33' 1-0 North Carolina have been chasing without possession for the last ~5', as they promptly lose every touch to Utah's swarming legs. O'Hara passes square right from circle top box left, Mathias dumps her down, foul. 35' 1-1 S.Mewis serves from circle top box right to Hamilton facing away in arc center. Hamilton chest-traps straight up high, backpedals under it to 12m right post, volleys low right roundhouse past shocked Corsie across mouth. Barnhart reflex-dives right but misses with the glove, ball deflects off Barnhart's right wrist into left side netting just behind left post 1/2 high. Corsie should have stood in her back pocket to jam that roundhouse Press with a great goal on one end, @khamilton17 answers at the other with a stunner of her own. 1-1 | #UTAvNC on ESPNews pic.twitter.com/CYcPuMA8YV— National Women’s Soccer League (@NWSL) July 28, 2019
Dahlkemper and Corsie are having a "Which WC CB can play worse?" competition. Both have stunk since returning from France.
55' 1-2 Bowen right throw-in at circle top, upfield to Press, her pass try is intercepted by Debinha. Hinkle hoofs long up wide left for Hamilton at circle top wide left, 1-v-1 on Corsie that high up Hamilton does a spin-ccw inside as ball skips past both, Corsie arm-fends her off as both chase, Hamilton overtakes on the inside and hops over Corsie's slide-tackle try at 24m wide left. O'Hara was upfield on the left, this leaves Sauerbrunn alone in a 1-v-2 across her own 6-top Hamilton strolls to 7m mid-left, Sauerbrunn rotates over to stop ball, McDonald lurks completely alone at 6m 3-right. Hamilton passes right outstep to 7m right post, McDonald steps back and collects, Corsie veers across to pressure, Barnhart slides from left post all the way across to right post. McDonald cuts inside to 7m 1/4 left, shoots left foot rising off Barnhart's right hand, into 1/4 left back 2/3 high. Here's how @TheNCCourage took the lead through @J_Mac1422's finish. 1-2 | #UTAvNC on ESPNews pic.twitter.com/henih4K2rr— National Women’s Soccer League (@NWSL) July 28, 2019
Has any player benefitted more from the move to NC than Hamilton? She's gone from a late game at best option in Rochester to a key contributor and goal scorer in Cary.
I don't know if she's benefited from the move itself... but the team trading away Hatch, Doniak, Jenkins, and Eddy who were competing with her for playing time, plus McDonald making the USWNT certainly helped her out.
Even when all those players were with NC, Hamilton still has been a bigger contributor for the Courage than she was with the Flash. She basically took McDonald's spot in the lineup halfway through the 2017 season and was the first option off the bench for just about every game last year.
Also, apparently it was a blessing in disguise for NC that Lynn Williams was "questionable" for this game and that Hamilton consequently played at her place.
The watermark returns! Let's keep the good times rolling. ✌️ games coming your way today.#SEAvCHI | #HOUvNJ | #NWSL pic.twitter.com/wWwObv2ixa— National Women’s Soccer League (@NWSL) July 28, 2019
[#5.REI-CHI.#4] (after Washington's win on Wednesday leapfrogged both) J.Taylor for Groom; Long for Jiménez Delgado (and Yanez => CAM); Andrews for Proffitt. Here is your Reign FC Starting XI for today's match against @chiredstarsPR:#ShePlaysHere #BeBold #RFC253 #RFCvCHI pic.twitter.com/CzcfPdxMfI— Seattle Reign FC (@reignfc) July 28, 2019 Identical. Our Starting XI for #RFCvCHI presented by @MagellanCorp #MKOT pic.twitter.com/Rteo1jMVEq— Chicago Red Stars (@chicagoredstars) July 28, 2019 Reign FC: (OK, starting <= Q) Andrews / Q (OK =>, not a sub) Jiménez Delgado / OUT (INTL =>) Rapinoe (=) Cox Jenkins Utsugi / SEI (=) Betos Fishlock J.Johnson T.Smith Spencer Watson / BACK (USA) Long (ENG) J.Taylor Chicago: Q (OK =>, starting) Davidson DiBernardo / OUT (Q =>) Colaprico (=) Jahansouz Mautz Vasconcelos
04' 0-1 Nagasato receives at box top wide left, Brian cuts diagonally through box to 7m box left. Nagasato passes to her, promptly repositions self to box top left. Brian turns away to 8m wide left and takes Oyster and Balcer with her, dinks a pass between them to Nagasato facing away at 15m box-left -- they just pinged a two-person triangle Nagasato boxes out Theresa, turns centerward alongside ball and opens a huge gap, shoots one-touch right instep no bend across mouth. Murphy is a tad disconcerted by the lack of bend , topples left late and only double-blocks ball down to 5m 2-right. Wright arrives ahead of Catley, shoots one-touch left instep across mouth into left upper edge 1/2 back. Wright's 1st NWSL goal! And Nagasato somehow set her own pick Nagasato's initial shot is saved, but @agilli16 there to slam it home for @chiredstarsPR.#SEAvCHI pic.twitter.com/FTD1o5DEPC— National Women’s Soccer League (@NWSL) July 28, 2019 07' 0-1 Theresa left ck, to 6-top 5-left. Balcer backheads across to 4m 1/4 right, J.Taylor lunge-heads down to 1m, Naeher blocks with right knee, away to the right.
14' 0-2 Short knocks ball down to Brian at midfield wide right. Barnes steps way up onto Kerr at 28m box right, Kerr promptly back-cuts her, Brian passes down box right into Kerr's stride -- and DiBernardo back-cuts Long through circle top right. Kerr follows ball to 12m box right, Oyster rotates leftward to face Kerr, DiBernardo trails alone through 24m arc right. Kerr backpass to 16m right post, DiBernardo one-touch right instep outswinging away from Murphy's dive, it bounces at 1m into left side netting 1/4 high. When Kerr meets the Buddha on the road at 30m, she back-cuts him .@samkerr1 cuts back to @vdibernardo10 with choice placement to double @chiredstarsPR's lead. #SEAvCHI pic.twitter.com/tsYaQ8cwBx— National Women’s Soccer League (@NWSL) July 28, 2019
26' 0-2 Stoppage, Short has a bump on her forehead. 28' 0-2 Chicago resume with 10. Short really has a bump on her forehead, about the size of a quail egg Theresa crosses to ~25m center, Naughton knocks ball down to 25m mid-right. Balcer steps to it, shoots one-touch left instep hard low to right post (or outswinging just wide), Naeher dives and catches it. 32' 0-2 Nagasato dribbles centerward to box top mid-right across Theresa not challenging, crosses low just over Barnes not jumping, to 7m right post. Kerr jumps and heads across mouth, Murphy dives right and blocks wide left. Nagasato shoots from ~box top, just wide left low as Murphy dives again. Murphy looks oddly unsettled so far, hasn't caught a ball at full extension yet. A recap of the 32nd minute: pic.twitter.com/wscJwheKqy— Chicago Red Stars (@chicagoredstars) July 28, 2019 34' 0-2 Ertz passes to Kerr just behind midfield circle right, Kerr accelerates around Barnes that high up again, Barnes hauls her down. Foul, yellow card on Barnes. I think this must be Andonovski's game plan, to commit Barnes forward to man-mark Kerr far from goal. That's asking for breakdowns whenever Kerr escapes the first hit.
37' 0-2 Reign longball to J.Taylor 1-v-1 at box top wide right, she settles and turns away -- and Theresa continues her overlapping run up wide right. J.Taylor passes inside to Yanez, return pass to J.Taylor, she dinks down wide right into Theresa's stride. Theresa continues to 2m box right, crosses to 6-top 3-right, blocked out to spot. Yanez shoots one-touch, stuff-blocked by Ertz sliding, ball stays at her foot. Yanez pokes rightward, Balcer runs on and shoots one-touch left instep bend, wide left. Finally a decent combination in the run of play, but Balcer and Onumonu have a bit of the shooting yips today. That darn @julieertz... always getting in the way of goals. #SEAvCHI pic.twitter.com/cqrYMOMp5K— National Women’s Soccer League (@NWSL) July 28, 2019
46+2' (of +3') 0-2 Onumonu counters through 25m mid-left -- and the yip strikes again, she does a stutter-step and leaves the ball behind Onumonu reaches back and digs ball down box left, hey it's a perfect pass to Catley already-overlapped (still onside ). Catley touches to 7m box left, lifts a ground cross to 4m 1/8 left. Long runs on amidst a scrum, Naeher dives out, Long shanks ball off her shin(??) way over bar. The yip gremlins claim two souls in one play, woe! HT 0-2.
51' 0-3 Short right throw-in at 24m, to Kerr at 12m mid-right, backpass to Short. Short fakes a right foot cross, drags left past Onumonu's stretching block-try, to box top wide right. Left foot cross inswings to 4m 2-left, Theresa pikes for a clearance header but misses, Nagasato hop-volleys waist-high left instep flat across mouth past Murphy stranded at 1/4 left, it bounces at goalline into right side netting. Nagasato has hit Hamilton-turbo mode this game, and Theresa hasn't. .@CaseyShort3 🛫⚽️ @Yuki_Ogimi ⚽️🥅#SEAvCHI pic.twitter.com/m27UaiUxyv— National Women’s Soccer League (@NWSL) July 28, 2019 57' 0-3 Balcer accelerates past Davidson to endline mid-right and turns her, ground cross to 2m right post. Naeher dives and knocks ball just behind Long tripping over her, Short clears. 61' 0-3 Reign FC subs in: - (1 of 3) #27 Addison Steiner for #9 Jodie Taylor - (2 of 3) #31 Rosie White for #12 Morgan Andrews. 63' 0-3 Wright crosses from 15m box right to 2m mid-left, Theresa feels Nagasato lurking on her outside and heads over endline.
67' 0-3 Chicago subs in (1 of 3) #33 Katlyn Johnson for #26 Tierna Davidson (and Wright => LB). 68' 0-3 DiBernardo dribbles unmarked to 23m center, Kerr back-cuts through the Barnes/Catley seam (on Barnes' right), DiBernardo toe-pokes a pass past Barnes' left, to spot. Murphy charges out to 9m, Kerr one-touch scoop/poke shot, Murphy blocks it. Offside on Kerr, by a shoelace-tip width , leaning her head past Barnes' heels. 70' 0-3 Onumonu ground cross to arc top, White runs on and shoots one-touch way high, like a gridiron field goal. The yips claim White for their collection 74' 0-3 Chicago pass to arc top wide left, Oyster muffs a header centerward, it drops directly in Kerr's stride. Kerr touches to 17m arc left, shoots right foottop to left post low, Murphy dives and catches.
Yeesh! If they keep playing like this, the Reign should just forfeit the rest of the season and wait for everyone to come back healthy...
80' 0-3 Reign FC subs in (3 of 3) #2 Shea Groom for #8 Theresa Nielsen. 81' 0-3 Chicago subs in (2 of 3) #9 Savannah McCaskill for #10 Vanessa DiBernardo. 81' 0-4 Brian passes inside-out to K.Johnson facing away at arc top wide right -- and promptly back-cuts Yanez down mid-right. McCaskill makes her own overlapping run down wide right, freezing Catley, while Balcer fronts Nagasato lurking at 10m 6-left. K.Johnson turns inside to box top mid-right, Kerr wrestles Oyster at 12m left post and bounces off -- whoops, that creates lateral separation, Kerr front-cuts through spot as Oyster rues losing contact. K.Johnson pulls a dink pass to 8m right post, Balcer leaves Nagasato and runs to 7m left post, that keeps Kerr well onside Kerr settles, instantly shoots twist-ccw right instep pull across mouth past Murphy's right foot, just inside left post low. Kerr's 70th on pace for 200. More deeply, look how many parallel runs Chicago make when they attack, and every member of Reign's backline are just a bit slow of foot and slow of thought. .@samkerr1 and goalscoring... a love story. #SEAvCHI pic.twitter.com/270Q3Px2yj— National Women’s Soccer League (@NWSL) July 28, 2019 83' 0-4 Kerr passes from arc left to K.Johnson at box top mid-right, promptly back-cuts Barnes into box. K.Johnson passes square left to arc top, McCaskill steps up and shoots one-touch right foot to right post low, Murphy dives and pushes it wide right. 84' 0-4 Chicago subs in (3 of 3) #2 Nikki Stanton for #20 Samantha Kerr. 7,479! That's Reign FC's home record, and the Cheney Stadium 2019 record. Today’s attendance at Cheney Stadium: 7,479. A new home record! Today's match is also the highest-attended event at Cheney Stadium this year#ShePlaysHere #BeBold #RFC253 #RFCvCHI— Seattle Reign FC (@reignfc) July 28, 2019 FT 0-4. I trust Andonovski's system and long-term scheming, but this 2019 Reign FC roster is a band of journeywomen in a league of superstars.
[HOU-NJ] Ohai for Simon; Fields for Schmidt; Agnew for Chapman. Starting XI tonight vs Sky Blue FC.Kick off is at 7:30 p.m. on Yahoo! Sports: https://t.co/LR6TQ1owbq#DashOn pic.twitter.com/InR0YmGypV— Houston Dash (@HoustonDash) July 28, 2019 Eddy for Dorsey. All set in Houston - catch the action starting at 8:30pm ET on @YahooSports! #HOUvNJ #SBFC pic.twitter.com/QV7cCeprHK— NJ/NY Gotham FC (@GothamFC) July 28, 2019 Houston: Q (OK =>) Chapman / OUT (=) Polkinghorne / SEI (=) Latsko McCoy Prince / INTL (MEX) Romero Sky Blue: Q none / OUT (=) Freeman Lloyd Richardson Tiernan. After this match, Rodríguez travels to Lima for the Pan Am Games, and will be INTL (CRC).
03' 0-0 Fields drives hard into box mid-right to 7m alongside Dydasco, speculative ground cross outswings to 9m mid-left with nobody in the far-post lane. Lewandowski is flummoxed by the outswing taking ball behind her, steps right over ball. Ohai collects, backpass to 12m 3-left to Daly in a seam 1-v-3. Daly shoots one-touch left instep across mouth, Sheridan dives and micro-touches ball off right post low, it bounces away into box and E.Johnson clears ... Goalkeeper's best friend. Striker's worst enemy. @RachelDaly3 hit the post early for @HoustonDash.#HOUvNJ pic.twitter.com/qrgwHBYVVU— National Women’s Soccer League (@NWSL) July 29, 2019 ... in her 100th cap Congratulations on 💯 @EstelleJohnson! #SBFC #NWSL pic.twitter.com/d6iP8DZAQu— NJ/NY Gotham FC (@GothamFC) July 29, 2019
13' 0-0 Agnew pokes ball away from Monaghan, K.Mewis sends Daly on a breakaway from circle top box left to 10m 6-left, she shoots right instep bend across mouth, Sheridan dives and blocks ball down to 6m center. Huerta slides and volleys way over bar 13' @RachelDaly3 and @schuerta both so close 😩🦊 0-0 ☁️ #HOUvNJ pic.twitter.com/sePg3bUvFt— Houston Dash (@HoustonDash) July 29, 2019 19' 0-0 Lewandowski chases past midfield wide right, passes ahead to Eddy in mid-right lane. Monaghan dribbles to 25m mid-right, passes inside-out through box top mid-right just past Agnew's foot, into Lloyd's stride. Lloyd touches alone to 7m mid-right, shoots right instep hard rising across mouth, high and still rising.
22' 1-0 Prisock steps up to circle top mid-right, passes ahead to(ward) Huerta facing away at 26m mid-right, with E.Johnson tight against her back. Daly back-cuts left-to-right into E.Johnson's void, Huerta dummies past ball, it rolls through untouched to Daly at 23m mid-right. Skroski has no chance to chase her down from centerline, Daly touches to 9m mid-right and shoots right instep rising across mouth, off Sheridan's right hand into back left high. p o w e r by @RachelDaly3#HOUvNJ pic.twitter.com/yuXCSXte7h— National Women’s Soccer League (@NWSL) July 29, 2019 25' 1-0 Monaghan passes to Lloyd at 15m 6-left, Lloyd shoots right instep across mouth, just wide right.
56' 1-0 Monaghan steps around K.Mewis, drives to arc top left post, shoots right instep juuust wide left low hard, way past Campbell's dive. 56’ | Inches! So close for Paige Monaghan. 1-0 | #HOUvNJ pic.twitter.com/Jjcw2G5m4d— NJ/NY Gotham FC (@GothamFC) July 29, 2019 78' 1-0 Nairn fk at 30m mid-right, left instep inswings to 5m 3-left. K.Mewis gets in behind Skroski, hop-heads down off left post, it glances wide over endline left. 90+3' (of +2') 1-0 Unintended comedy: Skroski(?) weak backpass(??) from circle back right, down own centerline -- and it rolls right past Sheridan waaaay up at 28m <= insert Face With Tears of Joy emoji here, the editor can handle it but the forum page does not. Sheridan easily chases it down and collects at box top -- but still. And as she collects -- FT 1-0. Monaghan fed Lloyd a few good entry passes, but Lloyd wasn't precise when she had open shots, and Sky Blue lack any other consistent forward threat. Meanwhile, Houston vault over Utah into 6th on 19 pts from 15 matches, and next host Reign FC in 5th on 20 pts from 13.