Sky Blue FC returned to Yurcak Field on Friday, May 13th to face the winless Boston Breakers. Lead by new head coach Matt Beard, who came to the NWSL from Liverpool Ladies FC in the FA Women’s Super League, the Breakers retooled their lineup in the offseason, shocking fans around the league when they traded steady goalkeeper (and Boston native) Alyssa Naeher to Chicago in return for her USWNT teammate Whitney Engen.
So far under Beard, the Breakers have tightened up their back line a bit, but the offense has not yet started clicking. The Breakers are the only team in the league that have not scored a single goal this season. They have let in seven, two more than Sky Blue.
Asked if he was pleased by Sky Blue’s performance in this game, head coach Christy Holly answered with a frank “No.” He elaborated, “We’re happy with the result. The performance could be better. …Compared to last week [against the Flash] it’s a big improvement.”
Sky Blue was able to put pressure on the Boston backline, mostly from Kelley O’Hara’s overlapping runs up and down the right flank and subsequent crosses into the box. It was one of those crosses, late in the first half, that bounced off of Boston defender Kasey Kallman and past keeper Libby Stout for an own goal, giving Sky Blue a lead that they would cling to for the remainder of the match.
Earlier in the day, Sky Blue announced the official signing of a third goalkeeper, New Zealand’s Erin Naylor. Holly chose to waive rookie keeper Caroline Casey, who was chosen 29th in the 2016 draft and was the surprising choice to play the opening game of the season in Seattle, when she backstopped the team to a 2-1 upset.
“We decided that at this moment in time, we wanted a level of consistency… Caroline Casey’s got some fantastic assets, she’s going to be a great player. She’s got the big moments in her. We’re looking for just a little bit more consistency. That’ll come with time.” Casey is still with Sky Blue and participated in pregame warmups with both Stanley and Naylor.
Naylor was available for selection on Friday, but Holly decided to go with Stanley since she already has chemistry with her back line. Both Stanley and Holly sang the praises of the rookie back line after the game. “It’s easy to feel confident [as a keeper] when you’ve got Christie Rampone, Kelley O’Hara, Erin Simon, and Erica Skroski on your back line. I feel really good about this,” Stanley said.
Both Simon and Skroski have stepped right into the starting lineup in place of the injured Coco Goodson (who was available for selection Friday night but remained on the bench) and Lindsi Cutshall, who will miss the entire season due to injuries. “For rookies, you can’t ask for much more,” said Stanley. “If these girls don’t end up on some sort of list and the end of the year, I’ll be absolutely surprised.”
Boston threw all they had at Sky Blue in the last 15 minutes of the game, but were unable to capitalize on the chances they created.
Up next, Sky Blue hits the road for the first of two away matches. Saturday, May 21st at 7 p.m. they will face the Western New York Flash (2-2-0, 6 points) in a rematch of last week’s match that Holly feels Sky Blue should have won. For the Breakers (0-5-0, 0 points) they return home to take on defending champions FC Kansas City (0-3-2, 2 points), who will be without NWSL Iron Woman Jen Buczkowski, who played her final professional match (a 0-0 draw) on Friday the 13th against the Chicago Red Stars.
