On “Welcome Back Weekend” in the NWSL, it was Sky Blue’s newest addition that gave them their first win since the first weekend of the season. Australian Sam Kerr, who joined the team in Portland last week but had to sit and wait for her paperwork to be completed, practiced with the team for the first time on Friday and scored the game’s lone goal on Saturday.
“Maya [Hayes] got it and to her credit she put in a great cross and I kind of just had to tap it in and that’s what I did,” Kerr said of her goal, which she headed past Thorns keeper Michelle Betos. Kerr had high praise for her new teammates, saying “I’ve only played with Caitlin [Foord] before, but I’ve watched these girls a lot and I know a lot of them, so it’s quite easy. They’re a really great bunch of girls and they made me feel welcome.”
The addition of Kerr and Foord injected life into the Sky Blue lineup and Kerr paired up top with Nadia Nadim gave defenders someone else to focus on so Nadim had more space to move around. Sky Blue coach Jim Gabarra said that Nadim “looked more dangerous tonight than she has all year. Obviously you put faster players, players that are going to draw defenders away around her, like Sam and hopefully eventually Kelley [O’Hara], that’s going to create more one-on-one opportunities for her.” Gabarra went on to say that although the returning US players would be away most of the week (the entire USWNT will attend the ESPY awards later this week), he expects them to rejoin the team in New York and play next Sunday.
Despite the speed of forward Ayo, Portland was unable to put any goals past Brittany Cameron. Cameron made at least one standout save, when she leapt and forced the ball back over the crossbar and out for a corner kick in the second half. Portland pushed until the end, even bringing goalkeeper Michelle Betos into the Sky Blue box at the very end of the game, trying to recapture the magic from a few weeks ago when she scored the equalizer against FC Kansas City in an almost identical situation.
Thorns head coach Paul Riley laughed when asked about Betos being in the box again, saying “We’ve done it five or six times this year. It’s not always going to work, maybe once in 35 years… That’s what it did for me, once in 35 years.”
Riley acknowledged that he has a rough road ahead of him trying to re-integrate nine players who have been with their national teams almost all season and tipped his hat to the amateur players who have filled in for them in their absence. He stated that he wishes he could sign them and that the Thorns have been working on placing them with teams overseas so they can continue to improve and perhaps return next season to battle for a roster spot in the NWSL.
One player that Riley may not have to integrate into his lineup for another few weeks is US forward Alex Morgan. He declined to comment specifically on her health or what may be ailing her, but admitted that she won’t be playing next week. Despite that, Thorns fans can look forward to the addition of all other international players next week when they take on the Seattle Reign.
Sky Blue may have a tough path to the playoffs, still sitting in ninth place with 10 points, but as Gabarra said, “The path is there. As long as they believe it, they keep getting results. You don’t want to go say ‘Hey, you can’t lose this game.’ You just want to keep the momentum going. We’ve been playing well, we just haven’t gotten results.”
Sky Blue (10 points, 2-6-4) heads to Western New York next Sunday, July 19th, to take on the Flash at 3 p.m. The Flash are currently in fifth place, just out of playoff position, with 14 points and a 4-5-2 record. A Sky Blue win next week is crucial to their playoff hopes, a loss to the Flash and Sky Blue will most likely be unable to close the gap in the table.
After they return from New York, Sky Blue will face the struggling Boston Breakers at home in New Jersey on Saturday, July 25th.
