Sky Blue FC, FCKC Draw in New Jersey

Sarah Killion buries the equalizer in Saturday’s match. Photo Credit: Robyn McNeil, ISI Photos

The two-time defending champions, FC Kansas City returned to Yurcak Field for the first time since the 2015 season. The 3-2 win on September 2nd marked the end of the regular season, but the beginning of the run to their second championship. It’s been a much different Kansas City team for the 2016 season. FC Kansas City, with a 1-4-2 record, currently sits towards the bottom of the NWSL standings, accruing only six points over seven weeks of play. Coming into New Jersey, Head Coach Vlatko Andonovski and his club looked to continue the momentum gained from their 2-0 win over the Orlando Pride in Week 7.

Sky Blue (2-3-2) retuned from a two week road trip that concluded with a draw in Chicago against the first place Red Stars. The New Jersey club continues to deal with roster changes and injury. Recently acquired goalkeeper Erin Nayler has left the club. The New Zealand National Team player alluded to experiencing disappointment with her professional experience on Twitter and the club has not released any official comments. Additionally, Maya Hayes (MCI sprain), Danielle Schulman (Hamstring, 45-day disabled list) and Tasha Kai (left foot injury) were injured during the 2-game road stretch. Tasha Kai was active during practice leading up to the match, but Hayes and Schulmann were not available for the match.

Each team came into Saturday’s match wanting to maintain the momentum from their last match, as well as claim a much needed victory to collect 3 points. Early in the match, Jersey native Heather O’Reilly looked to counter New Jersey’s aggressive attack on the left side and find open space when Kelley O’Hara pushed up. However, Christie Rampone and company were there to recover. Sky Blue got the first good look of the night on a header that struck the crossbar and appeared to have crossed the line.

Sky Blue FC looks to have scored against FC Kansas City (NWSL/YouTube)

Fifteen minutes into the match, rookie defender Erica Skroski offered a service that found the head of Kim DeCesare. The ball deflected off the fingertips of Kansas City keeper of Nicole Barnhart, tapping the crossbar before aggressively bouncing down. Defender Becky Sauerbrunn was there to boot the ball out of bounds and play resumed. Video from the YouTube feed suggests that FC Kansas City likely got away with one. Sky Blue continued to attack, earning five corner kicks and several more free kick opportunities.

However, it would be FC Kansas City that got on the board first. Heather O’Reilly headed a feed from Alexa Newfield that found the feet of Erika Tymrak. Tymrak recollected the ball and passed to Shea Groom who beat Caroline Stanley with a one touch shot from the top of the 18 yard box. Sky Blue FC would tie the game after Sarah Killion’s successful penalty kick in the 30th minute. New Jersey was awarded the penalty when O’Reilly took down Kelley O’Hara in an attempt to defend against what looked to be a dangerous free kick opportunity for Sky Blue FC. The 1st half closed out with a goal apiece.

While Sky Blue had the advantage on corner kicks (5-0) and shots on goal (4-3) in the first half, FC Kansas City had more quality attempts in the 2nd half with more shots (5-1) and corner kicks (7-0). However, neither team was able to find the go-ahead goal, and the teams had to settle for a draw and a point. Although neither team could afford a defeat, neither team was completely satisfied with one point.

(NWSL/YouTube)

After the match, veteran Heather O’Reilly felt there were positives for this game, as well as for the season, “We’re just continuing to find ways to generate chances,” stated O’Reilly. However, when looking at the standings, one might be surprised to see the two-time champions at the bottom of the standings and struggling to find points. To that end, O’Reilly stated, “we haven’t lost by more than a goal in this first third of the season or so … we lost a big core of the team last year so we knew that this was gonna take some time. Obviously, you don’t want to continue to keep saying that, but we saw a lot of progress, especially in the last 35 minutes.”

Sky Blue Head Coach Christy Holly also saw progress with his team, but felt the level of consistency was missing from Saturday’s performance, “I thought the first 15 minutes were fantastic, then we took the foot off [and] let them in. Then we scored, but it on for the next 8-10 minutes, then dropped off again … there’s still a lot to go, but I think it’s a measure of this team that we’re disappointed with a 1-1 tie.”

FC Kansas City will travel to Texas to take on the Houston Dash on Sunday, June 19th. Sky Blue FC also returns to action on Sunday when they host the Seattle Reign.

Follow Erica Ayala on Twitter @elindsay08