[NWSL REWIND: Week 15] The gap between first and second place is back to one point and
between first and fourth is five as the Western New York Flash beat NWSL leader Sky Blue FC, 3-0, and the Portland Thorns FC rallied to win, 2-1, at the Boston Breakers.
The Flash has now
handed Sky Blue three of its four losses this season.
Abby Wambach, who is tied with Boston's
Sydney Leroux
for the league scoring lead with 10 goals, assisted on goals by
Carli Lloyd and
Samantha Kerr and was involved in the
play that resulted in the other Flash goal scored by
Brittany Taylor. Sky Blue FC's two Australian stars,
Lisa De Vanna and
Caitlin Foord, both left the game with injuries in the first half.
-- Midfielder
Meleana Shim scored the game-winning goal in the 86th minute and
Alex Morgan added a goal and an assist for the Thorns in
front of a sellout crowd 2,978 at Dilboy Stadium. The goal was Morgan’s team-leading sixth of the season and her first goal in a month and a half.
Portland improved its league-best
road record to 5-1-2 and earned its first come-from-behind win of the season.
Saturday ... FC Kansas City extended its undefeated
streak to seven games thanks to a 2-0 win over Seattle Reign FC on goals by
Lauren Holiday and rookie
Erika Tymrak. The
result ended Reign FC's six-game unbeaten streak.
Holiday, the former Lauren Cheney who is married to NBA All-Star point guard
Jrue Holiday,
collected a pass across the top of the penalty box from Tymrak and hit a hard line-drive shot across the goal to the far side of the net for a 1-0 halftime lead to the delight of the 5,271 fans at
Verizon Wireless Field.
Tymrak added an insurance goal -- her sixth goal of the season -- when she collected a throw-in from
Jen Buczkowski and
dribbled through four Seattle defenders before curling a shot around the outstretched arms of
Hope Solo.
-- An own goal by
Tiffany McCarty, moving from her usual forward position to make an emergency start in the injury-ravaged Spirit defense, gave the Chicago Red Stars a 1-0 win over the
Washington Spirit, now winless in 10 straight matches.
U.S. national team defender
Ali Krieger did not travel with the Spirit while she continues
to be evaluated for concussion symptoms, and Canadian center back
Candace Chapman was a late scratch due to a right knee strain.
NWSL RESULTS, Week 15
Sunday, July 21 Western NY 3 Sky Blue FC 0
Boston 1
Portland 2
Saturday, July 20 Chicago 1 Washington 0
Kansas
City 2 Seattle 0
NWSL STANDINGS
PTS TEAM W-L-T +/- 31 Sky Blue FC 9-4-4 25/18
30 Portland 9-4-3 21/15
28 FC Kansas City 8-4-4 26/17
26 Western NY 7-4-5 28/17
22 Chicago 6-6-4 20/23
20 Boston 5-6-5 24/24
15 Seattle 4-10-3 16/28
7 Washington 1-11-4 11/29
NWSL LEADING SCORERS G
PLAYER (TEAM) 10 Abby Wambach (Western NY)
10 Sydney Leroux (Boston)
9+1 Lauren Holiday (FC Kansas City)
6+1 Alex Morgan (Portland)
6+1 Erika Tymrak (FC Kansas
City)
6 Sophie Schmidt (Sky Blue FC)
6 Diana Matheson (Washington)
NWSL SCHEDULE, Week 16
Wednesday, July 24 FC Kansas City vs. Boston
Thursday, July
25 Seattle vs. Chicago
Saturday, July 27 Washington vs. Boston
Sunday, July 28
Portland vs. Chicago
(Click
here for information on NWSL streaming.)
Confidence through mental toughness the difference often the difference from 1st to 2nd. How often do we see the mental game shining through when all other things are equal?