Sky Blue, riding a home winning streak of three games, took on the Portland Thorns at Yurcak Field on Saturday, June 3rd.
Sky Blue’s backline saw some changes from the last few games due to injuries to both Erin Simon and Erika Skroski. Kelley O’Hara moved from attack to defense and rookie Kayla Mills filled the hole on the left side.
Sky Blue had their chances, pressuring the Thorns from the opening whistle, but Thorns goalkeeper Adrianna Franch stopped every shot that came her way, including a Sarah Killion penalty kick attempt in the 56th minute.
Meanwhile, Lindsay Horan scored twice for the Thorns in the first 45 minutes, one a diving header from Nadia Nadim’s free kick in the 20th minute, the second a redirection of a Meghan Klingenberg cross in the 42nd minute.
After the game, Christy Holly said that he’ll be taking a lot of positives away from this game despite the scoreline. He also said that Sky Blue will be making “significant changes” during the international break next weekend, and will be ready to face the Thorns again in two weeks.
Hinting at things to come, Holly said “As you see, there’s a lot of flexibility within our formation, a lot of changes and there will be a lot of changes in the coming weeks as well. One of the things we pride ourselves is we’ve got very intelligent, flexible players who can play an arrange of positions and do a range of jobs.”
After the international break next weekend, Sky Blue (4-4-1, 13 points) will travel to Portland for the second game of a home-and-home with the Thorns (4-1-3, 15 points) on June 17th.
