And that's game. Two positives SEA can take from this: --They found their offense, like DC did last week. --That first goal should win Goal of the Week (if NWSL was doing that).
This has been one of the better games of the season. That offside call was bogus. Sinclair looked on to me.
Checking in to the POR-NJ game. In the first minute or two of watching it, I'd say POR is controlling well.
If that's what they can draw in midweek after a rainy day against a team with no superstars and no (immediate) rivalry, then I think a 13k average is totally in the realm of possibility for them. Oh, goal NJ.
That one looked like it hurt. But fie on the announcers for thinking her going down was time-wasting. They are a little too homeristic for my taste.
Had to watch the games on a bit of a delay but finally finished. Very surprised by the offensive output of the Reign vs Spirit game. And very surprised by the offensive dearth of Portland.
Just got back from Starfire Stadium between the Reign and Spirit. Great game. Wish there were more fans in the stands. I don't think there were over over 1,000 I attendance. Probably more in the hundreds. But nevertheless a great professional game.
As much as i love to root against portland and clive , they are a good thing for the league, will have the big players in the mls wanting in. it's obvious, just based on the CEO's talk, that Toronto and Vancouver want in, as early has 2014. could it be possible three (NY included) mls teams come in with LA next season? the only thing i caution is, they could spread the star power too thin. the league would really need for press, hagen, pinoe and some of the big names to come and play full seasons.
What I enjoyed most about Portland/skyblue game was the duel between Rampone and Morgan. I haven't been impressed with Rampone much in the last year but she showed up big time against Morgan. Perhaps Portland puts to much emphasis on getting the ball to Morgan/Sinclair. A couple of times I thought Allie Long should have charged toward the goal rather than passed to M/S. I'm glad to see Washington win one.
Watched the Washington-Seattle match and some thoughts about the game. Lindsay Taylor will be a force to be reckoned, finally Seattle has a target forward they can service. Taylor, big with long lanky legs may not look fast, but when she turns on the afterburners, she is lightning fast. Beautiful ball handling skills, is at ease receiving the ball with her back to goal and then turning to go direct and has a hard heavy shot that was a threat from anywhere on the pitch. She was the best player on the pitch for Seattle. Michelle Betos had a good but rough game, made some stellar saves but the second goal she was far to right of the goal post and when Diana Matheson received the ball her shot caught Betos off guard and went in by the left goal post, I thought Betos should of had that. The 4th goal when a ball gets lobbed over the 7-8 man wall, she needs to come out and punch the ball out instead Tori Huster headed it in. Did not challenge for the ball which I thought was a mistake. For the Spirit, well they are the second team to score 4 goals this season, not the team I was expecting to do that honestly. Player of the match for the Spirit was Diana Matheson. She was everywhere as usual, scored a goal when she received a long ball from midfield which I did question if it was offside but still a stellar goal and most likely picked up an assist on Tiffany McCarty's goal when she squared balled it to Tiffany in the 18 yard box and Tiffany actually was able to turn and go direct to goal and get a very good shot off. That was impressive to see, other then that McCarty was invisible in the match. McCarty needs to move and shift positions and be available for service, what she does is stand there waiting for the ball to be sent her way. Where else Lindsay Taylor was coming back for balls running up the side to get feeds and simply being a pain in the Spirit's defense. McCarty should watch this game and look at what Taylor did and take some notes. Ali Krieger is probably the other Spirit that stood out for me, made many flanking runs and scored a great goal with her first shot being stopped acrobatically by Betos but then Krieger jumping up and heading the ball in for goal. Krieger did have one mistake in that she was outjumped by Teresa Noyola for a header which resulted in a goal. Not many players in the world is going to out jump Krieger, she can outjump a lot of forwards to defend balls but Noyola surprised me. Noyola also had a decent game, was much more active on the pitch for Seattle. The Portland-Skyblue match which I watched first.... I was surprised by the result to say the least. Not that Portland didn't deserve to win the match. They were the dominant team. They had the run of play and solidedly had the possession numbers. They didn't necessary control the midfield though. Skyblue well to be frank... They played the bunker. They were sitting 8 players back behind the ball and defending deep. They gave Portland tons of space to work with from their backline but as Portland moved to the midfield, they were met by Skyblue's midfield and they created a quagmire that Portland had a very tough time breaking through. When a team bunkers like this goals will be a premium and I am pretty sure Skyblue were going to be happy with a draw in Portland. Then when Taylor Lytle got subbed in and I figured Skyblue was going to mail it in and just defend after that. How wrong I was because Lytle scored the go ahead goal in a cracker of a shot. Quite a surprising result for Portland to go down, but this only reinforces that parity does exist in the league. The only team left undefeated is Boston. Not the last team I was expecting to stay undefeated.
Forgedias, Actually, i thought one of the teams, WNY (Estelle) or SBFU (Rampone), with fast backs would beat Portland. Their mid-field is what it is and will be all season, which leaves them with an exclusive direct game, except for some build up from Sinclair, which Estelle and Rampone (she's flat out faster than Morgan in a track and field sense.) can smother with their speed. I can't see them looking any different against WNY unless they can get a cheap early goal. It would have been a GREAT match for TV. That's how 1:0 games should be played. And kudos to the ref for not messing the game up with a ridiculous penalty in the box like the Portland/KC game.
Considering the league only has about 2/3 of the US allocation playing for it as it, adding four teams shouldn't be spreading things too thin if most of them come back home after this year. But I don't know how big an "if" that is.
I'm going to the Reign vs. Sky Blue game this Sunday. Should be a good one. I'm hoping Seattleites start supporting this team.
I'm surprised no one has said anything about what happened to Danesha Adams. Maybe the broadcast of the Thorns/Sky Blue game didn't show it. It was right in front of us at the game. One of the Thorns sent a wicked header right into Danesha's face. She went down, and when she got up, she staggered repeatedly. On the side line, she went down right away. It did not look good, to put it mildly. I hope she's ok.
They did mention it, but the announcers were calling it time-wasting when it was clear she was seriously hurt. It reminded me of what happened to Abby against Washington. I hope she sits out the next couple games, because head injuries are nothing to screw around with.