Almost one-game-at-a-time nirvana ⚽️ Week 6 ⚽️How/where to watch ➡️ https://t.co/V0fwZGeBRC pic.twitter.com/1HZCg6AdhS— National Women’s Soccer League (@NWSL) May 18, 2019
[REI-NJ] Andrews for Utsugi (and McNabb => RM); Catley for Celia (ESP ). Here is your Reign FC Starting XI for today's match against @SkyBlueFC. Kickoff at 1:00 p.m. at Cheney Stadium!#RFC253 #RFCvNJ pic.twitter.com/QN8PF4u79J— Seattle Reign FC (@reignfc) May 18, 2019 Identical, but 4-4-2 => 4-1-4-1, with McCaskill at apex and James as DM. Back to business ⚽️ Starting XI 💪 #SEAvNJ #SBFC pic.twitter.com/i6lGVZFIl1— NJ/NY Gotham FC (@GothamFC) May 18, 2019 Reign FC: (OK <= OUT) Catley / (OK => OUT) Kellond-Knight / SEI (=) Spencer T.Smith / INTL (USA) Rapinoe Long (ESP) Jiménez Delgado Sky Blue: Q none / OUT (=) Freeman Tiernan / INTL (USA) Lloyd (CAN) Sheridan (CMR) E.Johnson
02' 0-0 The first 1'45" is spent in Sky Blue's deep right corner, before they finally clear past midfield. 04' 0-0 Monaghan dribbles past midfield box right. That's Sky Blue's first sustained possession. Nice weather today! 05' 0-0 Catley left throw-in at 5m, blocked over endline left. Wow, Reign FC lose four more players after today: AUS (Catley, Kellond-Knight), ENG (J.Taylor), and JPN (Utsugi). 06' 0-0 Barnes left ck, short to Jenkins unmarked at arc top box left. Jenkins taps into wheelhouse, shoots right instep bend perfectly on line for right 90, Haracic isn't surprised and catches high. .@DIdeeds getting some AIR on this save. 0-0| #SEAvNJ Watch Live: https://t.co/pjU7Lnexpi pic.twitter.com/vYfOBYRQkc— National Women’s Soccer League (@NWSL) May 18, 2019 07' 0-0 Catley crosses from 6m wide left to 8m center, Groom volleys way over bar. Sky Blue's midfield can't buy a possession so far.
08' 0-0 Catley intercepts at midfield left touch, bends a long forward pass to J.Taylor splitting 2 through box top mid-left. Taylor plays ball off left thigh into own stride, chases into box, Richardson wins race and stretch-pokes past Taylor into near touch. 10' 0-0 James switches left but overhits it, it outswings too far ahead of Dorsey, Nielsen kicks it off Dorsey's shins into far touch. 10' 0-1 Off that throw-in, Oyster switches from own arc top box right to Barnes at own arc top mid-left. Barnes gets caught a bit dribbling, rushes a pass toward McNabb at 33m center -- Killion deflects it square left to McCaskill at 24m center. McCaskill through box top right post as Barnes pinches in to stop ball, right outstep pass to Killion wide-open at 7m mid-right. Killion chips one-touch soft cross to 5m left post, strands Betos at right post, Rodríguez races in unmarked and hop-volleys down into center back low. Who needs possession The dish. The cross. The goal. @raque_rocky gets @SkyBlueFC on the big board. 1-0 | #SEAvNJ Watch Live: https://t.co/pjU7Lnexpi pic.twitter.com/xomU5hmQhf— National Women’s Soccer League (@NWSL) May 18, 2019
11' 0-1 Groom races down wide right to ~10m, low shross to 3m right post. Haracic stoops forward and blocks but doesn't catch, ball deflects across mouth at 2m and Sky Blue clears over endline left. 13' 0-1 Nielsen 2nd left ck, inswings to 4m center. James steps to ball from 1/3 right, jumps behind McNabb(?) but pikes/rotates body forward from contact, clearance header goes not where she was aiming, softly arcs over Haracic into back left edge 1/2 high. AIRMAIL equalizer for @ReignFC!1-1 | #SEAvNJ Watch Live: https://t.co/pjU7Lnexpi pic.twitter.com/DmZww5AYXI— National Women’s Soccer League (@NWSL) May 18, 2019
30' 1-1 Andrews(?) passes from box top wide right through 6-top right, 1 step too far for Groom, Haracic collects. 31' 1-1 Yanez turns on a high ball dropping at spot, half-volleys way over bar. Many chances, anyways. 32' 1-1 Dorsey outpaces Nielsen down left touch to 12m, cross headed away by Oyster. 33' 1-1 McCaskill does a quick outstep-pass down wide left to beat close pressure. Dorsey chases it down at 0.5m, crosses over goal to 2m right post with Killion(?) lurking at 6-right, Barnes(?) volleys straight up and into end zone right. McCaskill's crescent-kick game is strong. 35' 1-1 Groom turns inside to box top mid-right, shot blocked by shins. J.Taylor collects at 3m 5-right, turns back to 5m, shoots left foot rising to right post, Haracic double-blocks face-high downward. Sky Blue quickly outlet down left touch, McCaskill gets past Nielsen and opens a 5m gap, cross to 12m mid-right headed away.
38' 1-1 Catley fakes a turn inside to 12m box left, spins Monaghan around and continues to 5m, cross misses. 39' 1-1 Betos passes to #_, longball to J.Taylor ahead of the back line through box top mid-right, offside. 40' 1-1 Rodríguez receives at circle back left but exposes ball, Andrews runs through and touches it upfield, plows through Rodríguez's extended leg. Foul on Rodríguez. 42' 1-1 McCaskill dribbles to arc tangent right, lags a pass to 4m 5-left. Dorsey makes up the ground, Betos wins race and slides down, blocks Dorsey's touch, Dorsey trips over her, Reign clear. BIG TIME @MichelleBetos. 1-1 | #SEAvNJ Watch Live: https://t.co/pjU7Lnexpi pic.twitter.com/TaZWVu7KJq— National Women’s Soccer League (@NWSL) May 18, 2019 44' 1-1 Monaghan dribbles to 17m mid-right, pokes a soft roller through legs into empty box, nobody there. Reign have been losing the ball by sending in long wing crosses to the wrong spots, while Sky Blue have attempted more soft entry passes from box top. +1'.
45+1' (of +1') 1-1 Jenkins threatens a breakaway through circle right, McCaskill hauls her down by a shoulder. Foul, yellow card on McCaskill. 45+2' (of +1') 1-1 Nielsen(?) fk at circle right to box top, headed away. HT 1-1.
46' 1-1 Reign FC subs in (1 of 3) #21 Christen Westphal for #7 Steph Catley. 51' 1-1 Jenkins chases down mid-right, Dydasco interposes body, Jenkins outmasses her and pushes her down with chest. Foul on Jenkins. 53' 1-1 Reign cross from box top left to Yanez at arc left, twisting header bounces through the line to 7m 1/3 left. J.Taylor chases it, but is caught leaning back to half-volley chest-high, inevitably lifts it way over bar. Should have used Michael Bradley's forward sole-stomp when the boot is that high. 53' 1-1 J.Taylor chases inside-out to box top right, one-touch right instep bend to left post is not high enough, Haracic catches face-high. 54' 1-1 Kawasumi dribbles up centerline to 24m, passes down mid-right, a bit too fast for McCaskill. McCaskill catches up at 1m, one-touch cross left but can't pull it back.
62' 1-1 Groom leads a 2-v-3 to arc top, pass wide right forces Nielsen to chase it down. Nielsen crosses one-touch from 6m wide right back past spot, Groom must stop and turn back to ball, rushed touch clangs away as she spins wrong way, Sky Blue clears off her back. This is Reign FC in a nutshell: they see the ideas, but they're all overclocked so deep into their personal red zones that they can't combine smoothly, and there's always a flaw in the chain of events. 63' 1-1 McCaskill taps square left into Killion's stride at arc top right, Killion shoots just wide right face high as Betos took flight. 67' 1-1 Groom crosses from ~25m mid-right to ~10m center, J.Taylor watches over right shoulder, hops and twist-heads way over bar. She was wide-open, and probably could have settled ball and shot with a foot. 69' 1-1 Kawasumi nutmegs Yanez at circle top Dorsey shross from 6m wide left floats to Betos at 6-center.
71' 1-1 Reign FC subs in (2 of 3) #24 Bethany Balcer for #11 Darian Jenkins. Jenkins was active, but didn't show much of a short-distance acceleration burst today. 73' 1-1 Reign win a high ball at circle top, Yanez comes across at 30m arc right and backheads upfield to Groom at 25m mid-right. Groom turns and scoops a half-volley toward spot, J.Taylor times the high backline and turns upfield a half-step too soon, alone to 12m 6-right and whistled offside -- and then Haracic blocks the shot anyways, but I think Taylor already broke off her shot at the whistle. 75' 1-1 Groom long forward pass from ~30m mid-right to J.Taylor at spot. Taylor chests ball down to feet , but it gets poked away. 76' 1-1 Balcer drives 1-v-1 down wide left to 5m, cross intercepted.
77' 1-1 Yanez dribbles alone to arc tangent left, shot blocked by Skroski(?). 78' 2-1 Andrews ground pass to Nielsen at arc top wide right. Nielsen putts a ground pass down box right for Groom cutting center-to-right, to 5m. Groom crosses one-touch to 4m left post, Balcer creeps up on Monaghan's outside. Monaghan lifts chest-high left foot and blocks ball away from Balcer, but down to own 1m 1/3 left, wrong-foots Haracic. Haracic sprawls and blocks but doesn't hang on, ball rolls along goalline to 1/3 right. J.Taylor poaches, drives shoe and ball through Haracic's gloves, into back right low. Cannot miss from there Right place. Right time. @Jodes_14 pokes home the loose ball to give @ReignFC the lead. 2-1 | #SEAvNJ Watch Live: https://t.co/pjU7Lnexpi pic.twitter.com/oZJkhlr7i5— National Women’s Soccer League (@NWSL) May 18, 2019
79' 2-1 Sky Blue subs in (1 of 3) #29 Amandine Pierre-Louis for #5 Julie James. 80' 2-1 McCaskill fouled down, injures her lower right leg. Brief stoppage, she resumes. 84' 2-1 Reign FC subs in (3 of 3) #25 Ifeoma Onumonu for #9 Jodie Taylor. 85' 2-1 Sky Blue subs in (2 of 3) #7 Jennifer Hoy for #21 Savannah McCaskill.
89' 2-1 Reign right ck, poked out to arc right, Nielsen shoots way over. 89' 2-1 Onumonu turns past Monaghan along endline box left, drags ball along endline, but eventually loses it over. 90' 2-1 Balcer shoots quickly from box top left post, deflects off shins, Haracic catches. +3'. 90+2' (of +3') 2-1 Dydasco crosses toward 9m left post, over Hoy + 1. Betos is frozen waiting for a deflection off Hoy, ball continues untouched and looks on line to miss wide right, Betos springs late and knocks it down anyways, then gator-crawls to grab it. Betos gets up limping on right foot, throws ball into far touch, sits down. Stoppage, trainers emerge and test her lower right shin.
90+5' (of +3') 2-1 Two trainers help Betos hop off into far touch Reign FC have 0 subs left => Andrews puts on a pink jersey! And pale orange gloves 90+6' (of +3') 2-1 Yanez tries to hold ball in left corner, Kawasumi(?) knocks it off Onumonu. 90+7' (of +3') 2-1 Sky Blue right throw-in below own box top, up right touch but promptly lost. 90+7' (of +3') 2-1 Hoy backpass up right touch, Sky Blue cross high to 4m center, Andrews catches! Didn't extend arms straight out above head 90+8' (of +3') 2-1 Kawasumi to arc top, shot blocked and poked away. Onumonu turns up left touch to box top, loses it over, pokes it away. Yellow card on Onumonu, for timewasting. FT 2-1. Andrews passed her one test. Both teams are good enough that they disrupt each others' chances, and can't create clear chances. All three goals came directly off defenders' miscues, but indirectly from sustained pressure (high press, good crosses). Next week will be very interesting, with even more new faces.
[WAS-POR] Identical (but Logarzo LM <=> CF DiBiasi). Our XI for #WASvPOR!@sunshine_sully is the captain pic.twitter.com/4zeztslNUe— Washington Spirit (@WashSpirit) May 18, 2019 Identical. Here we go! Today's XI for our match with @WashSpirit. Kickoff is at 4pm PT! #BAONPDX #WASvPOR pic.twitter.com/MrK0c01KMK— Portland Thorns FC (@ThornsFC) May 18, 2019 Washington: (OK <= OUT) Berryhill / Q (=) McGrady / MAT (=) Eubanks / INTL (USA) Lavelle Pugh Portland: (OK => Q, not starting) Bixby Raso / OUT none / INTL (USA) Franch Heath Horan Sonnett (CAN) Sinclair
Watching the Reign vs SBFC game on replay now. See SBFC score first and think, "Wow my prediction might turn out to be correct!" A few minutes later, well, I guess not.
16' 1-0 DiBiasi backpass to Sullivan unmarked at arc top wide right, she backpasses to P.Nielsen at circle top mid-right. Nielsen's quick switch left is blocked by Crnogorčević, Nielsen retrieves and passes left to Staab, left to Harrison at midfield wide left. Harrsion steps up past Foord, then past Brynjarsdóttir to 33m box left, fires a ground pass to Hatch leaning past the high line at arc top mid-left. Hatch outraces Seiler to 5m 6-left, shoots left instep across mouth under Eckerstrom, into right bottom pipe. Good build up from @WashSpirit and it pays off with @ash_hatch33's strong finish. 1-0 | #WASvPOR Watch Live: https://t.co/fpG8JK8WlJ pic.twitter.com/MuiZ0jGNKr— National Women’s Soccer League (@NWSL) May 18, 2019
30' 1-0 Menges dribbles well to break pressure and pass up right touch. Andressinha turns at circle back right, scoops a lob over Foord's head to 12m mid-left. Foord turns away to shield with back, slips as she makes her move, falls down and loses ball. 31' 1-0 Foord receives past spot, offside. 31' 1-0 1H hydration break.
34' 1-0 Logarzo fouls Carpenter at arc top wide right. AUS teammates have extra motivation against each other 43' 1-0 Logarzo goes 1-v-1 vs. Carpenter at box top left, turns away, cross just misses Hatch(?). 44' 1-0 Stoppage: warning horn, for lightning in area. All fans, vacate the SoccerPlex for at least 30'. Dang, what odd timing. Now they'll come out for just 1' + stoppage, then promptly go off again for halftime.
45' 1-0 Resume. Huster longball up wide right, Menges has position on Matthews, backpass. +3'. 45+1' (of +3') 1-0 Boureille gets swarmed 1-v-2, turns and underhits a backpass to Menges. Andrews veers to chase, Menges one-touch switch across own box top blocked by Andrews, to 15m center. Eckerstrom alertly charges out and dives, Andrews must abbreviate her shot motion and hop, Eckerstrom dives head-first under her and blocks ball behind. Ball leaks out to box top 1/3 left, Eckerstrom falls on it. .@WashSpirit almost stole a goal before HT, but @Breck28 had other ideas. 1-0 | #WASvPOR Watch Live: https://t.co/fpG8JK8WlJ pic.twitter.com/3bAZiR8M6v— National Women’s Soccer League (@NWSL) May 19, 2019 45+3' (of +3') 1-0 Washington break to circle back, pass wide right forces Matthews to chase. Seiler fends her off and escorts ball into near touch. HT 1-0.
47' 2-0 DiBiasi left ck, inswings to 5m 1/4 right. Staab comes in from 6-top right, backs up toward ball but doesn't get there, never makes contact? Crnogorčević intercepts facing own right post, sideheads away across Staab -- off the back of Brynjarsdóttir's head facing away at 5m. Ball reflects goalward, bloops leftward over Eckerstrom's right shoulder, drops in over goalline 1/3 left. Credited as a goal to Staab, but since she never actually hit it, it must be -- an o.g. off Brynjarsdóttir And then it was 2-0. @SamStaab_ doubles the lead for @WashSpirit.2-0 | #WASvPOR Watch Live: https://t.co/fpG8JK8WlJ pic.twitter.com/wISTiYyXFD— National Women’s Soccer League (@NWSL) May 19, 2019 And so it has been revised.
58' 2-0 DiBiasi left ck, to 6-top 3-right, Menges(?) heads away. Dougherty Howard shoots from arc tangent right toward left post, Eckerstrom lays out and pushes it wide left. FULL STRETCH @Breck28. 🙌2-0 | #WASvPOR Watch Live: https://t.co/fpG8JK8WlJ pic.twitter.com/sALgWvY5gj— National Women’s Soccer League (@NWSL) May 19, 2019