I'm going to pick this game as ending in a Drrraaawww! Also both teams lead the league in yellow cards with 23 apiece and 1 Red apiece. Thuggery at it's finest!
Maybe you should back off on the coffee. First off the league leader in yellow cards and cards total is the Boston Breakers. It is perhaps only a significant stat if you include opponent cards. There is an 11 card diference between the team with the least fouls and the team with the most. Hardly an earth shattering difference, And Heath's red was a dissent second yellow. No innocent ladies were harmed in the administration of that foul.
Couple very nice stories in Excelle ahead of the semi-final match, one by Meg Linehan on the young Flash team looking to play the biggest pro games of their lives, and one by Katelym Best, a feature on Amandine Henry. A couple quotes on Henry: And of a linking pass in her first game which sprang Tobin Heath free, Parsons says: This is that "playing chess" quality where I find the key difference between some of the best European players (including Vero Boquete, Kim Little, and Jess Fishlock) and the most technically skilled American players. From the WNY Flash article, Coach Riley (who's always good for some quotes as we all know!) elaborates a bit on the cliche of "playing a full 90 minutes"
TODAY: @ThornsFC vs. @WNYFlash. Winner goes to the @NWSL Championship in Houston!Tickets to the 'ship: https://t.co/9VjcGRLL53. #USWNT pic.twitter.com/AUZLCz8g6N— U.S. Women's National Soccer Team (@USWNT) October 2, 2016 Hardly seems fair.
The photo in Meg Linehan's article shows Dahlkemper running toward her own goal with Sinclair in pursuit, which makes me shudder. I love this by Linehan: This game has the perfect recipe for a new standard in NWSL postseason classics: highest-scoring offense in the league plus stingiest defense plus world-class roster plus young, upstart underdogs plus five-figure attendance at the best stadium in the NWSL. It’s a dream of a league showcase with everything on the line but the final trophy itself.
As posted elsewhere, the referee today is Marco Vega. He was the referee for the match a few weeks ago between these same teams, in Portland, on Sept 11, and on a nationally broadcast game (FS1) The other NWSL assignments I saw for him this season (listed on the PRO website): 8/26: Orlando vs Washington 6/23 Orlando vs Houston 6/12 Seattle vs Houston
Why is the FS1 stream showing the two women with microphones (Jenn and Kyndra) repeatedly brushing their hair back? Jenn re-reads her notes, cracks a joke, Kyndra duels a stray lock -- Oops! Live camera! quick, switch to the canned intro hype segment!
Another "rocking the boat" question: Couldn't Fox Sports 1 have moved their drag racing to Fox Sports 2/Fox Sports Go instead?
It was funny listening to them on the FoxSoccer2Go stream after the Spirit vs Red Stars game (before the Kreiger interview). It seems the TV stream had gone to commercial, but the online stream kept the cameras on the match.
01' 0-0 Sinclair turn-and-pass through box top right to 10m mid-right for Nadim, S.Mewis slide-blocks over. 02' 0-0 Heath right ck, blocked over. 02' 0-0 Heath right ck, ref admonishes Hinkle-on-Nadim? WNY head over again. 03' 0-0 Heath right ck, Nadim is very annoying boxing out at 0.5m center. Sailed over mouth, nobody touches it. Portland circulate twice, snap a ground pass to Nadim flashing through arc right. Square pass left past 1 dummy, to Sinclair standing unmarked at box top mid-left, one-touch right instep shot smothered by D'Angelo. 04' 0-0 Portland chip into box mid-right for Sinclair 1-v-1 at 12. Cross hits Dahlkemper's arm away from body, no call. 05' 0-0 WNY fk from 30m mid-left, sent flat into 9m mid-right, flicked square to spot. McDonald donkey-kick try skitters wide left.
After some early duress by the Thorns, the Flash are now turning up their offense. Nice match thus far.
16' 0-1 Scramble in Portland's box, cleared to box top center. S.Mewis collects, slices a shot through traffic past Betos's dive, just inside right post low. 22' 0-1 Long(?) pings square right to Sinclair at arc top mid-left, one-touch dink pass springs Nadim through box top left to 7m mid-left. Hard shot across mouth, D'Angelo dives and double-blocks down. Defender clears it (hastily) to box top left, Heath collects and shoots to left post high, D'Angelo slaps it down and collects. 38' 0-2 McDonald left throw-in at 14m, toward Erceg at 12m mid-left -- Horan bumps Erceg down from behind, no call. Erceg, on ground, rolls over and surreptitiously leaves a leg in Horan's way, Horan trips over it, no call. Ball bounces out to McDonald at 9m wide left, she crosses to 6-top right. Doniak nods a header into right 90, just over Betos's fingertips. 39' 1-2 Off the restart, Portland hoof to Sinclair in a moving backshield at arc top mid-right vs. Kennedy. Both jump and miss, ball drops behind them. Sinclair spins cw and runs on first to 15m mid-right, one-touch right instep volley across mouth beats D'Angelo's dive, into left side netting. 40' 1-2 HC Riley is ejected, for running into the 4R?! wut
Oh boy. Thorns down 0-2. EDIT: Sinc gets one back quick. NY up 2-1. And... Riley gets ejected! Hilarious. What's up with that?