WOW! I am saying this a lot. Little with a second goal, I thought that would be offside. And Little made Naeher look silly ouch. Wow.
54' 2-0 Seattle fouled by an arm-over-shoulder hold just behind midfield circle right. Free kick taken quickly -- longball up centerline, Little has backcut the CBs. She continues run while looking back over shoulder, lets ball bounce behind her and catch up, through box top as Naeher comes way up to 14m -- flicks it under Naeher's well-timed hop, rolls very softly into left back low. 56' 2-0 Leroux fouled by Jones(?) at the 40-yard line circle right, gets up asking for a card -- for DOGSO? Yellow card is all. Free kick sails wide left.
60' 2-0 Seattle spring Leroux at 22m box top mid-left to arc right, 1-v-1 but with some lateral separation. Leroux doesn't turn-and-shoot on the run, tries -- another backheel to Little lurking up center. Ball deflects off Leroux's defender, rolls weakly to Naeher. Well, Syd is seeing the angles ...
This is the second year in a row that the Flash have given up an OG in their season opener. Nairn's CK deflected off Barczuk.
Not trying to make fun of Rapinoe but that was a gift by Naho. That was pretty funny. wide open for a perfect volley.
Ouch, Rapinoe really was more hungrier you can see it. She split 2 defenders and got to the ball before Naeher. What a nice goal but it was ugly for Boston, ouch.
88' 3-0 Fishlock flicks ball up centerline, draws Naeher up as both CBs converge. Rapinoe is like the ace in Thunderbirds doing the bomb burst -- sprints from behind, splits the CBs, four-way clusterma'am at box top center -- Naeher whiffs cleanly, CBs peel away, ball and Rapinoe continue through untouched. Rapinoe follows to 9m center, taps in and dances backward like doing a tail slide.
Great first week of NWSL!! Rapinoe has to be my favorite player and if not one of the greatest of all time. She never fails to impress when you watch her, fancy flicks, two great shots on crossbar, a goal, and a yellow card moment. Really great game for the Reign, first clean sheet of the season and if I am right they are in the number one spot at the league. HAO looked dangerous on the wings for Boston, and did you notice how open Kawasumi was the entire time?
Great start for the team. A huge load off their backs to get the first win and a clean sheet. Looking forward to Washington next week . Post game analysis from me will be in the Reign forum
Reign sending a message to the rest of the league. It's only one game, but Laura Harvey's grand plan looks successful. The second half was as dominant a performance as you'll see. We'll see if they can replicate it against a better defense. Cat Whitehill surrounded by Avant, Jones and King isn't the most secure bunch. In fact it's pretty poor. That midfield trio of Fishlock, Winters, and especially Little is full of energy and skill. They look to possess and not just hoof it forward. Leroux was a bit uneven, I actually liked her wide rather than central. Ironic that Rapinoe's goal came off a total mix-up, after all the danger she caused earlier. Her game was basically a replica of what we've seen lately with the U.S. Lots of creative ideas, about 2/3 of them executed and the 1/3 losing possession. But she makes things happen, you can't deny it. I think she was trying crazy moves on purpose tonight to make an impression and fire up the home crowd.
Yep, lets just say it. Feed the hype. Reign look damn scary and good. Will really need to wait and see how their defense performs when another team can put them under pressure, but because of the way their midfield is built and how much possession they keep, even a dangerous attacking offense can get stifled if the Reign keep the ball from them. Megan Rapinoe had a monster game, had at least 10! shots on goal. Wanted to score every time she had the ball. Constantly harassing and getting some great shots, with a great save by Naeher, a cross bar hit. Massive game by Rapinoe. Kim Little: She won the best player in the English FA WSL and well now I see why. She is a monster. Wonderful playmaker, can play with either foot, great vision to create. 2 goals only proves that she could be on her way to another MVP title again. Beverly Goebel: Played great as a center forward, moved around and distributed and was constantly linking with her forwards and midfielders. Vitally important up front On the Breaker side, poor Alyssa Naehar, played a great game, was shelled all match long. Her defense just let her down so many times. The last goal by the Reign, the two defenders allowed Rapinoe to split them and then she got to the ball before Naeher could get her hands on it. Even then Naehar had to make several great saves to prevent even more goals. Other then Naehar is was a very one sided affair, constant pressure from the second half on. Really ugly game by the Breakers with a lot of break downs.
I'm worn out after that Seattle game. Relentless pressure by Seattle. The game could easily have been 6-1. I thought Naeher and Whitehill for Boston did pretty well on defense, but you can't stop them all. Little (obviously) and (for me) Cox the best Seattle players in the game. Rapinoe and Fishlock were wildly entertaining as usual. Seattle should have passed more to Kawasumi. She was open a lot. After what I thought were a bit lackluster performances by all the other teams except Houston, this game was all about what soccer should be: super-fast and super-aggressive. Leroux was the only Seattle player I didn't think had a good game.
Yup, Naeher was the best player on the pitch for Boston today. Without her it would have gotten ugly.
Leroux and Reed had some head scratchers in this game. With so many attacking options, and boy are there a lot, Leroux will have to find her niche on this team and I hope Laura can help with that. For what it's worth, I think she had a better second half when she was in the middle. If I was Harvey, I'll keep Leroux up top at all times. With her speed and the pace at which the Reign mids can counter, that should keep defenses honest.
Leroux just has so much problems distributing from that location, much better if she was given a go route and allowed to run on the touch line for balls. I think its going to be hard to figure out who plays where since I think Naho was an awesome playmaker from the wing, but Goebel is the perfect center forward. Able to hold and distribute the ball from the top. Goebel at top just gives the Reign another option, not that they need another option, but Goebel gives them that option to hold and then move the ball to either side of the pitch and switch fields. Seattle is looking very impressive right now. Again we will need to wait until a team like FCKC, Portland or WNYF come into town and see how that defense handles them.
Reign are the team to beat right now. Rapinoe, Leroux, Little, Fishlock, Goebel, Foxhoven, Kawasumi, and Winters. That's 8 players for 6 starting spots (forwards and midfielders). So they have depth, by having backups when Rapinoe and Leroux are away.
I originally had Shim starting over Nairn. When I found out Shim was not going to start against Houston, I inserted in Nairn, because I was looking for someone to give me (virtual) guaranteed points. Nairn takes a lot of their kicks, can get assists, sends crosses, and can get you shots on goal. I'd rather take a player like that as a last second fill-in, than someone that might come up empty in getting you some points. Nairn's stat line wasn't too bad today. I believe it was 13.5 points (which was more than Rapinoe today I believe, because of Rapinoe's yellow card). Nairn had a goal (7 points), 2 shots on goal (6 points), 1 foul committed (-0.5 points), and 2 fouls suffered (1.0 points) = 13.5 points. I believe Rapinoe had 12.5 points. Rapinoe had the better game (in non-fantasy terms), but it's funny how fantasy points can work out.