USWNT players in NWSL: week 15

No NWSL weekend is entirely without something kinda weird or wild or both, but this weekend was a little more sedate than usual with a lot of USWNT players unavailable to their clubs due to the Tournament of Nations, which finished lay the day before NWSL returned to action. Here’s how (available) USWNT players did in NWSL this weekend.

Boston Breakers 2 - 2 FC Kansas City

No USWNT players available.

Sky Blue FC 1 - 4 Washington Spirit

No USWNT players available.

Portland Thorns 2 - 1 Houston Dash

Carli Lloyd: Not a ton from Lloyd in this game; the Dash themselves struggled to keep up with Portland as the game went on.

Jane Campbell: Some really good stops from Campbell in this one, including a dive low in the corner to parry away a ball headed down in the box. But she also made some mistakes, like, staying glued to her line on the first goal.

Allie Long: Long subbed in in the 75’ for Dagny Brynjarsdottir. She did okay helping shift the midfield around, but missed some chances to really put the game beyond Houston and seemed a little bit slower than usual.

Lindsey Horan: Horan gave the Thorns a full 90, playing in the middle with Brynjarsdottir for most of the game instead of usual partner in crime Long. She helped control Carli Lloyd, had several attempts at goal, and generally helped create useful pressure.

Meghan Klingenberg: Decent game from Klingenberg, although Portland’s control came more from the center through Christine Sinclair. She had a really nice shot in the second half off of service from Horan but a little trouble defending late in the game.

North Carolina Courage 1 - 0 Seattle Reign

Abby Dahlkemper: She had some good positions in the box to cut out Seattle attempts at putting the ball in, but even with Seattle pouring on the pressure to find the equalizer, the midfield shield in front of her helped make her job easier.

Taylor Smith: Smith ran her butt off after putting in a lot of minutes for the USWNT. She helped put high pressure on Seattle to start, though it slacked off as legs grew tired.

Samantha Mewis: She hit a lot of beautiful balls through the Seattle back line for her runners and when teamed with Zerboni bossed a lot of the midfield, although Seattle took control in the 2nd half.

Lynn Williams: She bagged the only goal of the night, squirting a shot just under the arm of a reaching Haley Kopmeyer. She was also a consistent threat whether it was shooting or dummying the ball in the box to set up Sam Mewis.

Megan Rapinoe: did not play

Orlando Pride 1 - 1 Chicago Red Stars

Alex Morgan: She went the full 90 for Orlando and scored their lone goal in a very classic Morgan fashion, simply beating her defender and scoring at a tight angle into the side netting. She was a bit isolated as Chicago worked more into the rhythm of the game.

Ali Krieger: Krieger spent a decent amount of time trying to deal with Sofia Huerta and mostly seemed to manage her. Perhaps she didn’t help pinch off the gap between defenders on Huerta’s goal, but it was also one heck of a goal from Huerta to try and stop.

Alyssa Naeher: A mix of aerial control and some luck helped Naeher keep the scoreline down. Orlando went off the woodwork a couple of times and Chicago needed a goal line clearance in the 90’ to keep it level.

Julie Ertz: did not play

Christen Press: did not play

Casey Short: did not play