Well those weren't really fancy. Dahlkemper laid it off to Mewis, who did what I said: serve it in. It was the earlier plays where they'd have 4+ people on the ball, take 3 or 4 touches, and then not even get it in the box (it was happening in the game against Chicago too) that I was complaining about.
A sandwich post + - - + The stream was really good on my desk top. I thought that Mark Skinner had figured out exactly how to beat NC. Ashlyn Harris won't win save of the week, even with the massive write-in vote.. Steph Labbe looked to be very much on her toes the whole game. Her decisions were confident and based on excellent anticipation.
I like Kacie White in the booth. I thought in the first half NC's ratio of SOG to Shots was pretty high, but as the game wore on, the ratio came down to normal for them. The last time NC put a rookie #12 up top, she was Rookie of the Year. I fear teams are going to be seriously bunkering NC this year.
I recently exhumed my thread about goalkeeping in international women soccer (in the international section of these boards) and Labbé looks to me like one of the few very consistent GKs in FIFA raking's top 10 (or more) teams. USA, Germany, France, Japan all had their NT's GKs make one or more glaring mistakes, lately; Stephanie Labbé just had one goal against in seven matches with Canada NT in 2019. Seriously, Orlando defense just fell apart: all goals taken from careless balls lost in front of defense or from nearly identical CKs. to @Blaze20 and @holden: with Orlando unable to score even a single goal, my trivial 1-0 prediction ended being better than yours (although everyone in his sane mind would say that yours were closer).
Okay well I'm pretty much convinced North Carolina are unbeatable. How the hell did they nab Pruitt who was one of the stars of the USC team?
I don't think it is about where the pick came from, but how they used it. In my mind I credit all the California players drafted by the Flash/Courage to Charlie Naimo. Also Paul Riley can't ever have enough Forwards.
Hopefully, they'll regroup with another losing performance, but not as bad (just sayin' as a Reign fan).
I finally got around to watching the Wash vs Sky Blue game. Three of Washington's first round draft picks (DiBiasi, Staab, and McGrady) played all 90 and accredited themselves well. I'm encouraged that Washington will be better this year. It must be the youngest team in the league. I thought Sky Blue was lifeless -- until rookie Paige Monaghan came in about minute 65. I didn't see much to be optimistic about other than that. So, now, week 2, Washington has a greater challenge against Utah, and Sky Blue will be whopped by Houston.
2019/04/20 Sat: [CHI-POR] Short for Gorden; K.Johnson for Stanton. And their XI tweet has only X, omitting Naeher They just caught it 1119680768706531328 is not a valid tweet id Fixed! Ready to Elevate.Starting XI, presented by @magellan | https://t.co/iuZD539YUI#MKOT pic.twitter.com/fVBaBHZB1R— Chicago Red Stars (@chicagoredstars) April 20, 2019 Identical. Our Starting XI vs. @chiredstarsPR.#BAONPDX | #CHIvPOR pic.twitter.com/KLJvAWwLmH— Portland Thorns FC (@ThornsFC) April 20, 2019 Chicago: Q Colaprico Mautz Short (starting), Brian DiBernardo Stanton (not) / OUT none Portland: Q none / OUT Menges Bixby
14' 0-0 Klingenberg entry pass from wide left to Heath at 10m mid-left. Heath drives to endline, has an instantaneous window for a cross, doesn't use it ... holds and finds nothing else. Backpass to box left, Ertz intercepts and clears. 15' 0-0 Horan bumps Ertz down at circle top wide right, pulls her back up. Nice sunny day, a bit of wind rippling jerseys and hair.
16' 0-1 Crnogorčević dumps ball into traffic, Davidson clears it off Sinclair, Foord pokes square left to Horan at 24m arc top, Sinclair promptly cuts between Davidson and Naughton caught high at arc top. Horan scoops a mini-lob to 14m 1/3 left, Naeher charges out but has no chance, Sinclair stretches and dinks a volley over her, drops it perfectly into goal center. How about a @sincy12 chip for an afternoon snack?0-1 #CHIvPOR | @YahooSports | https://t.co/SmhMEfYlsD pic.twitter.com/5nPM3RRm0N— National Women’s Soccer League (@NWSL) April 20, 2019 17' 0-1 Off the restart, K.Johnson chases to endline mid-left, cross deflects off Carpenter's arm, over endline left. Handball, pk 18' 1-1 Nagasato pk, right instep to back left edge high, as Franch dove wrong. We're all level after @ThornsFC handle the ball and @Yuki_Ogimi handles the PK. 1-1 #CHIvPOR | @YahooSports | https://t.co/SmhMEfYlsD pic.twitter.com/2gJANSL3m6— National Women’s Soccer League (@NWSL) April 20, 2019
20' 2-1 Sonnett passes to Horan, backpass to Sonnett at own arc top mid-left. Kerr darts in to press, Sonnett rushes a spin-cw away but does an unintended stepover -- left foot simply whiffs right over the ball. Kerr hip-charges Sonnett off, chases ball to 15m (her) left post, turns a soft roller just past Franch's right foot, into 1/4 left back low. The more you try not to think about Kerr's oncoming pressure, the more you're thinking about not thinking about it -- .@samkerr1 has no plans to give up the Golden Boot in 2019. Her second on the season puts @chiredstarsPR up 2-1. @YahooSports | https://t.co/SmhMEfYlsD pic.twitter.com/Da6GHjO1SP— National Women’s Soccer League (@NWSL) April 20, 2019 34' 2-2 Reynolds longball to Heath at box top left touch. Heath works down wide left 1-v-1 on Short, backpass to Klingenberg at arc top wide left. Klingenberg crosses low to 8m 6-left in deep shade, Crnogorčević is unmarked amidst blown coverage, leans and flick-heads across mouth, past Naeher's dive into back right. The cross was already on-frame, and Naeher couldn't backstop that and also react to any deflection. All square again!@meghankling whips in a ball that finds @AnaCrnogorcevic for the slightest of touches on the equalizer. 2-2 #CHIvPOR | @YahooSports | https://t.co/SmhMEfYlsD pic.twitter.com/uXnnHnhXGR— National Women’s Soccer League (@NWSL) April 20, 2019 34' 2-2 Brief stoppage: Carpenter is seated, with right leg straight? She waves off the stretcher, walks into far touch.
45' 2-2 Kerr pressures Franch, rushed clearance intercepted by Ertz. Mautz crosses high from ~arc top right touch to 14m center, Kerr back-heads wide left. +2'. 45+1' (of +2') 2-2 Horan dumps ball into box, nobody there, it bounces to Naeher at 1m 1-right. 45+3' (of +2') 2-2 Horan holds at box top (almost) left touch, Heath runs around her through that tiny gap, Horan fakes a backheel and dribbles away. Crossbody cross blocked upfield, and that's it. HT 2-2.
51' 2-3 Naeher gk, to circle top right, Sinclair outjumps Colaprico (height mismatch) and heads it upfield. Foord wrestles with Naughton way up at own 35m, falls under her and trips her down onto back. Crnogorčević collects, passes diagonally to Heath chasing to box top mid-left. Heath dribbles in 1-v-1 on Short, backs her down to 7m 7-left, sees nothing, turns away, backpass to arc top mid-left -- meek, or genius? Meanwhile, Sinclair lurks unmarked at 11m 6-right, Wright notices and trots out to cover -- but Nagasato backs up into her space, and as they give each other hand gestures, Sinclair back-cuts them both. (Naughton and Davidson are doing their own hand-gestures, too.) Klingenberg one-touch cross over spot, inswings behind the scrum, bounces at 7m 1/4 right to 3m right post. Sinclair is alone past 6-top, stretch-pokes past Naeher stranded, into center back. A poacher's goal, but contrast Portland's familiarity with attack patterns vs. Chicago's exuberant communication bandwidth on the fly Simply @sincy12. 2-3 #CHIvPOR | @YahooSports | https://t.co/SmhMEfYlsD pic.twitter.com/kSJdsf30fo— National Women’s Soccer League (@NWSL) April 20, 2019
64' 2-3 Chicago subs in (1 of 3) #13 Morgan Brian for #4 Alyssa Mautz. 68' 2-3 Sinclair pokes ball free at circle back right, dribbles across midfield box right, hoofs a high cross to arc top. Short chases the bounce, runs around the 2nd bounce and tries a right-foot crossbody clearance but misreads the spin. whiffs misses a volley clearance, Heath collects and touches to 8m 6-left, shoots rising to left post 1/2 high, Naeher double-blocks it wide. .@AlyssaNaeher gettin' BIG on this 1v1 with @tobinheath. 2-3 #CHIvPOR | @YahooSports | https://t.co/SmhMEfYlsD pic.twitter.com/cPv0esl2wb— National Women’s Soccer League (@NWSL) April 20, 2019 69' 2-3 Portland right ck, ..., ball bounces at Horan's left foot at 8m center, she hop-volleys and whiffs. 70' 2-3 Kerr collects at box top right, touches into right wheelhouse, pulls a sharp cross to 8m 1/3 left. Ertz rounds Sonnett and dive-heads a bouncer just wide right low. So close it Ertz. 2-3 #CHIvPOR | @YahooSports | https://t.co/SmhMEfYlsD pic.twitter.com/B8Cm61bNQ2— National Women’s Soccer League (@NWSL) April 20, 2019
Not sure if it's the camera setup or what, but it's really hard to see when they're playing in the shadow (like more than usual).