The Wait Is Over

NWSL 2022 Matchday Eight

An early start in the Windy City brought on by a day/night doubleheader scheduled for the Red Stars and Fire was the backdrop for Sky Blue's visit to Toyota Park. On Thursday night, Christie told Jill that she would be skipping the trip and announcing her retirement on Monday. Katherine Reynolds was scratched from the lineup for today's game in order to assist the club's interim head coach on the sidelines.

Chicago's multi-prong attack took advantage of their wealth of talent to hang three goals on Sky Blue in the opening twenty minutes, with Sofia Huerta tallying on 8 minutes and Steph McCaffrey picking up a pair in the 12th and 19th minutes. A mistake in the back by Katie Naughton allowed Madison Tiernan to get off a pass to Sam Kerr, whose 71st minute goal finished off the scoring in a 3-1 win for the Red Stars, moving them into a playoff spot for the time being.

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Lifetime's Game of the Week went to WakeMed Park in Cary, NC for the season's lone match-up between the Los Angeles Olympias and the North Carolina Courage. In a twist of fate, both teams sent out their reserve goalkeepers on this day, with Teagan Micah manning the nets for LA and Sammy Jo Prudhomme between the pipes for the Courage. A highly-anticipated fixture between two expected playoff contenders took a drastic turn in the 21st minute when Marta went in on Micah on a breakaway, only to be hauled down at the edge of the box. The referee, Elvis Osmanovic, decided to play advantage since a pair of Courage attackers were within a few steps of the spilled sphere. Micah came to her senses and smothered the loose ball. At this point, the referee pointed to the penalty spot and waited for Micah to stand up. Once she was standing, Osmanovic pointed to the spot where Micah tackled Marta and lifted a yellow card over her head. Then, unexpectedly, he walked over to a spot not even 2 yards outside the penalty area, pointed to it to indicate that Micah's possession of the ball came outside the box, and lifted the yellow card a second time, along with the subsequent red card. LA coach Jenny Bindon tried to get clarification from the fourth official as to the reason for each of the yellows and whether it was possible to get two yellows on one continuous play. Once Micah left the field, Bindon inserted Katelyn Rowland for Lynn Williams. Rowland took her place in front of the net as Marta placed the ball on the spot. Osmanovic blew his whistle and Marta stepped forward, striking the ball toward Rowland's right side. The goalkeeper dove correctly, but the shot was placed a couple of feet above her and rustled the side netting. The Olympias and the Courage played out a very pedestrian remainder of the first half and entered the locker room with North Carolina ahead, 1-0.

Bindon made a pair of changes at the start of the second half, bringing Emma Barrow on for Stacie Moran and Victoria Cooper for Hannah Souza, switching to a 3-4-2. With the loss of Williams due to the red card to Micah, the attack for LA was a lot less fearful than normal, and Prudhomme's pair of highlight-reel saves on shots from Christen Press helped the Courage pull off the upset over the Western Conference leaders, 1-0. Following the final whistle, Katelyn and Sammy Jo met each other near the North Carolina net, where they embraced for more than a few seconds and Katelyn put a kiss on Sammy Jo's temple, proud of her girlfriend picking up the shutout against her well-stacked team. The two keepers stripped off their gloves and Sammy Jo grasped Katelyn's hand, raising it to her lips.

Sammy Jo: Aside from the PK, we both kept clean sheets. If only we could do this together.

Katelyn: It COULD happen. Teagan's impetuousness that you saw her display against Marta might make Jenny re-think having her behind me. Of course, there's next year, when I could be gone for two months or more if Laura decides on me for her number three.

Sammy Jo: Get showered and changed, we'll meet up afterwards. Love you, babe.

Katelyn: Love you more, mamour.