Sky Blue FC Drops Home Opener to Washington

Crystal Dunn works past Sky Blue Defenders (WashSpirit/Twitter)

With regional rivalries now a thing in the NWSL, it should be no surprise that Sunday’s match between Sky Blue FC and the Washington Spirit attracted an energetic crowd at Yurcak Field in New Jersey.

Both New Jersey and Washington entered the contest with a 1-0 record, claiming defeats over Seattle and Boston, respectively. The fans of the interstate rivals were excited to see the two teams face-off in the first of four meetings, including back-to-back games in July. Despite the battle on the field, the supporters of both clubs shared a sun-soaked tailgate for the Sunday contest.

After a rather evenly matched game, Ali Krieger got the scoring started in the 40th minute. The Washington defender struck a perfectly placed ball beyond the reach of Sky Blue keeper Caroline Casey. Washington threatened again minutes later as a cross from Christine Narin was deflected, but not corralled by Casey. However, Taylor Lytle was there to head the ball clear of the line.

Spirit Squadron Halftime Recap

Washington would get on the board again by a beautiful goal by Diana Matheson. Crystal Dunn played a ball in, giving Matheson a one-on-one opportunity with the Sky Blue keeper. Matheson beat Casey in nutmeg fashion and recorded the second goal of the contest.

Sky Blue started to tighten up for the remainder of the game by either limiting mistakes or finding a way to recover from them. This opened up an opportunity for Maya Hayes to get Sky Blue on the board by beating Stephanie Labbé to the ball. Labbé was just tardy of intercepting the pass from Taylor Lytle, allowing Hayes to tap the ball past the Washington keeper. New Jersey continued to challenge the Canadian goalie, but fell short of the equalizer.

After the game, Sky Blue Head Coach Christy Holly mentioned unforced errors as one of the factors that impacted the final scoreline, “We just didn’t have the quality on the ball tonight, we made too many unforced errors … our decision-making at times was either just the wrong decision, or not quick enough.” Holly also noted that the team is not fully healthy or fit. For example, Danielle Schulmann made her first appearance with the squad yesterday, being used cautiously as she recovers, “we might have been able to put her in earlier,” said Holly, “but it’s not worth finding out with a torn hamstring, so we just had to protect her a little bit, get her in there, and she did well.”

For the players on the pitch that are healthy, it will be continued focus and adjustments that Sky Blue feels will make the difference, “I would like to see improvement, only improvement and not going backwards” said rookie Midfielder Raquel Rodriguez.

Sky Blue goal scorer Maya Hayes agreed, “We just started to push the line a lot more, I feel like that’s something we didn’t do in the first half … we put that second half into a whole 90 minute game, I think that’s a completely different game.”

Holly went on to say that his team is still young, but hopes to utilize seasoned, world class veterans to continue to grow into the Sky Blue way of playing, “we know there’s more to come. The connection [is] there, the unity’s there … all is not lost in one game.”

After last night, the Washington Spirit sit atop the NWSL standings with two wins and six points. The Spirit look to remain on top as they take on the Western New York Flash (1-1-0). Sky Blue will travel to Texas and face the Houston Dash in the second Friday evening match. Both team return home May 7th. Washington will face the Portland Thorns, while Sky Blue FC is set to host Western New York.

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