Sky Blue FC kicked off their preseason matches with a 3-1 win over St. John’s University. They trailed behind early when Christina Bellero of St. John’s chipped the ball over goalkeeper Kailen Sheridan to get her team up one in the sixth minute. Sky Blue quickly answered back six minutes later when, after an exciting buildup, Maya Hayes one-timed the ball into the left side netting. Kelley O’Hara gave Sky Blue the lead two minutes later when Kayla Mills served the ball to a waiting O’Hara to finish nice and cleanly. The scoring would finish up in the 43rd minute thanks to Sarah Killion, who chested the ball down and hit it with the outside of her right foot to curl the ball past the keeper.
Lineup
Starting XI: Kailen Sheridan, Kayla Mills, Christie Rampone, Mandy Freeman, Erica Skroski, Sarah Killion, Raquel Rodriguez, Daphne Corboz, Kelley O’Hara, Leah Galton, Maya Hayes
Second Half Substitutions: Caroline Casey, Taylor Lytle, Nikki Stanton, Erin Simon, Dominique Richardson, Danielle Schulmann, Kelly Conheeney, Kim DeCesare, M.Tiernan, Catrina Atanda, C. Benintente
Breakers opens preseason matches strong
The Boston Breakers started their round of preseason matches on a high note Saturday afternoon, taking a 5-1 victory over Boston College. Hardly two minutes into the match, Adrianna Leon found the back of the net after finishing off Rose Lavelle’s far post cross. The Breakers continued to take threatening shots, but the Eagles were able to equalize in the 31st minute when one of their players went 1v1 with goalkeeper Abby Smith. It was 1-1 at the end of the first half, and there would be no goals until the 68th when Leon found her second goal of the day. The Breakers really went after it in the last few minutes of the game: Leon earned her hat trick in the 86th minute, New Zealand international Rosie White found the back of the net two minutes later, and draft pick Ifeoma Onumonu finished it off in the 90th minute.
Lineup:
Abby Smith (Sammy Jo Prudhomme, 46); Christen Westphal, Megan Oyster, Kylie Strom, Brooke Elby (Allysha Chapman, 62), Angela Salem, Rosie White, Rose Lavelle (Margaret Purce, 46), Natasha Dowie (Hayley Dowd, 75), Emilie Haavi (Ifeoma Onumonu, 46), Adriana Leon
Goals
BOS – Adriana Leon (Rose Lavelle) – 2’
BC – 31’
BOS – Adriana Leon (Ifeoma Onumonu) – 68’
BOS – Adriana Leon (Angela Salem) – 86’
BOS – Rosie White (Hayley Dowd) – 88’
BOS – Ifeoma Onumonu (Allysha Chapman) – 90’
Spirit entertains sellout crowd
The Washington Spirit took on the University of North Carolina in front of a sellout crowd of 2,000 in Virginia on Saturday evening. The Spirit came away with a 5-0 shutout against the decorated college program. The excitement started in the 35th minute when Line Sigvardsen Jensen chipped the ball from 40 yards out into the back of the net. They entered the second half still at 1-0 until Katie Stengel’s corner in the 49th minute found its way into the goal. From there, the Spirit just kept coming down the TarHeels’ throats. Cheyna Williams added her name to the scoresheet by slotting her shot far post. After a foul in the box, Kristie Mewis coolly placed her shot right into the goal. In the 89th minute, Mewis found Lindsay Agnew, who moved the ball around the UNC keeper to score her first goal with the Spirit.
Lineup
Stephanie Labbé, Shelina Zadorsky, Whitney Church, Kassey Kallman (Havana Solaun 67′), Line Sigvardsen Jensen (Marion Crowder 73′), Katie Stengel (Arielle Ship 54′), Joanna Lohman (Kristie Mewis 54′), Cameron Castleberry (Crystal Thomas 73′), Cheyna Williams (Lindsay Agnew, 54′), Tori Huster (Meggie Dougherty Howard 54′), Estelle Johnson (Lauren Lazo 67′)
Pride comes away with last minute win
On Saturday night, the Orlando Pride faced the University of South Florida in an exciting match that went down to the last dying minute to find a winner. The Pride was able to find themselves up one in the 11th minute when Chioma Ubogagu intercepted USF’s pass back to the keeper before slotting it into the goal for the lead. They stayed on top for the rest of the half, and a completely new starting lineup entered the match for the next 45 minutes. Despite an impressive performance from goalkeeper Aubrey Bledsoe, South Florida’s Evelyne Viens was able to level the game in the 69th minute off of a counter attack. Both sides pushed for the game-winner in the time that remained. In the 90th minute of play, draft pick Nickolette Driesse found trialist Carol Rodrigues in the box. Rodrigues made her way around the keeper before scoring the game-winning goal.
Lineups
First Half: Ashlyn Harris; Laura Alleway, Ali Krieger, Toni Pressley; Jamia Fields, Kristen Edmonds, Dani Weatherholt, Camila; Chioma Ubogagu, Sarah Hagen, Jasmyne Spencer
Second Half: Aubrey Bledsoe; Camille Levin, Alanna Kennedy, Ali Krieger (Nickolette Driesse 61’); Maddy Evans, Monica, Kristen Edmonds (Christina Burkenroad 61’), Camila (O’Brien 61’); Chioma Ubogagu (Danica Evans 61’), Jasmyne Spencer (Carol Rodrigues 61’), Rachel Hill
Goals
Ubogagu - 11’
Viens (USF) - 69’
Rodrigues - 90’
Courage wins first-ever preseason match
The North Carolina Courage took a 3-0 victory over the University of Tennessee on Saturday evening. The goals came from Jess McDonald - who scored two of them - and Lynn Williams. Both are returners for the Courage, who were previously the Western New York Flash.