first half was a thing of beauty. It was a curling effort with her left foot that may have taken a slight deflection off Domenica Hodak, but the placement was perfect and Spirit goalkeeper Chantel Jones had no chance at saving it. (Editors note: Jones had a fantastic match as the fill-in shot stopper for Ashlyn Harris despite the goals goals allowed, after the USWNT ‘keeper re-aggravated a knee injury in Thursday’s match against Seattle and was unavailable for Sunday’s match against Portland). Fans of the Thorns hope they will see more of this from Sinclair in the weeks to come.
Jen Buczkowski: Now, this was one of my more curious picks of the weeks and may have not been on many people’s radars. But lets break down the situation: FC Kansas City hosting Boston on Saturday night, with Boston coming in still undefeated in league play (two wins and two draws). FCKC lost 2-1 to Western New York a week ago, and while they only allowed three goals in their four matches before Saturday, their defensive lineup basically remained the same for all matches, including a solid center-back tandem of Becky Sauerbrunn and Lauren Sesselmann. Fans learned that while Sauerbrunn was on the 18-player roster, she would be unavailable Saturday night due to an injury, and Head Coach Vlatko Andonovski had to have someone fill in for Sauerbrunn, against a solid Boston forward pair of Sydney Leroux and Katie Schoepfer. Jen Buczkowski steps in from her holding midfield role into the defensive four and did not look lost at all. In fact, Sesselmann and Buczkowski looked like they have been playing together for years in how they shut down all Boston offense on Saturday. They only allowed eight shots on goal and none looked too threatening on FCKC goalkeeper Nicole Barnhart. So an effort well deserved for Buczkowski in stepping in to the back line and shutting down Boston, en route to a clean sheet.
Taylor Lytle: When you get opportunities, you have to make the most of them. And for the Sky Blue FC reserve midfielder Taylor Lytle, she took advantage of two cameo appearances on her team’s west coast trip. Entering Thursday’s match against Portland, Lytle took a pass from CoCo Goodson and on her first touch, she spun looked up and ripped a 30-yard rocket past Karina LeBlanc for the winning goal. Four days later, she comes on for Lisa De Vanna and a few minutes before time lobs Seattle’s goalkeeper Haley Kopmeyer from the top of the box. Two goals in approximately 30 minutes of game time is impressive. And for those who don’t know much about Taylor Lytle (which believe me, I didn’t know much either): she is the all-time career assists leader at Texas Tech and ninth in career goals, so as we saw this weekend, Lytle knows how to get her name on the score sheet when she takes the field.
Ali Krieger: Washington Spirit was the other team from the East Coast that went on a two-game western swing this week, and the one staple for the Spirit was that Krieger made an impact on both matches. The USWNT outside back was her usual self, romping up and down the flanks, providing width in attack and showing class in her 1v1 defending. In the Seattle game, she had a goal off of a Lori Lindsey free kick, which the initial effort was saved and on two attempts Krieger powered home a header. And in the Portland match, she hit some great crosses and kept the Spirit in the match until the second breakthrough for the Thorns late on. But Krieger has been very strong this season and her play in the two matches this week for Washington was proof of her success.
The Little Things
Portland’s Effort From Their Subs: It’s always noted in these reports if there happens to be an impact substitute (or two) in a match, because while they may only play a fraction of the match it does not mean they can’t make a difference. And on Sunday, there were two reserve players that Cindy Parlow Cone gave the opportunity to express themselves against Washington and they made the most of the opportunity. Angie Kerr and Courtney Wetzel came in in the final stages of the match while the score was only 1-0 in favor of the Thorns, and they both had an impact offensively. Kerr provided nice width and high pressure, plus hit a couple of nice shots late on that tested Chantel Jones in the Spirit net. And Wetzel picked off a lazy pass in the midfield and fed Alex Morgan a great through ball and that led to the second Thorn tally of the night. Both put in great short shifts which proves that Portland does really have some depth on their bench, after many thought they were weak after their starting 11.
Lisa-Marie Woods: When I heard that Boston signed Lisa-Marie Woods that it was going to be a nice impact signing for Lisa Cole’s side. She has brought success to whatever team she plays on, and most recently the Ottawa Fury of the USL W-League, where she led the team to their first league title last summer. But she only logged four minutes in one appearance for Boston, and it was in match one for the Breakers. But coming on for Sydney Leroux and with Boston already trailing 2-0, she brought new life to the Breakers. Every time the ball was in the area, she wanted it. She wanted to dictate the action and put a stamp on the match, something that was not there for the Breakers on Saturday night. I’m curious to see what Cole does with her going forward, because she is a solid player and isn’t getting enough minutes to express herself.
Brittany Cameron Riding a Nice Clean-Sheet Streak: As a former goalkeeper you don’t talk about streaks, but this one is pretty impressive. Three matches straight without giving up a goal for Sky Blue and looked confident this entire weekend. Especially in the Portland match where she played the sweeper role a lot, clearing up balls in behind before the likes of Morgan and Sinclair got on the end of them. And while she didn’t have a lot of work to do on Sunday night against Seattle, she organized her defense well and held the sheet. This has turned out to be a nice surprise for Sky Blue Head Coach Jim Gabarra with the absence of USWNT goalkeeper Jill Loyden working her way back from a hand injury. Now it will be some interesting competition for the jersey once Loyden is healthy because Cameron has earned the number one shirt after how she has played this year.
The Bad
Boston’s Front Duo: Like I mentioned last week, playing directly over the top to Sydney Leroux and Katie Schoepfer may have not been the best game plan for FC Kansas City this week. And the Blues kept the Breakers forwards quiet the entire night, to almost a point that they were irrelevant. And it’s not to say that Leroux and Schoepfer played bad, it just wasn’t their night. They tried inserting Kyah Simon into the match but she didn’t fare much better and it was too late when Lisa Cole took Leroux out to change the outcome of the game. Hopefully for Boston, next week at home will be a different scenario with the success of their forwards.
Seattle’s Injury Woes: Things aren’t getting any better for the Reign after this weekend. If losing twice was not bad enough, the injury tally is starting to rise up, especially in the defense. Elli Reed was unavailable this weekend and will be out for a few weeks. Then early on Thursday, Kate Deines came out with a leg injury and has no timetable on her. Keelin Winters played in limited action on Saturday and then Jenny Ruiz, one of Seattle’s few healthy defenders, picked up two yellow cards against Sky Blue and will be suspended for the next match. And looking at their next five, its home to Portland and FC Kansas City, then away to Portland, Western New York and Boston. Like I said, it’s not looking too good for Seattle right now.
Week Seven Match to Watch
FC Kansas City vs. Sky Blue FC, Saturday May 25, 7:35pm local time; Verizon Wireless Field at Shawnee Mission District Stadium
If there were any more tests that Sky Blue needs to pass to prove their NWSL stock, it would be this one. FCKC has been dominant at home, only conceding once in three home matches and have one of the most electrifying forwards in the league with Renae Cuellar. But Sky Blue is also coming into the match with over 270 minutes of clean sheet soccer and are firing on all cylinders after this weekend (though they did come away with a few bruises as well, so they need to get healthy before the match). If Sky Blue comes away with points, they may make a case as the top dog in NWSL heading into the middle portion of the season.
Week Six Final Results
Seattle Reign FC 2-4 Washington Spirit
Portland Thorns FC 0-1 Sky Blue FC
FC Kansas City 2-0 Boston Breakers
Portland Thorns FC 2-0 Washington Spirit
Seattle Reign FC 0-3 Sky Blue FC