05' 0-0 Little bends a pass through box -- Rapinoe ends up chasing to the left corner flag, can't ball-stop it. 06' 0-0 Seattle right corner, short. Kawasumi 2nd cross, Johnston heads over endline left. 06' 0-0 Seattle left corner? Eventually Little settles at box top center, shows Boquete-like footwork, shoots left instep to slightly right -- LeBlanc not impressed, smothers cleanly.
08' 0-0 Seattle switches to Rapinoe at box top wide left. Rapinoe dribbles to 18m mid-left, shoots just wide right low. Gotta test the legs out. 10' 0-0 Chicago left throw-in, up left touch, Kawasumi outworks Bywaters. 11' 0-0 Seattle with most of the attacks, Chicago content to, um, play defense on the road.
12' 0-0 Nogueira holds off 2, wins a corner. 12' 0-0 Seattle right corner, not accurate, cleared. 13' 0-0 Kawasumi harasses Morway, cedes a throw-in. Bywaters loses it into touch. 13' 0-0 Leon runs up right touch to 24m, crosses toward Press coming from centerline to 21m mid-right. Fletcher(?) stands her ground, Press trips herself over an extended hip -- no call.
15' 0-0 Chicago miss a longball up wide left. A young ballgirl gets to play with feet to Solo, who shows off her own footwork. 16' 0-0 Little hops over legs at arc center going right, very fast footwork keeps balance and control. Quick wide pass to Kawasumi, she waits 1-v-2 at 12m wide right. Square pass picks out RB Reed running through box top mid-right. Reed jukes between 2, almost gets past -- but her long legs don't churn like Little's, inevitably she loses balance and ball at 9m 6-right -- no call. pbp guy calls her "Ellis"
[SkB-WAS] 76' 2-0 Kids are playing tag on the far-side field [SEA-CHI] 19' 0-0 Kawasumi passes down box left for Rapinoe onside -- but nobody's in the center for her cross.
20' 0-0 Seattle dump ball to 6-top, Chicago wrest it away. Ball bounces out to the spot, Winters runs on and shoots into LeBlanc -- blocked out. Johnston(?) dribbles out through her own box top arc left, arm-fending 2 -- Kawasumi takes it from behind. Chicago finally break upfield, Bywaters gets closed down by Nogueira. 22' 0-0 Chalupny fouls Kawasumi at 24m wide right. USWNT U-20 and U-23s are in the crowd!
24' 0-0 Press shields Barnes off a ball that leaks over. WNT coach Ellis joins the pbp team in the booth? 25' 0-0 Chicago right corner, cleared and an instant longball. Johnston outruns Kawasumi to it. 26' 0-0 Seattle outlets to Kawasumi in a wide 1-v-1 to 22m box right. Bending cross just misses Little's head at arc top.
85' 4-0 O'Hara drives rightward to 20m arc right, shoots past 1 defender, golazo over Harris's fingertips into 1/4 left back high. And signals touchdown! Tornado sirens go off!
29' 0-0 Kawasumi passes wide right to Fletcher way up at 22m. Fletcher bends a cross to 8m, Chicago flick-heads it but only to 6-top left. Rapinoe or Fishlock right roundhouse half-volley, saved. 88' 4-1 Washington corner, Taylor scores? 89' 4-2 Bad, bad camera work -- a close-up on Kiryu(?) waiting to sub in. pbp guy goes nuts as -- something happens. Gayle, header.
38' 0-0 Rapinoe bumped Leon into the far-side adboards? Yellow card on Rapinoe. 39' 0-0 Chalupny harasses Kawasumi. Cox overlaps to box top right, crosses way high to box left foot, Wenino flicks it into touch. 39' 0-0 Little turn-and-shoots from 4m 6-left, into the left side netting.
42' 0-0 Seattle mesmerize with patient passing at box top center and right. Finally they give it to Reed, who -- shanks it wide left of 6-left foot And just when Gallimore was talking about the patience ... 43' 0-0 Seattle long service, over the scrum at 8m center, bounces at 2m as Nogueira slides and volleys -- LeBlanc blocks it point-blank! Bounces out to Fletcher at 6-top right, she shoots roundhouse, LeBlanc paws it away with left hand high. Fletcher chases 25m to prevent Chicago's breakaway.
45' 0-0 Chicago chip to Tancredi at 26m arc left. Fletcher jumps straight up, Tancredi jumps with forward lean -- unbalances herself, ref confused and calls a foul on Fletcher. Fletcher windmills arms in protest, stomps away. 45+1' 0-0 Chicago fk, curled poorly to nobody, to box right foot and over.
But a back flip though? Can you imagine the scene if a ref is trying to caution a player and they break out into spontaneous back flips? I'll pay money to see that
David Brin wrote that into a scene in Startide Rising, featuring a starship crewed by uplifted dolphins. The human good guy pulls a trump card he didn't really want to use: "secret orders". The bad guy alpha male dolphin swam a backflip in impotent rage. I could see a crew of sapient cockatiels or toucans doing the same. Later they dumped all their water as space caltrops, and the pursuing Galactics did not detect the ice as a weapon ...
62' 0-0 Sitch jumps into Leroux at midfield wide left -- hip into plexus? Leroux stays down in a crouch, tapping the ground with her palms. Wind knocked out. 64' 0-0 Leroux chases Johnston backshielding a ball down box left. Leroux holds the shoulders, reaches right foot around, Johnston leans left shoulder in -- accepts the judo fall into end zone. Foul on Leroux.
69' 0-0 Johnston clatters into Fishlock(?) at 23m arc right. Yellow card on Johnston. DiBernardo is up ... 70' 1-0 Seattle fk, Little blasts it low into the wall. Seattle controls the rebound, chips high to 6-left foot. Leroux saves it half-over endline, backpass to Fletcher standing at 7m left post. Fletcher taps square to Goebel at centerline, one-touch low volley beats LeBlanc trying to track six targets.
81' 1-1 Barnes turnover at box top? Hoy crosses from ~box top right, Press settles at 8m 6-left as Solo comes out and misses. Press turns cw, passes ball into center back low.