Originally published on July 21, 2014
Sky Blue FC notched a commanding 4-2 victory over the Washington Spirit yesterday.
The Spirit traveled to New Jersey with a pressing need to secure crucial playoff points. Not only did the Spirit fail to take any points from the game, but Sky Blue FC won in a thoroughly convincing manner. The win is a bright spot in an otherwise trying season for Sky Blue FC.
Sky Blue struck first in the 22nd minute as recently signed Sky Blue FC forward Nadia Nadim found fellow forward Kelley O’Hara just in front of an open Spirit goal. O’Hara finished the simple opportunity to give Sky Blue FC a 1-0 advantage.
O’Hara created another scoring opportunity for her club in the 36th minute as she stole the ball on the left side of the Spirit penalty box. O’Hara connected with Sophie Schmidt’s overlapping run and Schmidt blasted a shot past Spirit goalkeeper Ashlyn Harris.
The 2-0 scoreline held for nearly 50 minutes until Sky Blue further extended their lead to 3-0 in the 82nd minute. Yet again O’Hara set up the play that led to the Sky Blue goal. This time she sent in a perfectly weighted through-ball to Nadim who evaded several Spirit defenders before getting off a well struck ball that sailed past Harris.
Just two minutes later, a defensive miscue from Spirit defender Tori Huster lead to a fourth goal for Sky Blue FC. Huster’s failed clearance was intercepted by Jonelle Filigno. Filigno dumped the ball to O’Hara on her left who sent in a blistering strike to give her club a 4-0 lead.
Trailing by four goals with only 16 minutes, plus stoppage, time remaining, the Spirit committed major numbers forward and managed to nick two goals.
In the 88th minute, the Spirit earned a corner kick that Sky Blue wasn’t able to clear from in front of their net. Jodie Taylor capitalized on the opportunity and tapped it in to earn the first Spirit goal of the match.
The Spirit managed to score once more when, in the 90th minute, Veronica Perez found Robyn Gayle who headed the ball from Perez past Jill Loyden to bring the scoreline to 4-2.
The Spirit’s late scoring surge was too little too late and the DC based club gave up 3 essential playoff points. The loss to Sky Blue is especially damaging to their playoff hopes considering the Spirit only managed a draw against the Dash on Thursday.
The Spirit have an extremely quick turnaround as they face the red hot Portland Thorns FC on Wednesday at home. The match will be their third in seven days.
The Spirit face a daunting final five matches as they attempt to earn a spot in the playoffs. The Spirit will have to play Portland Thorns, FC Kansas City, Chicago Red Stars, Seattle Reign FC, and Sky Blue FC.
Sky Blue FC (4-7-7) currently sits 7th in the league and will face FC Kansas City on the road next Sunday July 27th at 7 PM Easter. The Washington Spirit (8-8-3) fell to fourth in the league following their loss and Portland’s 6-3 win over the Boston Breakers. The Spirit will play the Thorns on Wednesday at 7 PM.