NWSL Season Begins, Week 1 Recap.
Washington Spirit Celebrate Week 1 Win Over Boston (WashingtonSpirit/Twitter)
The 2016 NWSL season kicked off an historic fourth season with an entertaining opening weekend.
It began with the Boston Breakers visiting the Washington Spirit in a defensive battle in DC. The Houston Dash scored three in their first ever win over the Chicago Red Stars. The biggest upset on the weekend came, as Sky Blue FC became the first team to win against Seattle Reign FC at home, ending the Reign’s 22 game home unbeaten run. Check out the recap of each game below:
Washington Spirit 1 vs. Boston Breakers 0 Final
The first match of the 2016 National Women’s Soccer League season was a huge success, the Spirit earned a full three points in a 1-0 win over the Boston Breakers Saturday. In the 3rd minute Midfielder Joanna Lohman executed a beautiful bicycle kick to give the Spirit a 1-0 win over the Boston Breakers.
Houston Dash 3 vs. Chicago Red Stars 1 Final The Houston Dash opened their 2016 NWSL season with an impressive 3-1 victory over the Chicago Red Stars, it was the first time the Dash beat the Red Stars in club history. The action started with forward Christen Press of Chicago scoring in the 13th minute after a miscue by the Dash defense. Houston would respond as rookie, Rachel Daly would rifle one past Red Stars keeper Alyssa Naeher nine minutes later. The first half ended 1-1 but the second belong to the Dash as Daly, would find Carli Lloyd in the box for a header to give Houston a 2-1 lead. Three minutes later Jenine Beckie would make it 3-1 and the Dash would not look back.
FC Kansas City 0 vs. Western New York Flash 1 Final The WNY Flash finished last season seventh in the league standings but are determined to make a run deeper into the season than they are use to. It all started Saturday night as the Flash battled to a 1-0 victory over back-to-back NWSL Champions FC Kansas City. Sam Mewis converted on a penalty kick in the 72th minute after a handball was called on FC Kansas City’s Becky Sauerbrunn, in the box.
Seattle Reign FC 1 vs. Sky Blue FC 2 Final
In the most entertaining match of the weekend, the Seattle Reign FC and Sky Blue FC gave NWSL fans everywhere the game of the year so far. Opening up their season with a load of new faces, Sky Blue FC went into Memorial Stadium and handed the Reign their first loss at home in 23 games. Natasha Kai in her return to the professional game scored the first goal for Sky Blue, and fans excited with her quality play throughout the match. Forward Merritt Mathias would tie the game in he second half with a phenomenal play by Kim Little and Jessica Fishlock to create the opportunity. Kelly Conheeney, who battled back from concussion symptoms and had to tryout to make the team, hit the game-winner in the second half. Conheeny was invited to play after her session and even made it on to the roster as a starter for this young Sky Blue team. SBFC would hold on to win 2-1.
Portland Thorns FC 2 vs. Orlando Pride 1 Final
In another exciting match up the newcomers in the Orlando Pride visited Portland Thorns FC in the last match of the weekend Sunday night. Orlando would jump to an early lead in front of over 16,000 fans at Providence Park. Tobin Heath had herself a game picking up a pair of assist to help guide a comeback for the Thorns. Dagny Brynjarsdottir scored the equalizer and Lindsey Horan gave Portland the lead which they would not surrender the rest of the game.
Follow Luis Sanchez on Twitter @Luis_MyW
