Week 20 kicks off tonight with a crucial matchup between Orlando and Seattle. After this weekend, we could see the final 2 playoff spots clinched, as well as a home semifinal for North Carolina.
I see, it was moved from Sat 09/09 19:30 EDT to dodge ... Hurricane Irma? (or the gridlock ensuing from fleeing it) New http://www.nwslsoccer.com/news/injuries: (ORL) Kristen Edmonds OUT (but reason updated from right calf strain to excused absence). (SEA) Megan Rapinoe upgraded from QUESTIONABLE to not listed. Rest of a full slate this weekend. Next week is a FIFA mini-window for two USA-NZL and AUS-BRA friendlies. Thereafter, in weeks 21-22 to finish the regular season, let's roughly measure difficulty of close by adding the (current) ranks of each opposing team, so lower means harder. We obtain: 03 - Orlando (#2 POR, at #1 NC) 17 - Seattle (#7 KC, at #10 WAS) I'll wait for the weekend to do the others, so that they include this match's result, i.e. whether Orlando remains #4 or moves up to #3.
I have to assume that Rumi Utsugi, who was stretchered out last week-end was never listed, not even cautionally as PROBABLE. Despite what it looked like initially, it had to be a very light injury.
[ORL-SEA] Orlando is identical, probably the same 4-2-3-1. Rapinoe and Utsugi start. Kawasumi is on the bench, available to sub in. 21' 0-0 Mostly Orlando build-ups, with 7-v-7 around Seattle's box -- well-defended so far. Seattle has brief possessions and counters, but have ceded possession for direct play, and always miss at least one pass.
27' 0-0 Orlando left throw-in at circle back, Fishlock forces a rushed touch, Rapinoe steals and plays a give-and-go with Fishlock between Camila and Weatherholt. Rapinoe cuts inside to 27m 6-left -- as Mathias boxes out (or sets a pick on ) Mônica at 30m box left, no call. Mathias spins ccw and is unmarked wide left -- but Rapinoe shoots hard right instep diving to left post low, Harris dives and blocks. Ball bounces out to 9m 6-left, Kennedy collects before Mathias arrives through box top left, dribbles out through box left and clears into near touch. 26' @mPinoe fires from distance, but @Ashlyn_Harris is there for the save and the Pride defend the rebound. Still 0-0 in Orlando. #ORLvSEA pic.twitter.com/q6gSpH5NBV— National Women’s Soccer League (@NWSL) September 8, 2017
47' 0-0 Early Orlando pressure, two right cks -- both taken short. Camila spins 270 and shakes Nairn(?) to 6m wide right, whips a cross over goal mouth to 1m left post. Hill is unmarked rushing at goal, stoops a tad too far and glances a header upward off crossbar, and it skims over. 47' Camila finds Rachel Hill, but her header is off the crossbar. #SoClose #ORLvSEA 0-0 pic.twitter.com/8MahJj13hz— National Women’s Soccer League (@NWSL) September 8, 2017 49' 0-0 More pressure, two(?) left cks -- Morgan's ck is a backpass to Camila unmarked at box top mid-left. Camila touches centerward, bends right instep toward right post, L.Williams dives horizontal and double-punches it away. 49' "An amazing save," by @lydsaussie! Still scoreless in Orlando. #ORLvSEA pic.twitter.com/xar0Uigq2k— National Women’s Soccer League (@NWSL) September 8, 2017 51' 0-0 Nairn right ck, bounces around, Orlando scuffs into near touch. 52' 0-0 Seattle left throw-in, Nairn slaloms past 2, cross through box top right poked away. Utsugi shoots from ~30m arc left, wide left and high.
59' 0-0 Utsugi passes to Rapinoe up left touch, to 25m. Rapinoe sends a long bending ground cross to spot, Fishlock has already split two through arc tangent left, slides on back and half-volleys past Harris, into 1/4 left back. Offside! 59' @JessFishlock slides in for the would-be goal, but she's ruled offside. #ORLvSEA 0-0 pic.twitter.com/j1FjbsVYk5— National Women’s Soccer League (@NWSL) September 8, 2017 61' 0-0 Camila unmarked at 22m mid-right, blasts right instep rocket to right post 1/2 high, beats L.Williams diving horizontal -- juuust wide right, hits the back right support pole? 61' Camila launches a rocket, but it's too far wide. Still zeroes here in Orlando. #ORLvSEA 0-0 pic.twitter.com/Z5EysnL5XS— National Women’s Soccer League (@NWSL) September 8, 2017 61' 0-0 Seattle subs in (1 of 3) #36 Nahomi Kawasumi for #17 Beverly Yanez.
73' 0-0 Seattle subs in (2 of 3) #26 Madeleine Bauer for #2 Christine Nairn. 73' 0-0 Seattle short-passing at arc top box right, ball cleared back, Seattle possess. Corsie, facing away at midfield mid-right, one-touch square pass centerward -- then goes down lame. Replay shows Morgan stepped on her heel -- and messed up her shoe insert? Corsie unties laces, makes inner adjustments ... resumes. Crowd whistles. 74' 0-0 Orlando subs in (1 of 3) #23 Jasmyne Spencer for #15 Rachel Hill. 76' 0-0 Rapinoe offside.
80' 0-0 Seattle subs in (3 of 3) #33 Katlyn Johnson for #9 Merritt Mathias ... who earned a 1H yellow card for yappin' after the whistle? 81' 0-0 Kawasumi knocks down a pass right through her zone. Longball up box right, K.Johnson offside. Seattle's 10th offside 82' 0-0 Ubogagu offside, Orlando's 1st. 84' 0-0 Orlando subs in (2 of 3) #3 Toni Pressley for #9 Chioma Ubogagu. Dang, get caught offside once and --
87' 0-0 Rapinoe fk at arc top wide right, right instep inswing/dive to 7m center. Stott runs on but misjudges the inswing, ball unexpectedly misses everybody and -- bonks her head, bounces high over bar. She never prepared to get over the ball -- 88' 0-0 Orlando turnover at own box top wide right, Fishlock settles at arc top mid-left, shoots hard right foot to goalline center -- directly into Harris's chest. 88' 0-0 Kawasumi lags a perfect ground pass through arc top right for K.Johnson outrunning Krieger through arc top. K.Johnson gets behind two to 14m right post, one-touch shot sizzles just over bar. 90' 0-0 Camila shoots right instep low from ~box top right to right post low, L.Williams sprawls and blocks, then gathers before it leaks over. +4'.
90 minutes of futility -- and two goals in stoppage time. 20 plus shots, 20 plus corner kicks, a dozen offsides, and a dozen fouls. Not a very aesthetic game. . I've not been complimentary about Alex Morgan for the last couple of years -- but she has recovered her 2012 form..
90+2' (of +4') 1-0 Ball bounces around as both teams trade clearances in Seattle's half. Krieger kicks from circle back left, Seattle heads clear past circle center. Weatherholt collects and dumps ball upfield -- to Morgan at 30m mid-left, with wide lateral separation. Morgan drives through box top to 12m mid-right, shoots left foot across mouth, wrong-foots L.Williams not lunging -- skips into right side netting, just behind right post. 90-3' Another look at what appeared to be a game-winning goal from @alexmorgan13, but not so fast. #ORLvSEA pic.twitter.com/vO4jE6Tpez— National Women’s Soccer League (@NWSL) September 8, 2017 90+4' (of +4') 1-1 Rapinoe holds up at arc top wide left. Cut away to a close-up of Morgan, with her post-goal stats. Return to ... Kawasumi circling back to ball at 7m wide right, left foot cross to 8m 2/5 right. Fishlock lunge-leaps past/over Krieger, mini-lob floats over Harris, drops into 1/4 right back 1/3 high. Many heads in stands are grabbed. 90-4' And @JessFishlock's answer via a header to tie the score in stoppage time! #ORLvSEA 1-1 pic.twitter.com/7iOxyGIxuz— National Women’s Soccer League (@NWSL) September 8, 2017 90+5' (of +4') 1-1 Utsugi lunges and trips Camila at circle top. Foul -- but then Utsugi sits down. Brief stoppage -- trainer wraps tape around Utsugi's right kneecap. Utsugi pulls sock over new tape, jumps up to resume -- sparse crowd whistles -- but trainer came out, so Utsugi must step into near touch. 90+6' (of +4') 1-1 Krieger fk at circle top, sailed to left post, L.Williams catches the bounce. 90+7' (of +4') 1-1 K.Johnson holds up at box top wide left, backpass to Rapinoe at 27m. Rapinoe shoots right foot, waffles it way over bar. FT 1-1. Bleh, Seattle are 5 points back with 2 matches left. Orlando isn't mathematically safe, either, by the same math.
Mental toughness: July 23: Rapinoe 87' vs Sky Bllue for the 5-4 win. August 16: Kawasumi 90' and Johnson 92' vs Chicago for the 2-1 win. September 7: Fishlock 94' vs Orlando to steal a point on the road 1-1. October ??: As an NC fan, I sure hope Seattle is not playing in October Blaze20 and Blissett may disown me after that one - I'm sorry, Reign fans
Yes, this was definitely a game to win for us. And we nearly lost it. This makes me think that I would like to see @Blaze20 around a little more, these days. I hope the reason for her absence is that she's having an heck of an holiday!
The injury report for Washington Spirit is something to behold: three players out on ACL tears (Lohman, Sigvardsen, Ship). Labbé is done for the year. Ordega just returned from a non-ACL knee injury only to strain a hamstring. And Johnson, Banini, Aedo are listed as out too. Three active players (Wys, Dydasco, Farquharson) have recently returned from ACL. I assume they will call up reserve players to fill out the game day roster, because otherwise, from what I can tell they will have 3 bench players total.
There are as many active hurricanes in the world today (Irma, Jose) as NWSL matches New http://www.nwslsoccer.com/news/injuries: (KC) Brittany Taylor (excused absence) OUT; Erika Tymrak and Becky Sauerbrunn (neck pain) both PROBABLE (and Sauerbrunn starts, Tymrak available as sub) (CHI) none (NC) Lynn Williams (right groin strain) upgraded from QUESTIONABLE to PROBABLE; Sabrina D’Angelo (Illness) upgraded from PROBABLE to not listed. (Nora Holstad (left hamstring strain) still QUESTIONABLE) (HOU) Kelly Conheeney (whiplash) upgraded from DOUBTFUL to QUESTIONABLE. (Carli Lloyd (left ankle sprain) still OUT) (BOS) (Morgan Andrews (excused absence) still OUT) (POR) Nothing new? (Odd: Tobin Heath (back sprain) still OUT -- yet she's called up for next week's friendlies vs. New Zealand. Maybe the WNT will do their own evaluation) (NJ) Raquel Rodríguez (left hamstring strain) QUESTIONABLE (WAS) Three lines of OUT Estefania Banini (right hamstring strain) OUT; Mallory Pugh (right hip flexor strain) PROBABLE. (Estelle Johnson (left IT band tear), Francisca Ordega (left hamstring strain) both still OUT)
[NC-HOU] 26' 1-0 L.Williams right throw-in at 9m, heaved to 7m 4-right. Erceg outjumps Roccaro +1 and backheads to 8m 1/3 left. Ball drops untouched, K.Hamilton has inside position on Daly overanticipating ball's vector -- Hamilton darts forth and intercepts, flicks right outstep past Poliana's hip, wrong-foots Campbell at near post, gently across mouth into back right low. 26' A perfect flick by @aerceg5 to @khamilton17 and @TheNCCourage take the 1-0 lead. #NCvHOU pic.twitter.com/pmKO2lZHTs— National Women’s Soccer League (@NWSL) September 10, 2017 36' 1-0 Poliana right throw-in at circle top, heaved upfield to Andressinha at 26m box right. Hagen lurks at 22m wide right, just past Hinkle, but looking across the field and lining self up on T.Smith's shoulder -- onside? Andressinha juggles ball upward, flicks right outstep between S.Mewis and Erceg, through box top mid-right. Hagen out-pounces Dahlkemper to 16m, one-touch right instep shot across mouth beats Rowland's dive but outswings wrong way, just wide left low. Offside, indeed: Rowland restarts at own arc top left. 36' 👌 pass from Andressinha into the box for Hagen, but the forward was offside. #NCvHOU pic.twitter.com/z0W38sURrd— Houston Dash (@HoustonDash) September 10, 2017 Eh, every time I think a play is worth describing, the NWSL video assistant agrees
We see you @AndyMead; walking Mrs. Mewis off the field. Looking forward to seeing your Mewises-s photos.
66' 1-0 Poliana right throw-in at circle back, to Prince coming back along right touch. McDonald changes direction to stomp-lunge, pulls up with -- right hamstring twinge? Prince passes up wide left to K.Mewis(?), she turns and looks upfield. Long diagonal chip bounces through arc tangent right for Daly to chase leftward into box. Rowland races her right-to-left, dives at 6m 8-left and smothers. 67' 1-0 Rowland drop-kicks into near touch at circle top. Brooks right throw-in -- but McDonald goes down to right knee. Stoppage, trainer ... McDonald' shoulders are shaking as she -- cries? Maybe thinking about being done for the playoffs? 68' 1-0 Houston subs in (1 of 3) #16 Janine Beckie for #9 Sarah Hagen. McDonald stalks into near touch, not in mood for sympathy or assistance. 68' 1-0 North Carolina subs in (1 of 3) #3 Makenzy Doniak for ... NWSL box score says #12 Ashley Hatch, pbp says #14 Jessica McDonald, screen graphic at 67'45" shows ... #17 Beverly Yanez NWSL subs in (oops) Seattle's roster page for North Carolina's [Edit] NWSL pbp was correct. NWSL fixed the box score. No cure for the screen graphic whoopsie.
90+4' (of +4') 1-0 Brooks right throw-in at own 15m, to Daly turning upfield past 30m mid-right. Daly dribbles to circle back, passes ahead left into Andressinha's path -- then cuts in front of L.Williams, hooks own left foot on L.Williams's foot and trips hard. Andressinha spins away from Doniak's pressure, pass left to Levin making a run upfield, pass left-er to Beckie up wide left. Beckie drives down to 4m just wide left, cross blocked over by Dahlkemper. Before the ck -- stoppage, Daly is rolling around in center circle with her ribcage quaking. 90+5' (of +4') 1-0 Stretcher crew comes out, Daly gets self up and stands on right leg only. 90+6' (of +4') 1-0 Daly limps slowly (but refuses support) into near touch. 90+6' (of +4') 1-0 Houston subs in (3 of 3) #11 Meghan Cox for #3 Rachel Daly. 90+7' (of +4') 1-0 Andressinha left ck, over two players jumping at 6-top right post, spins or deflects over endline right. 90+8' (of +4') 1-0 NC fk at circle right, sent upfield, and ... FT 1-0. North Carolina clinches a homefield playoff game. All the great point-blank shots they didn't score on, and Hamilton's little dink was the goal they did get
I don't know if Campbell had a lot of great saves, but I can say she was in the right place virtually all the time; so she made saves when they were needed - which is the sign of an excellent keeper.
Anson Dorrance's comment about shooting Poliana with a gun due to a lapsed defensive assignment was highly inappropriate and he should apologize. Did anyone hear what happened to McDonald? She left the pitch in tears. Have to say, despite leading NWSL all year, North Carolina offense does not produce as many goals as it should. Finishing is not up to snuff.