Tag: Washington Spirit

Photo Courtesy of BDZ Sports

NWSL Players of the Week: September 16th – 29th

The first player of the week, or double week really is Sam Kerr who plays for the Chicago Red Stars. On Saturday September 21st, Kerr tallied two goals against the Washington Spirit in an important 3-1 win for the Red Stars. The two goals were Kerr’s 17th and 18th of the season which breaks the season goal-scoring record. Kerr’s 17th goal tied her own record and then her second of the game broke it. The Australian attacker has scored five goals over her last five matches.

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It only took Kerr nine minutes to tie her record after she chipped a delightful finish over the Spirit goalkeeper and into the far corner from a tight angle. Katlyn Johnson was credited with the assist. Kerr then broke her record in the 49th minute when Yuki Nagasato used the outside of her foot to deliver a through ball down the left side right into the path of Kerr who then cut in and fired back into the near post beating the goalkeeper easily. The 3-1 win was Chicago’s fourth in a row before they went on to make the streak five in a 2-1 win over the Utah Royals. The five-game winning streak has slingshotted the Red Stars into second place only two points back of the first place North Carolina Courage. The Red Stars have finished all of their regular season matches and have secured a second-place seeding for the postseason.

Due to the recent play of Kerr she was awarded the NWSL Player of the Month, league officials announced on Wednesday.

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The second player of the week comes in the form of goalkeeping greatness from Aubrey Bledsoe who plays for the Washington Spirit. The Spirit goalkeeper was up to the task when she tallied seven saves against the offensive powerhouse and first placed North Carolina Courage. The Courage have been on a tear lately scoring sixteen goals in their four previous games. Bledsoe came up big, time and time again in the Spirit’s 2-1 win over the visiting North Carolina Courage on Saturday September 28th. The win gave the sixth placed Spirit a chance to still make the playoffs. Other results around the league have since ended that possibility, but the performance from Bledsoe could not be discredited. The win ended a six game winning streak for the Courage.

In the 21st minute Bledsoe was called into action when a Courage corner kick fell to Debinha on the far side. Bledsoe reacted quickly to Debinha’s shot and was able to direct the rebound out of danger.

In the 38th minute it was Lynn Williams this time that was denied by Bledsoe from close range as she did a tremendous job to close down on Williams and keep the score knotted at 0-0. Bledsoe denied Williams again in the 65th minute when she got her angles just right in order to keep the ball out of the net. Over the course of 22 games Bledsoe has been able to tally eight clean sheets. The Washington Spirit are next in action on Saturday, October 5th when they travel to Orlando to take on the Pride.

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The last player of the week is rookie Bethany Balcer who scored in yet another game for the Seattle Reign. Balcer has now scored six goals on the season, but has been on fire lately with three goals in her last four matches. Her goal was the second of two as the Reign picked up an impressive 2-0 win against the Portland Thorns who have been out of form as of late. The victory for the Reign has secured them the last remaining postseason spot and gives them the opportunity to finish as high as third considering they win their final match and Portland loses or draws. The victory was an important one as it ensures the Reign a place in the postseason. Jodie Taylor tallied the other goal on the day.

In the 81st minute of play Balcer received a pass with her back to goal from about 14 yards away. The defender was not tight, which allowed Balcer time to turn, cut in quickly onto her left foot and rifle a low dipping shot into the right corner catching the Thorns goalkeeper out at her near post. The swiftness with which Balcer snapped the shot on frame seem to cause a late reaction from the Thorns goalkeeper and Balcer wheeled away to celebrate. Balcer will be a player to watch as the Reign move forward into their last game of the season and into the postseason. The Reign are next in action on Saturday, October 12th when they travel to Orlando to take on the Pride in their last regular season match-up.

All remaining matches can be seen on the YAHOO! Sports Network.

Photo Courtesy of Reign FC

NWSL Player Spotlight: Megan Oyster

The World Cup is over which leaves all the focus turned to the NWSL. The players from the UWSNT and other World Cup teams are on various clubs all throughout the league. But just because Alex Morgan, Carli Lloyd or Rose Lavelle might not be playing that night or for a specific team does not mean you should not still tune in. The NWSL is flooded with talent and we have created a weekly series that looks at players in the NWSL who did not go to France this summer, but could very well turn into your new favorite player. Next up in our series is Megan Oyster.

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When looking at top players people often turn to statistics and specifically score sheets. But that really favors the offensive players who contribute goals and assists. So what about the defenders who make bruising tackles, goal saving stops and the initial passes for goal sequences? The stat sheet does not tell their full story, but players like Megan Oyster deserve a lot of the credit for their team’s success.

She has been a part of the NWSL since 2015 when she was drafted by the Washington Spirit. She played every match for the Spirit in her first year and was named Newcomer of the Year and Defender of the Year for the club. However, after her second season Oyster was traded to the Boston Breakers. She played two seasons for the Breakers before the team folded and Oyster was selected by Reign FC in the Breakers Dispersal Draft.

Since joining the Reign, Oyster has started all but three games and only been subbed off twice. Last season the Reign, with the help of Oyster, had a league tying record of 12 clean sheets and only gave up 21 goals.

Defenders have to be precise with their tackles and clear the ball out of the defense without harming the offensive player. For the Reign, Oyster has averaged a 76.1% success rate for her tackles and only committed 28 fouls with zero yellow cards. When Oyster goes in for a tackle she ensures she is going to get the ball.

Not only does Oyster tackle efficiently she also has key clearances to keep the offense from even getting close to scoring a goal. She is instrumental on set pieces and can knock the ball out of harm with a quick touch.

The month of June meant no national team members in the NWSL with the World Cup going on. Oyster shined for the Reign and earned herself on the NWSL Team of the Month for June.

Oyster has played in all of the games this season for the Reign and has played a full 90 minutes in 13 straight matches. She is the team’s workhorse intercepting 31 passes this year with 12 blocks. Oyster is a true defender who understands her main role is to guard the goal and not attack the other team’s net. She has only scored four goals in her NWSL career, but has certainly stopped plenty of others from going in.

The Reign have been riddled with injuries this season. They currently have six players with season ending injuries and five more players listed as out for their upcoming game. Even with the injuries the Reign are in fourth place and just four points out from first place. Thanks large in part to Oyster the Reign have given up the fourth fewest goals all season, but their offense has scored the second fewest amount of goals.

Their next game happens to be against Sky Blue, the NWSL team with fewest amount of goals scored. This game will most likely not be high scoring, but Oyster and company will ensure the fans see plenty of defensive stops.

All eyes should be peeled to the match that had to be moved to Red Bull Arena, home of the MLS team, the New York Red Bulls, to accommodate all of the fans. Sky Blue is hoping for a lower bowl sellout and quite possibly their highest fan attendance in club history. The two teams will kickoff on Sunday at 1 pm ET on ESPNEWS

Photo Courtesy of James Smed

NWSL Player Spotlight: Aubrey Bledsoe

The World Cup is over which leaves all the focus turned to the NWSL. The players from the UWSNT and other World Cup teams are on various clubs all throughout the league. But just because Alex Morgan, Carli Lloyd or Rose Lavelle might not be playing that night or for a specific team does not mean you should not still tune in. The NWSL is flooded with talent and we have created a weekly series that looks at players in the NWSL who did not go to France this summer, but could very well turn into your new favorite player. Next up in our series is Aubrey Bledsoe.

Often times goalkeepers can be an afterthought since they are not a field player, but for arguably the best goalkeeper in the league it seemed fitting she would be one of the first player spotlights. Bledsoe is only one of three goalkeepers to play every minute so far in this NWSL season for her club. Most teams have rotated keepers whether it’s because of injury or World Cup duty, but the Washington Spirit are selfishly happy Bledsoe is not on a national team roster.

Bledsoe has been with the Spirit since she was traded ahead of the 2018 season by the Orlando Pride. She was limited in her time with the Pride since they had USWNT keeper, Ashlyn Harris. The move to the Spirit gave Bledsoe the starting role and the ability to prove she is one of the bests. Bledsoe broke the single season save record in 2018 with 108 saves. She also only conceded 30 goals in the 21 games she was in net for Washington.

2018 saw Bledsoe rise as a top goalkeeper and 2019 has proven she can stay at the top for years to come. She has been awarded Player of the Week twice this season, and understand that is not keeper of the week that is Player of the Week honors. The month of June was the month for players who did not go over to the World Cup to showcase they are elite and deserve to be in this league when the national team players return. What better way to demonstrate that than being named the best in your position for the month? Bledsoe did just that as the goalkeeper for the June NWSL Team of the Month, voted on by the NWSL Media Association.

Point blank saves seem to be a specialty of Bledsoe. She has minimal time to react and the percentage of scoring greatly increases for the attacker, but her relentless pursuit to keep the ball out of her net defies the odds over and over again.

In case a single point blank save is not enough here is one more that earned her Save of the Week just last week.

It might seem like an overstatement, but Bledsoe is the reason the Spirit are still in the hunt for the playoffs. Their offense has been lackluster at times only scoring 19 goals compared to the top three teams in the league with 30, 31 and 26 respectively. Take those low amount of goals and put them next to just the 14 goals Bledsoe has conceded all season and you can see why. Those 14 goals given up is tied for least allowed with the Utah Royals and when stacked up against the top three teams they have allowed 15, 20 and 19 respectively.

The Spirit’s 6-5-3 record is good enough for fifth place and seven points out of first place. In their five losses all but one has been decided by one goal, the exception was only a two goal difference. Bledsoe keeps the Spirit in the game.

She has a league best 55 saves and is only allowing an average of one goal a game. That average is third among goalkeepers who have played at least 10 games this season.

It is hard to imagine the Washington Spirit without Bledsoe in goal and supporters of the club do not want to think about what their record and goals against would look like without her. Luckily, Bledsoe looks in top form and is not slowing down anytime soon.

If you want to see Bledsoe for yourself you can watch the Washington Spirit host the Chicago Red Stars later today at 7pm ET on Yahoo! Sports. Today might be her greatest test since the Red Stars have the league leading goal scorer in Sam Kerr. The best offensive player vs the best goalkeeper, what more could you want?