by JJ Duke
Starting last week, the NWSL teams have commenced pre-season training camps. While the majority of the allocated national team players still yet to arrive to camps, teams are underway in season preparations and will be looking forward to the return of the national team players this week. Also a number of teams have added pre-season trialists to allow the managers an opportunity to find the last missing parts of the puzzle. With only one month to go until the first round of play, here is a break down of what has been happening up to this point with team rosters and some questions that need to be answered.
Boston Breakers
What they’ve done: Lisa Cole has brought back a core group from last season’s WPSL-Elite Regular Season Championship side, including top scorers in Australian International Kyah Simon and Katie Schoepfer plus top defender in former US Women’s National Team member Cat Whitehill. After that, there is nice depth in the midfield ranks and the allocated player additions up front with Sydney Leroux and Adriana Leon could give the Breakers one of the stronger striker corps in the league. And right before camp started, Boston took advantage of the Discovery Player rule and signed Norwegian International Lisa Marie-Woods, who has been a fixture at every club she has played. She could fit nicely in the midfield at the number ten position.
What they had to deal with: Until a week ago, there wasn’t a lot of concern on the injury front, except for Casey Short who tore her ACL and MCL with the US U-23s in La Manga, Spain. But then this past week the team learned that Heather Mitts, who was allocated to the Breakers, announced her retirement from the game. She was all but guaranteed a starting spot as an outside back on this team, a void that the Breakers will have to fill quickly.
What they need to do: The Breakers need to sign a few more defenders for depth, which is a must because on last look of the current roster there are only four healthy defenders. Next up is goalkeeper position, Mexican National Team Goalkeeper Cecilia Santiago is still the only GK on the roster. There are a couple of trialist goalkeepers with the team right now including University of North Carolina ‘keeper Adelaide Gay and former WPSL-Elite New England Mutiny ‘keeper Vikki Alonzo, but the Breakers may need to look towards and experienced veteran to guide the group of young goalies along.
Chicago Red Stars
What they’ve done: The Red Stars have also brought back a core from their 2012 WPSL-Elite roster. Head Coach Rory Dames return six players including Lori Chalupny and Ella Masar among others to the Windy City. After that, this was one of the stronger Free Agent signing classes in the league, which included Masar, veteran midfielder and former USWNT player Leslie Osborne and surprise signing Jessica McDonald, who showed very well with Melbourne Victory in the Westfield W-League this past winter. Masar and McDonald will give nice support to Maribel Dominguez and young Zakiya Bywaters up front this season. And within the past couple of days, it has been reported that German Internationals Inka Grings and Sonja Fuss will be leaving their Swiss Club FC Zürich Frauen near the end of May to join with Chicago. This deal will be a great mid-season boost for Chicago and will up the NWSL profile to the rest of the world for sure.
What they had to deal with: A big trade and a bigger injury put the Red Stars behind the eight-ball before camp began. Losing Amy LePeilbet for the season was tough, especially with a lack of top-level experience in the defense that Chicago has. But when it was announced that up-and-coming USWNT player Keelin Winters was traded to Seattle, that was a big loss in the midfield. Granted there were one too many central midfielders in the crowd already for Chicago, but she was potentially going to be a good workhorse and take some of the workload off of Osborne and Shannon Boxx.
What they need to do: Personally, the number one thing for Chicago is to find out the status with Lindsay Tarpley. She was hit with a bad injury before the World Cup in Germany and is still unclear if she will take the field. If she can play, that will be a bonus for Chicago, but if she can’t they will need to add depth to the midfield. Plus adding few more experienced defenders will help in the long run as well.
FC Kansas City
What they’ve done: They received two gems in the college draft with Kristie Mewis (now with national team experience and has proved she can play many different positions) and Erica Tymrak. Both of these players may make a statement this year for the Blues. Head Coach Vlatko Andonovski has brought in a good group of Free Agent signings as well with experienced professionals like Leigh Ann Robinson and Jen Buczkowski, both of whom should slot right into the lineup. With the allocated players they received at the beginning of the season, this team has a lot of potential to make noise in 2013.
What they had to deal with: This team is one of the few teams in the NWSL that hasn’t had a lot of injured players coming into camp, a big plus for them. The only thing that hasn’t gone their way thus far is two of their Free Agent draftees, Tina DiMartino and Casey Noguiera, will not be reporting to camp and presumably not playing this year. This isn’t the worst thing in the world for Kansas City, but I bet they were hoping to get the experience these two could bring to the field.
What they need to do: Probably two of the biggest questions I have for this team is: 1) What type of style will Kansas City play? and 2) Where will they place Lauren Cheney on the field? When we have answers, that will determine where I feel FC Kansas City will finish this year. But in the sense of the build up, they have done everything right in creating a team without big star power, and having a goalkeeper in Nicole Barnhart who has proven in the past her worth at the club level.
Portland Thorns FC
What they’ve done: Cindy Parlow Cone has done a nice job of building a team around the star-studded national team allocations the Thorns received. Signing Allie Long was key because she can offset some of the workload for Alex Morgan and Christine Sinclair up front, or she sit in right behind them as a number ten playmaker while Tobin Heath is in France. This team has also used the Discovery Player rule to their advantage, where they made a nice signing to their defense with Jazmyne Avant. Finally, the goalkeeper race is one of the more intriguing ones in the NWSL, as in the rear-view mirror for Karina LeBlanc there are two young ‘keepers (draft pick Roxanne Barker and trialist Aline Reis) that proved themselves in the college ranks. So things could get a little interesting there too.
What they had to deal with: Not the greatest drafting strategy in the world by the Thorns in both the college draft and Free Agency draft. It is still unclear if Amber Brooks, their third round college draft pick, will come to Portland once her season with Bayern Munich is over. And two of their Free Agency picks, Tina Ellertson and Marian Dalmy, won’t be playing either. It’s unknown if Parlow Cone was taking those players as flyers or really had a thought that these players would play this season, but we will see if depth can play an issue in the long run. Also with the knowledge that Tobin Heath will be out until at least June with Paris Saint-Germain, the Thorns will have to fill in that hole until she gets back.
What they need to do: They have a lot of trialists in camp, including some solid players who had experience in the US semi-pro leagues last year as amateurs. One of those is Courtney Wetzel, who played at Oregon State in college so a local connection there, did well in the defense for the Ottawa Fury last season and had a great performance in the W-League Final Four. So if the Thorns sign some of these trialists, that may help their depth. But in reality, they need to ground the players from the high expectations placed on them after the allocation and get the team to gel, because they could still be favorites to win the league.
Seattle Reign FC
What they’ve done: It has been an interesting build up for the Reign towards the 2013 season, but one that has had some interesting signings as well. Jess Fishlock has been a staple on whatever team she has played on over the years, most recently for Melbourne Victory in the Westfield W-League. She can play in many positions on the pitch and is coming off of a very successful Algarve Cup for Wales. Scoring Keelin Winters on the trade with Chicago will help out in the beginning part of the season, taking the stress off of rookie Christine Nairn. Add in a few signings from last season’s Seattle Sounders Women, plus signing an improved Elli Reed who spent time in Germany after the WPSL-Elite season with Boston (similar to Ashlyn Harris, Reed has left Duisburg of the Bundesliga due to financial concerns within the club), the team will have a good shape early.
What they had to deal with: And this is where it has went all downhill for Seattle. All three of their allocated USWNT players will not start the season with Seattle (one of the reasons why Seattle needed to make that trade with Chicago for Winters, purely to get some experience within the team). Amy Rodriguez is taking the year off due to pregnancy. Hope Solo is coming off of wrist surgery and there is no definite time-table for her return. Then Megan Rapinoe won’t get back to the club until June because Lyon will likely make a deep run in the UEFA Women’s Champions League. And they almost would have lost Mexican WNT allocation Teresa Noyola until the same time as Rapinoe, but her club in the Netherlands worked out a deal for her to come to Seattle in time for the first match. Plus a few players the Reign drafted in the Free Agent draft are unsure if they will take the field this season, so the soap opera continues in the Northwest.
What they need to do: They will need to look for some signs early in their preseason trip to Japan. The back line needs depth and the team needs a keeper as well. Head Coach Laura Harvey will either have to choose from Michelle Betos, who impressed in the WPSL-Elite last year with the New York Fury, or un-tested Michigan grad Haley Kopmeyer. My final thought is the team needs to establish Christine Nairn in the center of the field, she has a lot of skill and is very creative but at the same time the game will be going through her for the most part, so establishing her as a number 10 will be vital for their success this season.
Sky Blue FC
What they’ve done: You have to give Head Coach Jim Gabarra a lot of credit for his job of bringing in players to the New Jersey side. He is giving some players forgotten by others a shot to succeed, drafted a great center back partner for Christie Rampone in former BYU back Lindsi Lisonbee-Cutshall, and has pulled off one of the top signing coups in the early history of the NWSL. I’m pretty sure nobody saw it coming when the team announced that Caitlin Foord, the young player of the tournament in the 2011 World Cup for Australia, would be playing for Sky Blue this season. She has been dominant at right back since her debut at the senior international level and could be one of the best outside backs in the world. The one thing that you will expect from Sky Blue this year is a strong defensive unit.
What they had to deal with: Yet another opportunity for Jill Loyden to get a shot to prove her worth, and bad luck hits her again. She broke a bone in her left hand at a USWNT practice in Portugal a few weeks ago and was going to be the number one starter for Sky Blue once the season started. But now the goalkeeper competition will come down to perennial WPS back-up Brittany Cameron (outside of a broken nose injury, she performed well for WNY Flash in the 2012 WPSL-Elite), or Georgia Bulldog grad and England youth international Ashley Baker. Should be an interesting competition for the number one spot.
What they need to do: Most importantly they need to find a spot on the field for Kelley O’Hara. It won’t be in the defense because Sky Blue is set there, so will she be on the flank or have a chance to emulate her success that she had at Stanford as a forward. Lisa De Vanna will get most of the running up top but I could see O’Hara as a great winger with her pace. Also the team needs to stock up their depth in the midfield, because they only have five players listed at that position at the moment.
Washington Spirit
What they’ve done: The big news for Washington in the build up was hearing the news that Ashlyn Harris will report to the Spirit in time for the beginning of the season. Her stint with Duisburg was fading due to financial concerns with the Bundesliga club, so a big plus for Washington that they will have her for the opening match. Outside of that, the Spirit have been down to business in putting together their team. They have made solid draft picks, signed a good couple of Free Agents in Ingrid Wells and Candace Chapman and acquired some experience in the Free Agent draft. Overall there are no complaints on my end about this team’s build up. Plus they will be playing a challenging pre-season schedule with the likes of Duke, Penn State and North Carolina on their warm-up slate, giving the Spirit the chance to face some good competition while figuring out all the right pieces.
What they had to deal with: Washington doesn’t have any major injuries coming into camp, which is a positive, but the team found out that allocated Mexican National Team player Alina Garciamendez will not join the team until her final term at Stanford is completed. So they will need to fill that hole in the back until then. Also Washington has a group of top college scorers but the majority of the striker corps have yet to take the pitch as a professionals. So I will be curious to see how this group will react once the first game comes about to the change of pace between college and professional game.
What they need to do: I think they need to find out first to see if Natasha Kai will be playing this season. She always had a knack for finding the net no matter who she played for in WPS. That might take the pressure off the young strikers on Washington. Other than that, it’s just all about how the team will come together before the season because this is another team that might be a surprise to people come the playoff time.
Western New York Flash
What they’ve done: Aaron Lines will look to do the unthinkable in 2013 with the Flash, win four titles in four different leagues. It helps that Western New York has the poster franchise player in Abby Wambach, giving her the opportunity to finally come back to play in her hometown of Rochester, NY. Plus the Flash got the chance to draft a goalkeeper they could develop while giving good minutes to, in Oklahoma State star and USWNT pool keeper Adrianna Franch. Lines has also returned some of his core players from their 2012 WPSL-Elite Championship side including team captain McCall Zerboni, who has improved each year under Lines and could be poised to have a breakout season in 2013.
What they had to deal with: Carli Lloyd was supposed to run the show through the midfield, but a broken shoulder will have her missing two months and at least a few weeks of the season. The depth in the midfield is decent so while missing Lloyd for the beginning of the season will be tough, it won’t be hard to cover her for a couple of weeks.
What they need to do: The Flash need to get all of their forwards on the same page, because there are a lot of them. Wambach will be a fixture for sure but then there is a line afterwards. Sam Kerr is a great signing for Lines and had a great season with Sydney FC of the Westfield W-League, and could almost be in the same mold as Alex Morgan with doing a lot of running to set up Wambach. Then you have Adriana, who bagged double-digit goals for the Flash in the 2012 WPSL-Elite, and she is joined by Jodi-Ann Robinson, who played a role as a super-sub late in the season for the Flash. Add Veronica Perez and Sarah Huffman, both performed well last year in the USL W-League, so there will be a lot of competition there. If they get it right, there will be a lot of goals for the Flash in 2013.
And when you thought I was done….
The National Women’s Soccer League as a whole:
What they have done: The league has finally put together a website as well as have all their teams with homes and a full roster with six weeks before the season started. And there is a good amount of buzz surrounding the opening weekend which is good. And when the league released the season schedule, I enjoyed the geographical rivalry weekend concept for the last round of games in the regular season. If a playoff spot is up for grabs, especially say with your two northwest teams, the atmosphere in those games will be electric.
What they need to do: Settle this whole CBA thing with the USWNT players so they can play in the league. Get it done now because if they don’t, there will be a lot of steam lost with the NWSL. Second off, the whole jersey/apparel sponsor needs to get formally released. We all know its Nike who will be the league partner (as both Washington and Seattle have leaked jerseys plus other teams training gear feature the swoosh pretty clearly), and if there is going to be no fancy release party, thats understandable being so close to the season, but a statement would be nice. Plus if there is a place to watch the games on TV or if teams have individual websites for online streaming for those people who can’t make it to the match live, that would be nice too.
Keep up to date with the OGM NWSL Roster database for any team moves, which can be found right this way
Also you can check back in a week or two to OGM for recaps of NWSL friendlies.