Things may be looking up for Boston Legacy FC as its 1-1 tie against Gotham FC on Saturday marked three consecutive games unbeaten.
The Legacy left New Jersey with its first away point after breaking Gotham’s three-game shutout streak. Boston now has five points (1-5-2) and is still last in the league standings.
Head coach Filipa Patão kept the same starting lineup as the last game.
Casey Murphy started in goal joined by a defensive line consisting of Laís Araújo as center back, Bianca St-Georges as right back, and Emerson Elgin on the left. Annie Karich took her usual spot as a defensive midfielder with Alba Caño and Josefine Hasbo on the sides and Bárbara Olivieri higher up the field. Amanda Gutierres was the striker and had support from Sammy Smith and Nichelle Prince on the flanks.
Gotham’s Jaedyn Shaw opened the scoring off of a Murphy deflection in the 37th minute. Three minutes later, Caño received a pass from Olivieri in front of the net and scored a one-touch goal.
Here are four thoughts from the game:
Roster Depth
Ella Stevens has remained on the bench the last three games, and Sam Angel and Sophia Lowenberg have yet to make their debuts.
Like the starting roster, four of the five substitutes (Jorelyn Carabalí, Chloe Ricketts, Aleigh Gambone, and Aïssata Traoré) Saturday were the same as in the Denver game.
The similar lineups, however, do not mean we’ll see the same in the next game.
“We decide [lineups] in regards to the characteristics and the performance of the players, but we have other players that can handle these games,” Patão told The Blazing Musket after the match. “This is why, normally, we do five subs [every time], because we believe in everybody. [It] can be these 11, but we can choose other players because everybody's ready to have this opportunity.”
The coach often praises the depth on the roster and expects each player, regardless of whether they start or come off the bench, to have the same ambitious attitude when entering the game.
“[The] next game can be completely different,” she said. “Right now, we have all the players fighting for a spot, and we trust in everybody.”
Though it may seem like the Legacy is finally establishing its identity and bringing forth a core group of starters, don’t forget that the team thrives on the idea of being “chameleonic.”
At the beginning of the season, Patão could not say whether she would have consistent or rotating lineups.
“I think we need to live day by day. See what's happened. Feel the team, feel the players. Understand what is happening, improvement that the players are having,” she said in March. “The players need to be adaptable to understand what they need to do, to have more time, to have more opportunities, and after that, the coach will decide what is better for the team.”
No predictability here, folks.
Chaos in Jersey
Much like the teams’ first face off in March, it took no time for the game to turn physical. The Legacy committed a total of 21 fouls, and four players (Olivieri, Smith, Caño, and Araújo) received yellow cards. Gotham had 13 fouls. The constant interruption disrupted momentum, and the two teams were only able to score in transition.
Boston took six shots (four on goal) throughout the match as opposed to Gotham’s 17 (seven on goal).
Physicality is undeniably part of the team’s identity now.
“We're definitely playing away, right, so we want to come in as aggressive as we can,” Olivieri said postgame. “And I think just keeping our heads and, you know, we're stopping the plays we need to stop, and just being smart about that.”
Olivieri committed three fouls and was the first player booked for a yellow. She also received a verbal warning from the referee in the second half after attempting a tackle and making contact with a Gotham player. Murphy commended the 24-year-old for keeping composure despite being issued the card.
“She was still going hard, playing smart, and that shows a lot of maturity in our team,” Murphy told The Blazing Musket. “It's part of our DNA to fight, and we're not going to lose that. Even if we get a card here and there, we're still going to go.”
Boston currently leads the league in yellow cards (20).
The Second Half (Revisited, Again)
Patão recently noted the team’s inconsistency during any given second half, and Saturday was no different.
The Swans held 36% possession in the second and managed to take one shot.
The team’s positional changes during the half mirrored those of the previous game. St-Georges switched sides and moved higher up the wing to take Smith’s place when she was subbed off in the 57th minute. Carabalí entered the game at the same time and filled St-Georges’ original spot as right back.
Traoré became the designated striker when she came in for Olivieri, and Gutierres dropped behind her. Aleigh Gambone, Amanda Allen, and Chloe Ricketts replaced Hasbo, Gutierres, and Caño later on, but even fresh legs could not create any meaningful chances.
“We are not capable to keep the ball in the ways that we like to keep in the second half,” the coach said after the match. “And I think it was a little bit because of that, that we [needed] to defend more, and we [dropped] a little bit more.”
The team’s tiredness in the second hampered its attack, according to Patão, but the players were still able to rally and deny Gotham the chance of a winning goal.
“Sometimes you need to understand that if you cannot do more in that moment, you need to fight and handle the point that you have,” she said.
A Streak
Boston had a less than desirable start to the season with five consecutive losses and only earned its first point less than two weeks ago. The squad has appeared increasingly collected since its 1-1 tie against the North Carolina Courage at the end of April and has since remained unbeaten.
“We built up a lot of character going 0-5 that you don't really get when you go 5-0,” said Murphy. “We are super resilient. That's because of how hard we fought in the beginning of the season, to build that character, to build that fight, to build that, you know, relentlessness that we're going to play to the final whistle.”
It may have taken some time, but the process that Patão and her players constantly talk about seems to finally be producing favorable results.
“We are improving, and everybody can see this. Our team needs to continue to have this [fighting] mentality and this character,” the coach said Saturday. “We will build a winning team.”
The Legacy has a long week ahead: The club will face the Orlando Pride at Gillette Stadium Tuesday night before heading to California for a match against Bay FC on Friday.
