The Wait Is Over

Food, Friends, and Fun

Today's first game on the docket, kicking off ahead of Lifetime's Game of the Week from Chicago between the Red Stars and Reign, is the Atlanta Storm taking on the Boston Breakers. The two teams faced off in the first game of the Hollywood Studios Cup, with Boston securing a 2-1 victory with a late goal from Jessie Fleming. In that match, EJ Proctor manned the nets for the Storm and they were missing Morgan Brian. Today, Atlanta will entrust the goalkeeping duties to Australian National Team #1 Lydia Williams and Brian is in the first XI, taking up a central midfield position alongside Angela Salem, flanked by Sarah Troccoli and Mana Shim, with Christen Press and Denise O'Sullivan up top.

The Breakers shuffle their back line once again, returning Allysha Chapman to her left back position after a week off, joined by Sam Mewis and Megan Oyster in the middle and Julie King on the right. The midfield is anchored by Morgan Andrews, with Rose Lavelle and Jessie Fleming playing ahead of her and the trio of Emilie Haavi, Kyah Simon, and Midge Purce across the front. John Herdman moves to the 4-3-3 today, which at times will resemble a 4-3-2-1 or 4-1-4-1, in order to better defend against the Storm's main weapons. Mewis goes to the back line to give it the ability to condense space around Press with what could be considered a three-center-back scheme. The midfield for the Breakers is contracted to cut off passing lanes from Brian. Fleming and Lavelle will rotate wide if need be to keep Troccoli and Shim from dumping in early crosses to Press.

The stands are reasonably full for a 2pm start, and the Breakers' WAGS are sitting together with Kelley O'Hara, making her final road trip with the Storm before the scheduled birth of Stephen Daniel in late June. Patrick and Bryan are comparing recipes for beer-boiled bratwurst with Abby and Kelley discussing post-game transportation for their wives and any other Storm players coming over. Aaron and Clare meanwhile talk about the team's upcoming two-week road trip to the West coast, where the Breakers will train in Vancouver for several days before facing the Legacy on July 2nd, then moving onto Seattle for a game on the 6th and finally in LA for a match against the Olympias on the 10th. John and Lee asked the league to move their August 20th match against Seattle to put it into this trip.

Boston's change in formation is able to keep Press and Brian bottled up, but doesn't do a lot for creating offensive pressure on the Storm's defense. In first-half stoppage time, Troccoli collects a cross-field pass from Shim and cuts it back to Press, who is able to shed Mewis for a split-second and turn a shot into the upper near-post corner, leaving Labbe no chance to get to it. At halftime, John moves the team to a 3-5-2, with Jenni Santacaterina coming on to replace Emilie Haavi and Chapman and King moving up to play wingback positions alongside Andrews. In transition, the scheme becomes a 2-3-3-2 with Mewis and Andrews pushing up through the center. The changes pay dividends six minutes into the second half as Lavelle is able to thread a pass between Salem and Troccoli onto Simon's right foot, who then strikes a ball that glances off of Sonnett's calf and deflects back toward the near post, beating Williams who had positioned herself for Simon's shot's original target at the far post. The Breakers substitute Lindsey Elston for Midge Purce and Caitlyn DiSarcina for Lavelle, moving Fleming wide left and Andrews alongside Mewis in central midfield. The game-winner would come in the 77th minute when Elston's corner kick is punched out by Williams but only goes as far as Santacaterina, who chests down the ball and volleys it into the net from 16 yards out. A last-ditch effort from Brian from outside the box is punched over the bar by Labbe, and when she collects Shim's ensuing corner kick, the referee blows the whistle to end the game, giving Boston a 2-1 win and moving them into sole possession of first place in the Eastern Conference temporarily, with Orlando playing in Houston later this evening.

Following the post-game handshakes, the Breakers come over to thank their fans and see their closest supporters.

Abby (to Sam): What a game out of you. Central defense, defensive midfield, even a bit of outside back when Julie pressed up in the first half. Sorry Chrissy was able to shed you for that fraction of a second to get her goal, but she's just that tough of a match-up for everyone in the league.