On Saturday, June 25, Sky Blue FC handed the Washington Spirit only their second loss of the season, winning 2-1 behind goals from Raquel Rodriguez and Sam Kerr. Diana Matheson scored for the Spirit.
It was one of Sky Blue’s best all-around efforts of the season from whistle to whistle. Rookie Raquel Rodriguez opened the scoring in just the 8th minute, when Leah Galton got the ball to her just outside the 18 yard box. Three Spirit players converged on Rodriguez but looked almost indecisive on who was actually going to close her down as she fired a shot into the top far corner of the goal over a diving Stephanie Labbe for the first NWSL goal of her career.
In the 64th minute, Sky Blue head coach subbed Sam Kerr in for Tasha Kai, and it proved to a fortuitous decision: in her first touch moments after being subbed on, Kerr redirected a cross from Leah Galton past Labbe to make it 2-0.
The Spirit had multiple chances to score, especially towards the end of the second half when it seemed that most of the play was in Sky Blue’s defensive end. Midfielder Diana Matheson scored the Spirit’s lone goal in the 77th minute, a diving header from a well-placed pass by Estafania Banini. Matheson was virtually unmarked in the box, she was able to run in between two Sky Blue defenders unnoticed. Stanley was able to get a hand on the shot but was unable to redirect it wide of the goal.
Up next for Sky Blue (3-3-4, 10 points) is a trip to Portland on Saturday, July 2nd to take on the Thorns (6-0-5, 23 points). The Thorns currently sit atop the league with 23 points, but will be losing six national team players during the month of July (4 USA, 1 Canada, 1 France). Sky Blue will lose two players (Kelley O’Hara and Sam Kerr) to the Olympics.
Sky Blue returns home to Yurcak on Saturday, July 9th to take on the Houston Dash.
To view photos from this match, click here.
