Soccer

NWSL Week 6 in review: Finally healthy Sky Blue FC finding their form

Sky Blue climbs into second with a win over Houston and another big game from Sam Kerr.

May 23, 2017, 2:59 PM UTC

Photo by Paul Kane/Getty Images

We’re now officially a quarter of the way through the 2017 season, and while some teams are definitely better than others, no one’s really been consistently impressive through all six games. North Carolina, an early season favorite, has now lost two straight. Chicago started slow and just found its footing this week. Houston started strong and things have gone up and down since. Boston’s better, but still sometimes falls back into something that looks a lot like the Breakers used to.

As much as no one’s been consistently good, no one’s been all bad, either. FC Kansas City needed to find a way out of a scoring rut, but otherwise, the Blues actually aren’t terrible. Even Washington, with only one win so far this season, has some bright spots.

Because of this, because no one’s totally found their footing quite yet, every week still feels in many ways unpredictable and like this could be another season where we see a new face among the top four come September.

Mostly, the most consistent thing about every team so far is just how inconsistent they’ve all been. Now though, things are starting to change. Chicago, for example, and maybe thanks in part to Paul Riley stepping into a time machine and going back to Portland circa 2013, looked good in a 3-1 win over North Carolina on Sunday. Seattle, after a slow start, now leads the league in goals scored and has slowly climbed up the table. Orlando looked hopeless at the beginning of the season, but even the Pride have started to get results lately.

Perhaps the team that’s been the most consistent lately though is Sky Blue FC. Sky Blue climbed into second this week with a win over Houston, the team’s second win over the Dash in as many weeks.

Sky Blue last made it to the postseason in 2013, the league’s first year of existence, and was promptly bounced out by shield winners and eventual championship losers, Western NY. Since then, Sky Blue has mostly been a mid-table team, often finishing seasons strong but all that always undone by earlier mistakes. In 2014, Sky Blue finished in fifth, a single point away from the top four. The following season, Sky Blue’s worst in NWSL, the team finished in eighth. Last year, Sky Blue ended the year in seventh.

Sky Blue’s biggest problem so far this season seems to be a lack of depth. Christie Pearce missed two games due to the league’s concussion protocol — one of them a 4-3 loss to Washington, the Spirit’s only win of the season. In that game, the Spirit repeatedly took advantage of a disorganized Sky Blue back line, something that’s improved since Pearce returned to the lineup.

The story’s been the same further up the field, too. Sam Kerr, who’s been left to play as Sky Blue’s lone forward, had her own slow start to the season, and missed the week three game against FC Kansas City due to a personal commitment. In that game, the entire offense struggled for long stretches, clearly missing some of the spark that Kerr provides. Through the two games against Houston, though — the first time Sky Blue’s won consecutive games since July of 2016 — Kerr finally shook off her early season struggles and the entire team’s looked better for it.

In the first of those two games, the 3-1 win, Kerr earned the penalty that led to the first goal, had the assist on the second, scored the third and her speed was a constant problem for the Houston defense. In Saturday’s game, Kerr was again a major part of Sky Blue’s success. Though not officially on the scoresheet, Kerr helped start the play that led to the first goal — another penalty kick — and registered three shots on goal.

In the first game against the Dash, Sky Blue was without Kelley O’Hara, and relied heavily on the connection between Kerr and Leah Galton in the midfield. O’Hara was back in the lineup for this weekend’s game, and her return added another dimension to the Sky Blue attack. O’Hara, who’s been playing further back in the midfield this season, repeatedly linked up with Kerr, who’s speed again caused problems for Houston’s defense. The first goal, a penalty converted by Sarah Killion (her fourth PK and league-leading fifth goal of the season), came in large part from Kerr getting to a ball from O’Hara that initially looked like it was headed out of play and sending it back towards goal.

Kerr made her debut for the Australia WNT in 2009, when she was just 15. At 19, Kerr was playing for Western NY in the first year of NWSL. After two years with the Flash, Western NY traded her to Sky Blue ahead of the 2015 season. Kerr made her debut for Sky Blue following the 2015 World Cup. Last season, Kerr was again only available for nine games.

This season, without a World Cup or Olympics and with Kerr, who’s struggled with injuries throughout her career, finally healthy, Sky Blue finally has something they haven’t in a while: a consistent attacking presence. Kerr, who’s still only 23, is currently fifth in the league in both shots (15) and shots on goal (10).

Because of absences injury related or otherwise, Sky Blue hasn’t really been at full strength for many of the six games they’ve played so far. In addition to Pearce, Kerr and O’Hara, Raquel Rodriguez and Leah Galton have also missed time already this season. But with those players all back in the lineup, and as the season progresses, what Sky Blue is capable of has started to come into focus.

Just about every Sky Blue team ever has been ultimately been undone by failing to play up to its potential and often playing down to weaker opponents. If this version of the team can at least semi-avoid that and continue building on what they’ve done through the past two games, though, it’s not impossible that Sky Blue could still be in the top four come September.