Sky Blue FC’s seven game unbeaten streak, dating back to last season, ended at the hands of Crystal Dunn and the Washington Spirit on Sunday, March 26th at Yurcak Field. This was the Spirit’s first win against Sky Blue, which head coach Mark Parsons discussed post-game. “We needed this. When you change records like that, as a club, it shows that you’re on a good path. It gives us momentum.”
Parsons also mentioned that the team that was on the field in this game will essentially be his team through the World Cup, as Ali Krieger was still out after her week one concussion she suffered against Houston. The Spirit will be without Krieger and goalkeeper Ashlyn Harris after this week through the end of the World Cup in July. He noted that the Spirit have a deal in place regarding Nigerian forward Francisca Ordega, who will remain with the Spirit for a few more games before joining the Nigerian team in World Cup preparation. Otherwise, most of the team that took the field Sunday night will remain intact.
Sky Blue came out flat, noted head coach Jim Gabarra, which he noticed while the team was warming up and stated that he gave his “halftime speech” before the game. “I thought the first few minutes we were good, and when we conceded on a counter we took a big step back with our energy level and didn’t react very well.”
The Spirit struck early, with Crystal Dunn continuing her hot streak by scoring goals in the sixth and 40th minutes. “[Scoring goals] is always exciting. It’s a good feeling for me, it’s a great team performance and I couldn’t have done it without my teammates. I don’t go into the these games thinking I have to score to have a great performance, my role on this team is to cause havoc and whatever happens happens. I really enjoy playing my role.”
This is Sky Blue’s second disappointing contest in a row, having drawn with Houston last weekend in a game that was there for the taking, after opening the season with a promising win over defending champions FC Kansas City. Nadia Nadim and Maya Hayes had multiple chances against Ashlyn Harris, but failed to put the ball into the net. Midfielder Sarah Killion almost scored in the 32nd minute, but her shot was a touch too high and went off of the crossbar.
When asked if he considered moving Kelley O’Hara from left back up to forward, Gabarra admitted that they had discussed it at halftime but they did not want to move to a three-back system, which they had not practiced.
On a positive note, for both Sky Blue and US Women’s National Team fans, captain Christie Rampone went the full 90 minutes in this game and looked better than she did against Houston. She made mention of having more mobility in her knee, which was heavily wrapped last weekend and not wrapped at all in this game.
Sky Blue’s road does not look to get any easier after this game, as they lose their allocated players and take to the road against Chicago next weekend. Chicago will still have their allocated players due to only playing two games as opposed to most other teams having already played three games.
“I’ve seen [going to Chicago without O’Hara and Rampone] coming for a long time, so you go with what you’ve got and play,” said Gabarra. It’s an opportunity for other players to show that they’re at a level to compete with that roster,” which will feature Christen Press and Julie Johnston, and perhaps Canadian goalkeeper Karina LeBlanc.
One player that should return to the Sky Blue lineup is Taylor Lytle, who broke her leg and tore her meniscus in a game last season. “We could’ve pushed her to be available today, but all along the plan has been for her to be available for next week [at Chicago]. She looked very good in training, I just didn’t feel she was ready for tonight.”
After returning from Chicago, Sky Blue will face the Seattle Reign, who will be without Hope Solo and Megan Rapinoe but will still have their team largely intact, due to Jess Fishlock’s and Kim Little’s respective countries not qualifying for the World Cup.
Sky Blue will face the Chicago Red Stars at Benedictine University on Saturday, May 6th.
