The Wait Is Over

NWSL 2022 Matchday Twenty

The final day of the 2022 regular season began in Los Angeles, where the Western Conference champion Olympias faced Vancouver in the opening game of Lifetime's doubleheader, with the nightcap being the Boston Breakers' quest at rewriting several sections of the NWSL record book against 1-17-1 Houston. An opening half goal by Christen Press, her league-record 24th of the season, combined with an insurance marker from Lynn Williams gave LA a 2-0 win and ensured that the Legacy would be traveling to Chicago for their Western Conference semifinal match against the Red Stars on October 1st.

Following the Olympias/Legacy post-match coverage, Lifetime began its pre-game show from Boston with the trio of Jordan Angeli, Kate Markgraf, and Cat Reddick on the call.

Jordan Angeli: The Boston Breakers have been at the top of the league all season and are riding a thirteen-match unbeaten streak into tonight's finale against Houston. In addition, they look set to obliterate the league record for fewest goals allowed and will overtake the 2017 North Carolina Courage for team shutouts in a season if they can keep a clean sheet against the Dash. Also, Steph Labbe has an opportunity to match AD Franch's record of 11 shutouts in a season. Cat, what can be said about the Breakers that hasn't already been said multiple times this year? 

Cat Reddick: Boston has set a standard that I'm not sure another team in this league will ever be able to match. The most amazing part of this run has been the role that young, local players have had in it. The signing of Meagan Stassi at the end of preseason to cover Abby Dahlkemper's absence for the first six matches of the season, followed by the recall of Devon Schiller from the Reserves and the pick-up of Lauren Bonavita after Caitlyn DiSarcina was sidelined with concussion issues, have given the Breakers a means of continuing this level of dominance in 2023 and maybe beyond.

Jordan: The third member of our crew is on the field with three candidates for NWSL MVP. Take it away, Kate Markgraf.

Kate: I am here with Stephanie Labbe, Abby Dahlkemper, and Sam Mewis. First, Steph, your ridiculously low goals-against-average of 0.38 combined with ten shutouts makes you a serious contender for the league's MVP award. You seem to have played even better this year than you did in 2021 when you backstopped the Spirit to the NWSL final against Vancouver. Anything specific that's contributed to this improvement?

Steph: It's a variety of things. One is the union of these two babes and Megan Oyster in front of me. Another is John pacing me during the preseason so that I would have the legs and mental capacity to still be on top of my game at the end of the season and in the playoffs. The most important part of it has been a happiness away from the field that I didn't have last year. As for talk of the MVP award, I have said repeatedly that my focus is on a championship and if other accolades come my way, so be it.

Kate: Sam, your first full season in Boston has seen you become a serious threat on both sides of the ball. What has been the main reason for your increased impact on the offensive end?

Sam: This girl right here. While she wasn't able to train with the team full-time until the end of April, the two of us were able to work on corner kicks. Also having three interchangeable midfielders in front of me helped divert a lot of attention away from my creeping up the field in the run of play.

Kate: Abby, your return to the Breakers' lineup in June took a decent defensive unit and elevated it to an unconscionable level of stinginess, with nary a goal given up in the run of play when you, Sam, Megan, and Steph have been on the field together. Why are you four so good together?

Abby: It comes down to experience and comfort. I had played with Sam for 10 years running before going to the Spirit in 2021. Megan played a season with Steph in Washington, Megan played with both Sam and I at UCLA and the two of them spent the second half of last season together here. When I was cleared to return to play, it didn't take long for us to figure out how to work as a unit since we were building from previously-existing connections.