The Western New York Flash halted Sky Blue FC’s winning streak in emphatic fashion over the weekend, comfortably defeating them 3-0 on their home field in New Jersey.
Sky Blue FC vs. Western New York Flash: Final Score 0-3, The Flash end Sky Blue’s win streak
In front of their home crowd, the top team in the league could not continue their five consecutive win streak as they lost 3-0 to WNYF for the second time this season.
Sky Blue’s hopes of securing a clean sheet were lost four minutes into the game when Samantha Kerr stole the lead with her game winning goal. Towards the end of the first half, Carli Lloyd recorded her first goal of the season with an unassisted powerful strike into the upper corner of the net. The Flash dictated the tempo from kickoff and would not ease the pressure in the midfield for Sky Blue. A strong performance from the defense allowed the Western New York Flash to maintain possession and create numerous opportunities on goal. The final goal of the night came from Abby Wambach in the 82nd minute, who scored her sixth of the season.
Prior to Kerr’s opening goal in the fourth minute, Sky Blue had an opportunity to create a shot on goal for Lisa De Vanna. As De Vanna ran on to the ball, surpassing the defense and encountering a one-on-one situation with Adrianna Franch, she was deemed offside.
Minutes later, Wambach set up the opening goal after beating Brittany Cameron to a ball. Wambach maintained possession into the box but Cameron closed in on her space forcing Wambach to ship a pass across the box to Kerr who slid the ball into an open net. Throughout, SBFC’s defense was uncharacteristically weak, unable to cut down the opposition, providing WNYF with chances on goal.
Kelley O‘Hara searched for an equalizer with two promising attempts on goal in the first half but both strikes were blocked by Franch. The home team struggled to find and maintain possession due to the adamant defending from WNYF. Sky Blue was regularly dispossessed in midfield throughout the night. The Flash’s dominance in the midfield frustrated SBFC’s defense, who struggled to distribute the ball to their teammates from the back. The constant pressure placed on the SBFC back line proved to be too much as midfielder Manya Makoski’s poor clearance in the box caused by her slipping, resulted in Lloyd’s goal in the 44th minute.
Despite Sky Blue’s improved performance on the ball, gaining more possession in the second half, their set pieces and passes were predictable. The home team managed several attempts on goal but most were either blocked by WNYF or off target. Their offensive boost was provided by Taylor Lytle after she was subbed on in the 55th minute.
As the second half was drawing to a close, Wambach was still searching for her goal of the night after her strike in the 52nd minute was rejected by the crossbar. In the 82nd minute, Wambach would complete her night with an assist and a goal after she received a cross into the box from Kerr and tipped the low ball into the net.
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