Aside from the loss for HOU (who seems to be spiraling a bit now) that was a week I enjoyed. The "big three" all losing was very nice to see. X-D And now we have a very crunchy table again, with only 2pts separating 1st from 5th - which also puts lots of intrigue on that sixth and final playoff spot
But what a goal from Pinto! OH COME ON, @b_pinto9!!! 😮💨💪🚀It's FIVE for @TheNCCourage! pic.twitter.com/sfI82hjlb9— National Women’s Soccer League (@NWSL) July 23, 2023
Mike Watts & Co. are misinformed about the uniqueness of tonight's 6-0 shutout by NC over WAS. According to my memory and Jen Cooper's NWSL Almanac, on the glorious evening of September 11, 2019, the NC Courage defeated the Portland Thorns 6-0 in Portland. Lynn Williams with 3 goals and Debinha with 1 goal and 3 assists.
Forgot to say this the other day, but: --Chicago have been eliminated from the CC SFs --Houston and San Diego can only qualify for the SFs via the lone 2nd-place slot, so at least one of those two is effectively eliminated --Louisville and Seattle have guaranteed top-two finishes in their groups
Game report GOT at WAS 7/28/23. Attendance 4732. May son tells me it has been the hottest 3 consecutive days all year in DC (high 90’s). [short report doe to no keyboard]… Even with the 7:50 - 9:20 lightning & thunderstorm delay, it was one of the most entertaining NWSL games I have seen live. We sat among both GOT and WAS fans, which was fun. I have to say in my experience, there was a much higher percent of fans wearing home team gear than I have seen at other NWSL stadiums including games at the Soccerplex. And the variety of branded clothing was impressive. The number of fans was small enough so everyone fit in the concourse space under cover when the stands were cleared. The game stopped at 42:28 of the first half. 2-1 GOT and Ashley Hatch scored, so I would have been happy leaving, if the delay dragged on too long. The game highlights do not show how awesome Hatch’s assist on Ricketts goal was. The play broke away in the downfield direction from us and I was sure Hatch’s best play was a pass to her right, however she decided to make the right play and slot an elegant leftward through ball in the tiny gaps between defenders which Ricketts, making a good run, finished cleanly. I enjoyed seeing Midge Purce play in person - she glides along the grass. And because it’s me, seeing my ex-WNY Flashes McCall Zerboni, Kristen Edmonds, Taylor Smith, and Tori Huster was great. Huster received a resounding “O.G. 23” chant when she came on. The big TV in my hotel breakfast room has had a World Cup game on each morning for the guests dining - nice.
Updates! Eliminated: DC, ORL, SD, POR, HOU, CHI Qualified: RGN Alive: NC, NJY, LOU, KC, LA Minimum to win group: 12pts Minimum to be best 2nd: 10pts
Mana Shim (GOT) scores in the 91st minute against ORL and puts NC into the Challenge Cup playoffs. REGULAR SEASON is back. 2 points in the standings separate first from fifth place. 3 points separate 6th from 9th. Every team has 7 more games to play. All times ET, P+ is Paramount+ Fri 8/18/238:00 SEA at KC - P+ Sat 8/19/237:30 AC at LOU - P+ 8:30 WAS at HOU - P+ 10:00 GOT at SD - P+ Sun 8/20/237:00 CHI at ORL - P+ 10:30 NC at POR - P+
Was a good game last night in KC. Their midfield trio's movement, especially in the second half, was what we were expecting of this team after their incredible offseason. I'm not sure if they make the playoffs, but boy will they be playing spoiler for a lot of teams even if they don't! They took down RGN last night without too much fuss, and if they get past NC in the CC SFs, (which I really hope they do,) I'd favor them over RGN or LOU in the CC final.
Lull in the action for HOU-WAS and I just had to jump in and say: damn, that was one *smooth* give-and-go, complete with the backheel, on WAS' goal!
In the Washington vs Houston tie both scorers were Sanchez: Maria and Ashley. Off topic question: why did Ashley Sanchez sit on the U.S. bench during the World Cup?
Because VA chose DeMelo ahead of her and then, once Lavelle returned, CAM was taken. The Lavelle suspension led to 4231 and Horan moved to CAM. In my opinion, once he chose DeMelo, Sanchez was done. Thompson was similar. No one factored in that the experience she gained, could be negative.
I'm not complaining about DeMelo playing. I'm a big fan of hers. I think she is probably the 10 of the U.S.'s future sharing the position with Lavelle -- who is oft injured and not very good as a defender. However, Sanchez frequently played before the World Cup and DeMelo was a newbie. Why did Vlatko lose confidence in Sanchez? Or, why did he suddenly gain confidence in the untested DeMelo? For that matter, why did Vlatko seem to lose confidence in all his potential subs?
He was quoted as saying DeMelo impressed in a closed-door friendly vs the Philippines. Adding DeMelo was, imo, a huge mistake. Felt like there was outside pressure to add her based on her NWSL form. A desperate move to show others that NWSL form meant something. Reading between the lines of Horan's statement, it sent a signal to others that whatever goodwill they had built up in the 2 years prior was meaningless. A last minute addition started game 1 with limited time to integrate with the squad. I think he lost some of the team right there.
Sanchez doesn't know why either: Ashley Sanchez returns to Washington Spirit after a World Cup that didn’t go as planned.“Let’s just say the role [she was told by Andonovski she would fill at the tournament] was not what I played,” she said, declining to elaborate.#nwsl #uswnt https://t.co/gYgNT9moiB— Steven Goff (@SoccerInsider) August 23, 2023 It's sort of the same situation as Cook. Going into the WWC, based on the minutes that they were getting in friendlies, I don't think anyone would have guessed that Sanchez and Cook would be the 2 field players who would get 0 minutes. But, somehow all of the prep in the 2 years prior was thrown out for how players were performing in training and a scrimmage (not that those aren't also important, but it is odd, from the outside looking in).
Its an indicator of a coach who either had no power to select his team or had no plan. either way, he had to go. The DeMelo move was as dumb as it gets on so many levels. Without an independent objective media and/or fanbase, no one questions it at the time. If you do, you are a hater.
6 Regular Season games left for each team and points in the standings are precious. All times are ET and P+ is Paramount+. FRI 8/257:00 SD at ORL - P+ SAT 8/268:30 KC at HOU - P+ SUN 8/272:00 CHI at NC - P+ 5:00 POR at WAS - P+ 5:30 LOU at GOT - P+ 8:00 SEA at AC - P+
Settling in for soccer Sunday now! (And definitely settling in - I've played 6hrs of soccer over the past 36hrs and snapped my nearly yearlong streak of no injuries, so it's absolutely a couch day today lol) Really hoping CHI can snag at least a point here as we're to dig into game one for the day, but not actually expecting much...