Soccer News: Breakers Six Game Home Streak Snapped
A late goal from Seattle Reign’s Jess Fishlock gave them a 3-2 victory and handed the Boston Breakers their first home loss of the season Sunday afternoon in front of 2,145 fans at Soldiers Field Soccer Stadium.
The loss snapped Boston’s six-game home unbeaten streak, which dated back to last season. The last time Boston lost at home was on August 3, 2014, a 4-3 defeat to the Western New York Flash.
“We started off well. It was the perfect execution of the week’s training to go 1-nil. Then, we lost our way. We took the foot off the brakes,” Boston Breakers head coach Tom Durkin said. “We wanted to step to them and disrupt their build-up. We knew it was going to take a good, collective effort to mark Kim Little and Jess Fishlock. All things being said, we lost to two really world class players.”
In the 86th minute, Seattle’s Kim Little worked down the right side of the field and fed a cutting Fishlock, who was able to power the ball past Boston’s Jami Kranich to put Seattle up for good.
The winning goal came after much back-and-forth play between the two teams that both came into the game with 11 points, but the loss moved Boston to 3-4-2 and bumped Seattle to 4-2-2.
Boston found the back of the net first when Kristie Mewis scored her team-high third goal of the season.
Katie Schoepfer served a ball down the right side to Maddy Evans, but she was taken down just outside the right side of the 18-yard line for a free kick. Mewis’ curling shot deflected in off of Stephanie Cox to give Boston the 1-0 lead in the 14th minute.
The first 10 minutes of the game saw the Breakers and the Reign caught up in some back-and-forth action, but neither team was able to capitalize. In the eighth minute, Seattle’s Kim Little was fed over the top and into the box but Kranich did well to charge off the line and clear it, and then on the Breakers ensuing rush, Stephanie McCaffrey fed Mewis at the top of the box but her shot was fired into the stomach of Haley Kopmeyer. Kopmeyer finished with 10 saves on 18 Breakers shots, 12 of which were on goal.
The Breakers kept pressuring the Seattle defense throughout the first 45 minutes, with McCaffrey and Mewis generating a few opportunities. In the 20th minute, Mewis worked a give-and-go with Schoepfer and found herself in a one-on-one situation with Kopmeyer, who was able to deflect the shot out for a corner for one of her.
Seattle was the next team to capitalize, though, as they were able to tie the game in the 41st minute. Little took the ball just past midfield and streaked through the Boston defense before eventually firing a shot from the right side of the box past Kranich to make it 1-1.
Seattle struck again when it took the lead nearly 20 minutes into the second half after Beverly Yanez scored the Reign’s second goal of the game. Fresh into the game, Elli Reed beat the Boston defense down the right side of the field and crossed the ball across the goalmouth, where it found Yanez waiting to tap it in for 2-1 lead.
But Boston didn’t let down and returned the favor just three minutes later, tying the game at 2-2 on Morgan Malborough’s second goal of the season. Mewis worked the ball down the left flank towards the Seattle goal before crossing it to the near post where it met Nkem Ezurike. Ezurike persisted through the defense and fed it across the goal line to Marlborough who had a wide open net in front of her.
After Fishlock’s game-winner in the 86th, the Breakers tried to find a tying goal and came up just short when Marlborough took a shot on the run from the right side that went just wide of the left post.
Kassey Kallman played well defensively for the Breakers, stepping up in the 18th minute to cut off a cross from Kendall Fletcher and then followed that up by stepping in front of and blocking a shot from Keelin Winters.
In the second half, Kallman continued to step in front of Seattle passes, including in the 64th when Little tried to feed the ball over the top of the defense. Julie King did much of the same, including stepping in front of a left-footed rocket from Fishlock that was headed for the back of the net and then cut off a cross for a streaking Danielle Foxhoven.
The Breakers return home Sunday, June 28 at 5 p.m. ET to take on the Western New York Flash.
