Crystal Dunn scored two first half goals to power the Washington Spirit past Sky Blue FC 3-1 last night at Yurcak Field in Piscataway. NJ
Dunn and Forward Franscisco Ordega were thorns in the Sky Blue side all night, using their speed and tenacity to put constant pressure on the New Jersey side and menaced goalie Brittany Cameron. Ordega was the first to press, attempting a sliding shot in the game’s fourth minute, only to see it smacked away by Cameron. This was after a shot on Spirit goalie Ashlyn Harris by Sky Blue Midfielder Katy Freels on a set by Defender Kelley O’Hara.
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Both teams played an uptempo first few minutes, but the Spirit carried that tempo throughout the first half, while the Sky Blue seemed to play flat. After the game, Sky Blue HC Jim Gabarra commented on this: “We came out flat. I thought we looked flat in the warm-ups and that’s how we came out”.
The Spirit got on the board early, in the sixth minute when Ordega spotted Dunn overlapping to her left on the run and quickly fed her, and the Spirit defender immediately struck a hard shot beyond the reach of netminder Cameron
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Sky Blue Midfielder Shawna Gordon almost helped get the equalizer, when from the left flank, she put a ball in space for O’Hara who centered it to the front of the frame. Initially, the cross was deflected to the top of the 18-yard box, where midfielder Sarah Killion hammered a shot off the top crossbar. Forward Maya Hayes then positioned herself to put a header on target, but Washington goalkeeper Ashlyn Harris was able to collect the attempt. Earlier Forward Nadia Nadim had set Hayes up beautifully, but Hayes’ shot also sailed over the goal. Both O’Hara and Freels received warnings in the first half as they tried to stunt the Spirit attack and both were part of a furious rush against Harris, culminating in a bullet by Freels, which hit the crossbar.
Dunn was able to strike again for the visiting Spirit in the 40th minute. After being delivered a well-placed feed from the midfield, Dunn ran into a 1v1 situation and fired a point blank shot that Cameron was somehow able to punch away. Dunn was there for the rebound and struck the ball into the open net. With the tally, Washington took a 2-0 lead into the locker room at intermission. “Dunn and Ordega were a handful up front,” Gabarra said after the game.
With the second half barely underway, Washington increased its advantage in the 48th minute. First, Ordega collected on the left side of the penalty area before sending a hard roller to the front of the frame, where midfielder Christine Nairn one-timed a hard shot into the back of the net.
Sky Blue FC then responded in the 62nd minute on a well-orchestrated play that started from a free kick by captain Christie Rampone in the midfield. After striking the ball forward, O’Hara continued the ball forward on a header that found the dangerous Nadim on the left side of the penalty area. Nadim then took a few touches to open up space before chipping to midfielder Katy Freels on the near post, and Freels was able to head the ball home to close the gap to 3-1.
For the entire second half, the Sky Blue seemed to intensify their tempo, especially Freels, Nadim and Hayes, a trio which seems to be generating better chemistry with each game. Defender Lindsi Cutshall also played well for the home side, however, none of them could match the constant pressure Dunn and Ordega created. Despite the increase in tempo, the Sky Blue could post no further tallies.”Washington was able to punish us tonight on the counter,” said Gabarra,“We squandered some chances throughout the game, and we need to rectify those problems going forward. As deflating as their three goals were, I give credit to our team for continuing to battle back.”.
Regarding the Spirit performance, HC Mark Parsons said: “I think we deserved a clean sheet, our front three played how we asked them to and they got goals. Through the midfield we were able to limit their ball movement and rotation which they are good at and our back four and Ashlyn Harris were superb.”
Sky Blue FC travel to Chicago next week to take on the Red Stars, while the Spirit travel to Seattle to take on the Reign.
Sky Blue FC vs. Washington Spirit
April 26, 2015 – Yurcak Field
Piscataway, New Jersey
Scoring Summary
Sky Blue FC: 0-1-1
Washington: 2-1-3
WAS 6 C.Dunn (F.Ordega)
WAS 40 C.Dunn
WAS 48 C.Nairn (F.Ordega)
SBFC 62 K.Freels (N.Nadim)
Lineups:
SBFC – B.Cameron, C.Rampone (C), K.Grubka (K.DeCesare-76), L.Cutshall, C.Levin, K.O’Hara, S.Gordon (M.Morris-60), K.Freels, S.Killion, M.Hayes, N.Nadim
Substitutes Not Used: A.Bledsoe, N.Stanton, L.LaBonta, T.Diederich
WAS: A.Harris, K.Reynolds, M.Oyster, A.Salem (J.Lohman-57), C.Nairn, F.Ordega, C.Dunn (A.DaCosta-80), A.Singer, T.Huster (C), E.Johnson, E.Banini (L.Del Rio-68)
Substitutes: C.Dydasco, W.Church, T.Weimer, K.Wys
Misconduct Summary:
None