Let it never be said that there were no reasons to be optimistic after the USWNT’s alarming loss to France last Sunday, even if it took a little while to locate the silver lining.
For one, and this cannot be over-emphasized, France looked fabulous and seems like they’re ready to shake loose the accusation that they can’t stand up to the pressure of being one of the world’s best. Despite a disappointing tournament record, the French, ranked 3rd in the world, have been impressive for a while, and have been playing an attractive, fluid style of soccer for years. They seem to have cleared the last hurdle, referred to by members of Les Bleues as a “mental block” that shows up on the biggest stages.
To me, outside of the fact that Becky Sauerbrunn may be an actual superhero, the other bright spot of the match was the genuinely solid work between the posts done by Ashlyn Harris (WAS). She’s been under-appreciated and too often referred to as a mere stand-in for Hope Solo, which discourages an objective analysis of her performance.
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The only expression that has ever really felt appropriate to describe Ashlyn Harris in goal is “flying squirrel.” I’m being completely serious. She takes a great deal of pride in her fearlessness, and has a bit of the sweeper keeper style in her game. Big games do not frighten Harris, who has won three NCAA championships with the UNC Tar Heels, as well as a U-19 World Cup for the United States. Take a look at this montage of her saves from the Washington Spirit’s turnaround 2014 season (my absolute favorite comes at around 4:39):
It’s only in the past few years that followers of the national team are getting a steady look at Harris, who hadn’t appeared in goal for the US much since her graduation from the U-21s. A player well-known for her personality and proclivity for body art, Ashlyn Harris may well be one of the more underrated keepers in the pool. A string of injuries and mixed perceptions of her ability left her out of the rotation for the 2011 World Cup cycle, and the highly capable Nicole Barnhart and once-promising Jillian Loyden left Harris stuck in the club scene. That said, she and Alyssa Naeher (BOS) have been standouts throughout the WPS and have been among the elite NWSL keepers.
But I’m making a case for Harris to start the next few games (maybe even the entire Algarve Cup tournament), and it’s going to start with her most recent performance against a gun-slinging French team.
The first score was an utter breakdown of defensive responsibilities. The flank play was consistently outpaced throughout the first half, as well as for the first few minutes of the second, including a potential giveaway by diminutive right back Klingenberg (who usually plays on the left) that Harris thankfully intercepted. But just a few minutes later, Kling loses her mark in the box, a goal-thirsty Le Sommer who casually heads in a lovely ball. Thomis, who delivers the service, just beats a much slower Chalupny, playing in only her fourth-ever match for the US at the left back position.
It’s often said that there’s no more dangerous time in a football match than in the minutes immediately following a goal. The second goal by Houara, coming about 90 seconds after Le Sommer’s header, actually reminded me a lot of the weirdly excellent French goal scored right over and past Solo in the semifinals of 2011’s World Cup, when Bompastor looped what may well have been a cross to an onside Thiney, well-marked by Rampone and Sauerbrunn. No one could get to it, including Thiney or Solo.
Similarly, Houara’s ball into the box just catches the US defense on its heels. It looked for all the world like a cross that was headed out-of-bounds, and in trying to lock down the near post, Harris just can’t get back fast enough to adjust once the ball began to curve into the far post.
The US should actually be pretty thankful for only two French goals. There’s a decent chance that, absent a keeper of Harris’ caliber, the final score would have been 3 or 4 to zero. Between a lack of capitalization on opportunities that the French defense coughed up, a porous midfield, and rather ineffective team defense, I’m comfortable saying that we were always going to lose to France. Harris was a huge part of the difference in the scoreline (second only to Budweiser Woman of the Match Sauerbrunn), making two acrobatic saves that allowed the US offense to get good looks at goal without the pressure of being down a score in the first half.
Consider that stylistically, she has quite a bit in common with her French counterpart, Sarah Bouhaddi: both keepers make daring, game-saving choices, and both have been occasionally burned on their 50-50 decision-making. The biggest difference? Bouhaddi is sitting on the confidence that comes from nearly 90 caps.
Solo may or may not come back as the number one option in goal for the US; when she does return, the time off may have hindered her match fitness. This opportunity is great prep for Harris, who could break ten caps before the WWC if Solo warms the bench through the Algarve Cup tournament. Should Solo come back and need to fight for what was once her uncontested spot, then the more international minutes in goal for Harris, the more solid she’ll look as we go into June. It will help tremendously if the coaching staff gives her a stronger back line than was fielded for the first half of Sunday’s match, perhaps with the battle-tested O’Hara and world-class Krieger as the respective left and right backs.
The USWNT (likely with Harris in net) next takes on American-born keeper Karen Bardsley and sixth-ranked England in their last friendly abroad before this Summer’s World Cup on Friday, February 13th. The match starts at 3pm EST, and will be aired on Fox Sports 1.
Next: USWNT Needs Win against England