In an announcement that qualifies as "what, that's the big news?", Lisa Cole returns as Breakers head coach: http://www.bostonbreakerssoccer.com/NEWS/682255.html Since she continued to tweet under the Breakers logo and was communicating with the 2012 Breakers online, I figured it was a foregone conclusion she would be returning.
Here's the allocation list: Boston Breakers Sydney Leroux (USA) Heather Mitts (USA) Heather O'Reilly (USA) Adriana Leon (CAN) Rhian Wilkinson (CAN) Anisa Guajardo (MEX) Cecilia Santiago (MEX) Assuming they resign Leslie Osborne, no one will ever be able to tell them apart.
Resign Osborne is a must, but looks like she's moving on based on her tweets. What's up with the Aussies? are they coming back? Kyah Simon&leroux pairing would be powerful
Why do you say that? She was mentioning the Breakers & Riptide in her tweets. Got the impression from that she is coming back. Would really be surprised if she didn't.
I think Osbourne is just being a strong ambassador for the league & women's soccer in general. I put her chances of rejoining the Breakers at 99%. She has too much vested interest in the team and I would be shocked if the Breakers didnt reciprocate. As for the Aussies I don't see Butt coming over on her own and with O'reilly available for the full season the Breakers may choose to spend elsewhere. I would think that Kyah would be on their radar though.
Have you seen Adriana Leon's goal vs China? High class stuff, I tell ya. And her reaction, like "no big deal".
Not to be completely psycho here but I am now going to completely contradict myself. I missed all the signs that were right in front of my face. And those all point to the fact that Leslie Osborne will not be in a Breakers kit this season. Don't know the reason but she is living on the west coast and it sounds like she will either be in Portland or Seattle. Really must say I am disappointed for 2 reasons. 1. Because I obviously wanted her to finish her career in Boston. She wasn't just a part of this franchise. She is a big part of the reason that it still exists. And when you have someone like that it is difficult to see them walk away. 2. If and when she left I was hoping I would see another similar story to what she did for the Breakers. I thought that a person of her character and pure ability to promote this game would have been a perfect fit for a place like KC. She is going to be successful wherever she goes but it is sad to see her go someplace that doesn't need everything she has to offer.
Rumors proved true. Leslie heading to Chicago: Leslie Osborne @LeslieOsborne12 Been a very busy & crazy few weeks...Time 2 go back home pending final league approval of my contract, I am@chicagoredstars 2013 @NWSL
i think boston has the potential to be top 2. a core of santiago, o'reilly, leroux, leon, is about as good as it gets.
Picks in the draft today: #5 - Casey Short, D, Florida State University #13 - Mariah Nogueira, M, Stanford University #21 - Jo Dragotta, M, University of Florida #29 - Maddy Evans, M, Penn State
I'm actually disappointed in their draft. They had chances to draft even better players, and passed over them. This hasn't been the best week for the Breakers, after losing Osborne, and not getting the best draft results they could have gotten. They're still a contender in this league, especially if they re-sign Kyah Simon and Tameka Butt. Cat Whitehill is a "veteran" acquisition they need to solidify for 2013 as well.
I'm guessing Cat Whitehill, Bianca D'Agostino, Ifeoma Dieke, and Mastroianni (goalkeeper), will be the four free agents they sign. They'll get Kyah Simon and Tameka Butt in the "discovery" stage, and those two will count as internationals. Dieke won't count as an international. She played for the Breakers for a couple years in WPS. She gives them a speedy defender. That would make their roster look like this: F - Sydney Leroux F - Adriana Leon F - Anisa Guajardo F- Kyah Simon (international) MF - Heather O'Reilly MF - Bianca D'Agostino (free agent) MF - Tameka Butt (international) MF - Mariah Nogueira MF - Maddy Evans DM/D - Casey Short DM/D - Jo Dragotta D - Heather Mitts D - Cat Whithill (free agent) D - Rhian Wilkinson D - Ifeoma Dieke (free agent) GK - Cecilia Santiago GK - Jillian Mastroianni (free agent) Supplemental draft or discovery, or other stage, they need three more (reserve) players. MF - Amanda DaCosta (a good connecting midfielder piece to the roster) D - Manya Makoski (she's from Connecticut, so local enough) D - Stacy Bishop (tall and strong defender) If they can get Nikki Marshall at some point, it would be a major pick-up for them. It would complete their defense, if they get her "and" Cat Whitehill. Taryn Hemmings is also a utility roster player they can sign, if needed. She can play multiple positions. If they sign Katie Schoepfer or Courtney Jones in free agency, it might mean they heard back from Kyah Simon, with bad news about 2013. I think they only carry four forwards. O'Reilly could be an emergency 5th forward if needed (due to any injuries, or players away on leave). Hemmings can also fill in at forward if needed (she's more of a defender, but has experience up top).
Well, then I was way off. I had penciled them in with Washington. I see what they're doing. Lohman will win a lot of balls for them, and partroll the midfield with a "badass" presence. That's what they need. She'll own it too. And it'll win the Breakers some balls. And a lot of these balls won will lead to many attacks. Leon, Leroux, and now Lianne Sanderson. They also have Guajardo from Mexico up top, who isn't bad herself. Great goal scorer for Pepperdine in the West Coast Conference. One of the most lethal and talented goal scorers not from Portland in that conference in quite some time. And I love the diversity: Leroux from the USA (also Canada) Leon from Canada officially (also much experience in the USA, and at Notre Dame & Florida) Guajardo from Mexico Sanderson from Europe (also U.S.) The all-world goal scoring frontline. A little bit of CONCACAF, and some European snaggle. Now they just need to get Kyah Simon from Australia, and a Brazilian. Although the signing of Sanderson may be a bad omen on Simon. Or they prefer Sanderson, and Simon will have to sign with someone else?
Does anyone know if Dilboy stadium will have those football lines on the field during the soccer matches? I'm thinking about buying tickets, but I really hated the lines at Harvard Stadium.
Nobody is going to cough up the money to change the turf at Dilboy (just like at Harvard). You'll have to live with football lines.
Expect Kia McNeill to be a part of this roster. Had a terrific career in WPS and was in the Top 11 while playing for Philly. The former BC player will be a great fit in the backline for the Breakers.
That would a great defensive pickup for Boston. Their roster is coming together nicely. They could have had a better draft, but they did fill out that draft with role players, blue collar players, and valuable reserves. When we look back on it, they got some nice "filler" material for their roster from that draft (Casey Short, Jo Dragotta, Maddy Evans, etc). Versatile players for their defensive core in the midfield and on defense. Plus they got Mariah Nogueira, who could very well start. Add in Lianne Sanderson, Joanna Lohman, possibly Cat Whitehill and Kia McNiell, and now we're talking about a good roster from top to bottom. We know they were allocated Leroux, Leon, and Guajardo up top, and O'Reilly as an attacking mid. They may need to pick up one more forward for depth, plus Leon is versatile and can play in the midfield or up top. I would sign one more forward, even if it's a Tiffany Weimer type as a late game sub, just for depth. There's Katie Schoepfer out there still, maybe they'll retain her. Or maybe someone in the supplemental draft. Even if they get both Whitehill and McNiell in free agency, they'll still want to pick up one more defender in the supplemental draft. They'll still need another creative midfielder somewhere. They seem to have a solid enough defensive midfield now. Especially if they get Lohman. Just a few more pieces left, and they'll be challenging KC for having a very respectable balanced roster (filled with depth) everywhere.
A bit of a surprise from an interview with Lee Billiard: We have added an extra 1,000 seats this year making our capacity 3,500. http://www.ourgamemagazine.com/get-them-to-the-match-the-nwsl-and-connecting-with-their-fans/
Hopefully they allow people to park on the baseball field. Otherwise I don't know what they are going to do.