The 2022 NWSL season will hopefully bring to an end the search for a title for the two oldest franchises in US women's professional soccer, the Boston Breakers and the Chicago Red Stars. Twelve other teams will have their say on whether either franc...
Matchday Twelve began at Orlando City Stadium for the year's sole match-up between the Pride and the Chicago Red Stars. A slight groin strain for Ashlyn Harris ruled her out of today's game, with Aubrey Bledsoe replacing her between the sticks. A 15th minute Alex Morgan goal was cancelled out midway through the second half by Sarah Stratigakis and the two teams were pleased to escape the battle with a point each by way of a 1-1 draw.
Janine Beckie kept up her hot start since moving to Atlanta by delivering another goal, but her tally wasn't enough to keep the Storm from dropping points against FC Kansas City, as a Savannah McCaskill header off an Elizabeth Eddy corner kick salvaged a point for the Blues.
The Washington Spirit broke out for their largest scoring output of the season in downing Sky Blue FC, 4-2. Savannah Jordan proved her place in the national team pool was well-earned, as she scored twice, while Meggie Dougherty Howard continued to make her case to be part of World Cup qualifying by providing two assists and clearing a Sam Kerr shot off the goal line. Kerr and Sarah Killion had the goals for SBFC.
Two goals in stoppage time gave the Philadelphia Charge a 2-1 victory over Seattle in the muck and mire of the Pacific Northwest stronghold. Jessica McDonald's goal in the first minute of added time leveled the match, followed up by Julie Ertz's score three minutes later.
Vancouver got itself back into the Western Conference playoff picture by taking apart Portland, 3-0. Following the match, Thorns goalkeeper AD Franch lashed out at her defense, ignoring the fact that her clumsy challenge on Deanne Rose resulted in a penalty kick goal from Sophie Schmidt.
The evening's most relevant match was the inter-conference showdown between the winless Houston Dash and the North Carolina Courage. Both clubs are on the brink of being purchased by local investors and tonight was to be the swan song for Dash forward Kealia Ohai. With two goals and an assist, the departing Houston skipper led her now-former team to a 3-1 win. After the match, both Ohai and Heather O'Reilly announced in their respective teams' locker rooms about their pending purchases of the franchises.
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Orlando 1 Chicago 1 (Morgan/Catley; Stratigakis/Mewis)
Kansas City 1 Atlanta 1 (McCaskill/Eddy; Beckie/O'Hara)
Portland 0 Vancouver 3 (Rose/Andressa, Leon/Woeller, Schmidt pk)
Houston 3 North Carolina 1 (Ohai/Tennant, Ohai/Turnbow, Daly/Ohai; Marta/Doniak)
Seattle 1 Philadelphia 2 (Lavasseur/Johnson; McDonald/Pickett, Ertz/Dydasco)
Sky Blue 2 Washington 4 (Kerr/Hayes, Killion/Freeman; Jordan/Agnew, Pugh/Dougherty Howard, Jordan/Dougherty Howard, Zadorsky/Ship)
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A rare Sunday match was on the docket in Los Angeles with the Boston Breakers visiting the Olympias in a fixture of the top teams from each conference. Having picked up a slight shoulder strain near the end of the Breakers' match with Seattle on Wednesday, Steph Labbe was given the day off by John Herdman. Libby Stout got her second start of the season against an LA team that last week defeated Washington 5-1 behind four goals from Christen Press, who leads the NWSL with 12. With Katelyn Rowland given leave to report to US National Team camp early, Teagan Micah was in goal for the Western Conference front-runners.
Boston broke out ahead on LA after 18 minutes, when an Abby Dahlkemper free kick connected with Sam Mewis' forehead for the opening goal. The Breakers doubled the margin 12 minutes later on a Kyah Simon marker, but LA was able to cut the lead in half on 41 minutes with Press' 13th goal of the season. The Olympias evened up the match in the 57th minute when a breakaway by Lynn Williams forced Stout to come off her line, at which time Williams chipped the ball over her falling body. LA gained the lead in the 73rd minute on another Press goal, bringing her to 14 in 12 matches. With the Breakers pressing for a late equalizer, Allysha Chapman cross-field pass found Rose Lavelle, who dribbled past three players before bending a ball around Sam Johnson into the vacant far corner of the goal. With the 3-3 tie, the Breakers ended their three-match road trip with a win and two draws, bringing their point total to 30 from 13 games.
Los Angeles 3 Boston 3 (Press/Cooper, Williams/Sanchez, Press/Williams; Mewis/Dahlkemper, Simon/Andrews, Lavelle/Chapman)
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After twelve matches, the NWSL standings are as follows:
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