Sky Blue FC continued their losing streak last night. In a 4-1 defeat to Seattle Reign, defensive gaps and a lackadaisical offense lead Sky Blue to their worst loss of the season so far.
Once again, Sky Blue didn’t start the game off well. After the first half, Sky Blue had only 3 shots, compared to Seattle’s 15. It was clear who the dominant team was.
Sky Blue needs to change their pace and start their next game against North Carolina Courage off stronger than they have in the past. So far Sky Blue has conceded at least one goal in the first half of every game this season, compared to Seattle who has scored at least one goal in the first half of every game so far.
The scoring started fast, in the fifth minute, when, after a quick throw-in, Seattle’s Megan Rapinoe played a through-ball to Stephanie Catley who sent a cross to an un-marked Jodie Taylor at the top of the six-yard box. Taylor headed the ball across the face of the goal to put Seattle up early.
Then we had to wait until the 38th minute for Seattle to score again. Catley sent the ball, intending to hit Jessica Fishlock, but Sky Blue FC’s Erica Skroski blocked the ball from reaching its target. Instead, the ball bounced toward Rapinoe, who takes a touch and then launched a curling shot to the upper 90 of the far post.
The next goal didn’t come until the 60th minute when Seattle’s Nahomi Kawasumi switched the ball to the left-side of the field and Rapinoe picked it up. Rapinoe took the ball a few feet into the 18-yard box, where she hit a rocket of a shot into the far post.
Sky Blue FC finally had enough and took the fight to Seattle. Only two minutes later, in the 62nd minute, Rapinoe lost the ball to Sky Blue FC’s Savannah McCaskill and, after some quick passing play, Carli Lloyd passed the ball back to McCaskill who launched the ball to the upper 90 of the far post, finally putting Sky Blue on the scoreboard.
In the 84th minute, Seattle sat Sky Blue down with the last goal of the game. Starting with a corner from Kawasumi to Maddie Bauer, Bauer sent a shot, just hitting the fast post. After a scramble for the ball, Allie Long tapped the ball behind Kailen Sheridan. Seattle finished the game as strong as they started.
Defensively, Sky Blue FC left a lot of gaps open for Seattle to take advantage of. Seattle was able to slot balls through and make runs into these gaps, leaving Sky Blue’s defenders flatfooted. Also, Sky Blue needs to focus on making sure every woman is marked. Too many times, much like the first goal in this game, an opposing player will be wide open for a cross.
Sky Blue isn’t aggressive enough offensively. They take too long to start making runs and that results in the opposition being able to freely press the backline. When Sky Blue is aggressive, usually in the second half, they can become a real threat. Especially with key players like Carli Lloyd, Katie Johnson, and Savannah McCaskill. They need to start pushing the ball forward as soon as they can because they have individually skilled players, they just haven’t been able to figure out a system that will work yet.
