Boston Legacy FC fell 1-0 to the Kansas City Current on Saturday and is heading into the NWSL break with two losses following its five-game unbeaten streak. The Swans (2-7-3) remain 14th in the standings with nine points.
Head coach Filipa Patão started with a 4-4-2 formation that was very fluid throughout the game.
Casey Murphy started in goal with a backline of Nicki Hernandez, Emerson Elgin, Laurel Ansbrow, and Jorelyn Carabalí. Josefine Hasbo, Annie Karich, Alba Caño, and Nichelle Prince took the midfield, and Aïssata Traoré and Amanda Gutierres started at the top.
Here are four thoughts from the game:
Better Team Shortfall
Game statistics do not always tell the whole story, and this has been the case time and time again with the Legacy.
Coming into the match, assistant coach Bárbara Reis said the team’s biggest strength was possession.
“We really need to be smart on the ball, be brave enough to play, but also not risk losing it if it's not worth it,” she said Friday. “Patience will be key.”
The Swans kept 56% possession throughout the game and seemed to be the better team (despite the lack of goals) up until the last 30 minutes. Boston attempted eight shots in the first half, and four (all within the first 15 minutes) in the second. Three shots were on target.
Patão has noted her team’s poor performance at the start of each second half; Saturday’s match was the opposite. The Legacy was able to carry its momentum into the first 20 minutes of the second, but started turning over the ball more frequently when the Current applied pressure. A KC interception eventually led to a goal in the 69th minute.
Boston attempted to maintain its high press and make it to the final third, but the team was unable to get past KC and into the box.
Gutierres had two shots in each half and was subbed off in the 73rd minute. Traoré only recorded one shot in the first half and was subbed off in the 88th minute (for Ella Stevens) despite her knack for scoring stoppage-time goals.
“Aïssata was tired [and] we need to rotate the player and have a fresh player that can hold the ball a little bit more,” Patão said postgame. “We know that Ella have this capacity, but the team already was very tired in the final of the game to have better decisions.”
The Inevitable
Temwa Chawinga gave her team the lead after being left open in the box and knocking in a deflection. This marked her seventh goal of the season, and she is now tied for second in the Golden Boot race.
Up until this point, Boston had done a good job of marking her. Croix Bethune drew four Legacy players as she made her way into the box, leaving Carabalí to mark Chawinga with no one around to cover. Carabalí was able to block Chawinga’s first shot, but not her second.
The Current had four shots (one on target) in the first, and seven (three on target) in the second.
Rookie Debut
Sophia Lowenberg made her NWSL and Legacy debut after subbing in for Elgin in the 83rd minute. The 22-year-old was nervous coming in, but she had faith in the work she’s been putting in over the months.
And what better welcome to the NWSL than a footrace with Chawinga?
“When that ball went over my head and I saw her running, I was like, ‘Oh wow,’” she told The Blazing Musket after the match. “I just tried to get on my horse, and I heard the crowd cheering more and more as she was getting closer and closer to the ball.”
Lowenberg was able to get the last touch on the ball and kick it out of bounds.
“That was really exciting,” she said. “To shut her down was definitely a cool moment.”
Lowenberg graduated from Boston College nearly two weeks ago, and is the last outfield player on the start-of-season roster to get some minutes. Patão acknowledged last week that the rookie has stiff competition.
Though she played as left back Saturday and has plenty of defensive experience, Lowenberg is naturally a six. Karich currently holds that position and has played every minute this season.
“It's normal that it’s hard to have minutes when we have Annie doing the performance that she's doing inside the team and the relevance and capacity that she brings us in our game,” the coach said. “[Sophia’s] a great player, and the energy and the passion that she brings inside the trainings and to this team is wonderful.”
The coach wants her to continue developing her skills, and now that school is over, Lowenberg will be able to spend more time focusing on her craft. The rookie says she has been working on turning with the ball and facing the game, as well as decision-making. Now that she has in-game examples to look over, she will be able to identify more things to improve.
“Today my pass completion could have been a lot better, so I think that's what I'm going to kind of focus on in this break,” she said postgame.
The Break
Following this weekend, the NWSL will break until July. Boston’s next game will be a Bay FC rematch on home turf on Sunday, July 5.
The squad will continue working on the same things they’ve been focusing on all season: Maintaining momentum in games, decision-making in the final third, capitalizing on and creating goal-scoring opportunities, and scoring early.
The last time Boston returned from a long break, the club went on a five-game unbeaten streak. The head coach previously credited the improvement to time, so we can only hope the upcoming weeks and the team's process will produce more consistency.
