Boston Legacy FC drew 2-2 with the North Carolina Courage on Wednesday night. The draw gives the team its first point of the season, but still leaves Boston at the bottom of the table.
The Legacy started in a 3-4-3 formation. Casey Murphy was in goal and had Emerson Elgin, Laís Araújo, and Jorelyn Carabalí on the defensive line. Josefine Hasbo, Annie Karich, Alba Caño, and Amanda Gutierres made up the midfield. Aïssata Traoré took the No. 9 position with Sammy Smith on her left and Nichelle Prince to her right.
Here are four thoughts from the game.
“Football is about scoring goals.” - Filipa Patão
And score goals, they did. Caño scored her first goal in the fifth minute, and Sammy Smith followed soon after in the 13th minute. The two goals were a refreshing start after last weekend’s game, which ended with zero goals from the Legacy despite 27 shots.
“I feel like everything's finally coming together,” Smith told The Blazing Musket after the match. “We just needed our first multi-goal game to show that we can put those opportunities away and the rest is coming.”
Both goals were assisted by Nichelle Prince. Though she’s created chances in every game, her positioning was slightly different Wednesday. Rather than dropping to defense when out of possession, as seen in the first games, Patão opted to play her higher up.
“She is not a player to receive … in the back [of] the game,” the head coach said postgame. “She is a player to receive in space, to run and attack the deep.”
The change proved advantageous to the team’s attack, and we’ll likely see the same moving forward.
The Legacy took seven shots in the game; the Courage took 21.
Second Half
While the first half was the most composed the team has been all season, the second half was a different story. The Legacy held 51% possession in the first half and dropped to 46% in the second. Boston only took four shots in the second as opposed to North Carolina's 16.
North Carolina’s Dani Weatherholt and Ashley Sanchez scored in the 53rd and 76th minute, respectively. Boston amped up its offense after the Courage equalized but were ultimately unable to add a winning goal.
This is a pattern that Patão is working on changing. The first 15 minutes of all the second halves the team has played have not gone well, according to the coach.
“We need to try to understand what's up, what's happening these first 15 minutes of the second half, and don't drop so much,” she said. “We are capable to continue to be intense and continue to do steps forward, even [when] we are winning”
Consistency will need to be key in order to win any upcoming games.
A New Face
Centerback Laís Araújo made her long-awaited debut Wednesday night. Her strong presence on the backline was evident throughout the 84 minutes she played.
This will be Araújo’s fourth season under Patão, who also coached her at Benfica. Araújo’s understanding of the coach’s playing style is not the only thing that allowed her to have a successful shift.
“It's easy for her to step up in the game and know what she needs to do,” the coach said. “But I think [what] makes a lot of difference is the communication that she has with the other players.”
The defender had 83% passing accuracy four interceptions, three clearances, and seven recoveries.
Still Trusting the Process
This game, of course, was not a success for Patão, and she knows she doesn’t need to say this to her players in order for them to find motivation.
“The first thing that I had in the final of the game was players assuming [their] individual mistakes and [saying] sorry to the team,” she said. “And this is what's going to [keep] us growing; [it’s having] these players that want to get better.”
The Legacy will face the Denver Summit on Sunday, May 3 at Gillette Stadium.
