The Wait Is Over

Mid-Season Sell-Off

After Sunday's draw, Morgan Andrews and Megan Oyster left Los Angeles for national team camp in New Jersey. The Breakers' leadership committee (Lee, John, Yael, Julie, Sam, and Abby sitting in for Morgan) discussed the team's fortunes over an early dinner at JW's Steakhouse inside the Los Angeles Airport Marriott.

Lee: Can we finally admit that Libby isn't the keeper we need behind Steph next year and the one after?

John: Definitely! Even with us rotating players on this trip so no one was playing large minutes in all three games, we should have been able to hold the defense together like in the first two matches out here. Is the deal with Atlanta still on, Lee?

Lee: Believe so. I'll call Carlos after dinner to see if they still want to go and if so, we'll close the deal.

Steph: Who would we be getting from the Storm?

Lee: The last time we talked, it was Stout for Proctor and a third-rounder. After tonight's game, we might be the one kicking in the pick.

Yael: Sounds solid from our side. Think they bite?

Lee: Of course. They want a keeper who can handle a large workload while Lydia is away next year due to the World Cup and Australia's demands from its players.

Abby: What about Sarah?

Yael, Sam, and Steph knew where Abby was going with this and chimed in.

Yael: Proctor is in a relationship with Sarah Troccoli, a Storm midfielder. She's been having a good season in Atlanta and did well in the center while Morgan Brian was out recovering from her injuries sustained in the attack on her and Kelley in Birmingham. I like her, she can play literally all four of our midfield positions, and Sam and Abby have met the couple a few times this year, between the home-and-home and Love 4 All.

Steph: I like EJ. She'll get a decent internship behind me, unlike her joining Atlanta, where she was thrown to the wolves almost immediately.

Lee: John, what do we have that could be moved to accommodate the second player?

John: Machaela George hasn't gotten much if any playing time this season and we have our defensive rotation set now that Abby is back. We could yield her and a pick along with Stout for the two of them.

Lee felt a buzz from his cell phone and looked at the alert. "NWSL - 2m Press conference in Cary, NC scheduled for 10am tomorrow." Seeing this, and knowing that the league had approved the North Carolina sale on Friday, he left the table to immediately call Bocanegra in order to get this deal done before the Courage entered the race for Proctor.

***

At National Team camp in New Jersey, Katelyn and EJ were chilling out in their room. Katelyn had it on Lifetime for the weekly recap of highlights and a discussion about silly season commencing.

Dalen Cuff: Based on the records after 12 games, how do you expect the playoff races to shake down, Aly?

Aly Wagner: Boston is clearly the leader of the pack in the East, up nine points on Atlanta. Atlanta and Orlando need to fend off the charge that North Carolina has begun if they wish to make the post-season. The other three teams in the East are at least two full games behind Orlando in the third playoff spot. As for the West, it's a five-team race for three spots, with LA and Chicago looking like the safest bets of all to make the playoffs.

Dalen: Silly season is underway, when teams that are playoff contenders go shopping for that last one or two pieces to make a run at a championship, and where the teams staring up the conference standings start looking to next year. We have had a bit of movement already, with Janine Beckie leaving Houston for Atlanta and the Australians announcing their non-return for 2023. Portland's free transfer of Bryane Haeberlin from FFC Frankfurt leaves AD Franch sitting out in the cold, most likely. Who's buying and who's selling, Cat?

Cat Whitehill: LA has to address their back line issues and should be looking ahead to losing Katelyn Rowland for the World Cup.

EJ: Nice shout-out for you.

Katelyn: I'm glad people are noticing what my ability is despite our team's lofty goals-against average.

Dalen: I'm guessing Boston, the Spirit, and others are in the same boat, needing to get their 2023 backup goalkeeper now rather than using January's draft to procure one that would need a crash course before getting the number 1 shirt for the month of June.

As the show went to break, someone popped a text to Katelyn's phone. She read it and replied immediately.

SJP15: Hope you're having fun so far at camp. See you after the Philly match. Love you.

RowRowRow: Heard about your club being bought. Stay strong and we'll catch up after camp, my beloved.

Coming out of break, Dalen announced the Boston-Atlanta trade as EJ was on the phone with Bocanegra. Still stunned from the news and not hearing the full rundown of the trade's parts, the Storm goalkeeper asked about how her belongings would end up in Boston since she's at camp.

Carlos: A couple of the Breakers are flying down and will rent a truck or van to cart your stuff along with Sarah north.

EJ: When is Sarah due back in Atlanta?

Carlos: I don't have an answer for that since she's going to be playing for Boston as well.

EJ: So both of us are going to the Breakers?

Carlos: Yes. We've been working on your trade for the last ten days, since Lydia's announcement about next season was paid public. As for her, someone from the Breakers brought her name up and told the GM about you and her being together. With some negotiation, we were able to include her in the trade.

EJ: That's great to hear. I'm sure she's going to try and call me sometime tonight. I'll pretend that I don't know she's coming with until she tells me herself.

Carlos: You eeeeeeeeeevil!

Katelyn's phone rang with a call from Mia.

Katelyn: Hi, Mia. Saw the result. Not the best performance by our defense and Teagan.

Mia: We're going to fix what went wrong. I'm calling to tell you that we're getting a new goalkeeper who will be here when you arrive back next Wednesday. She's sort of a local and our staff and certain players are high on her ability to fill in for you next season while you're in Australia.

Katelyn: How is Teagan feeling about us getting another goalkeeper?

Mia: She's understanding of it, even if she doesn't necessarily know why we're getting another one. It may take a few days for it to become final since we need to find a third team willing to take Teagan who will send on the proper player compensation to the Courage for Sammy Jo to come to us.

Katelyn: That's fantastic! Thanks for going after her. We'll get better next year as we work out the platoon system before I leave for the World Cup and she gets her run of matches.

Mia: I'm not worried. I hope you're getting along at national team camp being the most-experienced goalkeeper of the four there.

Katelyn: I think it's going to be nice getting the bulk of the work and knowing that I'll start at least the first match. Any other news?

Mia: We might have a national-team level defender on the roster by the time you return and some additional firepower.

Katelyn: Time for us out here on the east coast to consider sleeping. Long day of flights for everyone. Keep my seat warm.

Mia: Will do.