Four games on tap for NWSL week two, the last until April 14 due to FIFA break. Home teams are listed first. Friday, March 30 Houston Dash vs. Utah Royals FC (8 pm ET, go90) Saturday, March 31 North Carolina Courage vs. Sky Blue FC (3 pm ET, go90) Washington Spirit vs. Orlando Pride (3:30 pm ET, Lifetime) Chicago Red Stars vs. Portland Thorns FC (8:15 ET, go90)
Lineups for HOU vs. URFC (kickoff is now 8:15 pm ET for some reason; only 74 degrees in Houston, so it isn't heat-related) Houston Dash (Vera Pauw) Campbell Daly Brooks vanWyk Mewis Motlhalo Hansen Jordan Shim Keever Latsko Subs: Henninger, Prudhomme, Murphy, Hahn, Falknor, Prince, Agnew Utah Royals (Laura Harvey) Smith Miramontez Corsie Sauerbrunn Moros Bowen Scott Matheson Jonsdottir Ratcliffe Stengel Subs: Barnhardt, Elby, Lytle, Newfield, Labonta, Tymrak, Kelly
Not really understanding why Prince doesn't start. I thought she added something when she came on last week. Id have Jordan as the lone forward with Prince and Keever wide.
Early on, Jordan is the lone forward with Latsko wide right. But yeah I'd start Prince too, certainly until Ohai is back in action.
This game is a snooze so far. Not much precision or dynamism to either attack. With the personnel out there, not a total surprise. You can understand Daly's motivation to play defense to bolster her England chances. But Houston really needs more teeth in final third. Utah has few options. I would bring in Labonta and Tymrak.
The two subs I suggested above have indeed brought a spark. A rare bright spot for Utah: I think Elby is a better left back than Moros. Maybe she can claim that spot.
Well, two subs -- Elby and Agnew -- impressed me. Daly, of course, was very active for Houston. Matheson looks good coming back from an ACL. But, all in all, two teams lacking offensive punch. An exceedingly boring first half -- but it picked up a little near the end. Ehhh....
I thought Elby was brilliant off the bench, Mothalo played at a level that befits her age (Dash need a more savy player in that spot), and Stengel was strong and did all the things she was supposed to do. If I saw Nichelle Prince run full speed away from the ball and into an offside position again, I would have made her run suicides instead of cooling down after the game.
Well, since we were talking about 0-0 scores recently, I have to suppose this one wasn't one of the most brilliant 0-0s seen on earth... (but I just watched highlights, since it started at 2 am for me in Europe, so I can't actually give a proper personal opinion) Care to elaborate? As I was mentioning, I've only seen highlights and in them there were a pair of quite impressive offensive runs by Motlhalo. Do you mean that she looks athletic, but tactically undisciplined?
Didn't get to watch the game live, but just watched the highlights...seems that the Royals had the better of the chances, yes?
Well, I didn't watch the full game either but, according to NWSL website's stats, Utah had 6 shots of goals to Houston's 0, so I'd answer "yes".
I was at the game 1) It was a snoozed fest. Utah had few good monents, Houston had fewer. They both desperately need quality attackers. 2) Mothalo has some moves and a decent 10 but at this level you need someone who has better visions and more savvy, more experience, , i.e.. an older player. 3) Nichelle Prince disappointed. She kept running offsite ,yet her runs was mediocre, she did not put her in an open spot, she kept running straight down the middle , no attempt to confuse the defenders , only a couple steps ahead of them. Veryveasy to defend n very hard fir teammates to find her. She also flubbed herv2 chances n did not come close to frame. 4) Most Dash's attacking players disapponied, they have lttle skills , did not know where to make runs n did not work together. I thought I liked Shim from 2 years ago but she disappeared, did not make any contribution. 5) Houston backline was good enough except Vanwyk, she is simply too small to deal with bigger players n high bal. l
Mostly I felt she did poorly in the playmaking (distribution to others) aspect of her position and in general seemed disconnected from the players around her. I felt she was mostly reactive rather than proactive.
Game photos by Wilf Thorne are here: https://isiphotos.photoshelter.com/...rch-30-2018/G0000XKyXG9xcjX8/C0000OtbKqSmTjcQ We could expect game photos for the remaining 3 games to show up here: https://isiphotos.photoshelter.com/gallery-collection/2018-NWSL/C0000OtbKqSmTjcQ
Raquel Rodriguez for Sky Blue is out with an excused absence, anyone know why and when she'll be back?
Yeah, seriously! The funny thing is many people predicted high score lines in the prediction thread: https://www.bigsoccer.com/threads/2018-season-game-prediction-thread.2082063/page-1 What do they say about offense vs defense in the early part of the season vs the later part of the season?
This has happened before. It wasn't quite this severe, but 2016 or 2017 also got off to a very slow start scoring-wise. It's easier for defenses to gel than offenses. As the season progresses normally more goals are scored.
Can't say NCFC didn't deserve the goal and win, shot difference was 23-3 (6-0). But I do hate when teams allow goals in added time.
Didn't Lavelle injure her hamstring? She seems to have been out for an unusual amount of time for that type of injury.
[WAS-ORL] 79' 1-0 Pugh nutmegs Harris We've got another late goal! @MalPugh with the finish 🔥#WASvORL | #NWSLonLifetime | @lifetimetv pic.twitter.com/gbEwuAY4QD— National Women’s Soccer League (@NWSL) March 31, 2018 81' 1-0 R.Hill floats a shross from wide right to right 90, Bledsoe catches high
88' 2-0 Eubanks subs in, slips a pass down box left to Pugh veering center-to-left (big roar from crowd), getting separation from an unwary mark. Pugh turns to 3m mid-left, low hard cross to 8m right post misplayed by Pickett, bad soft rebound into a big void past spot. Hatch runs on first at 13m left post, pulls right foot blast past Harris's dive, into 1/4 left 2/3 high. Just a quick doubling of the lead in DC: @ash_hatch33 adds another for the @WashSpirit. #WASvORL | #NWSLonLifetime | @lifetimetv pic.twitter.com/Yp8EMbxPEi— National Women’s Soccer League (@NWSL) March 31, 2018 FT 2-0.
Probably yes. All the tournaments that occur in March -- SBC, Algarve, Cyprus, etc. don't help either.