Naeher, Breakers save best for last
USWNT goalie stops 11 shots as Boston wins final home game of its NWSL season
August 10, 2015
The Boston Breakers played their last home game of the NWSL season in front of a sold-out crowd of 4,137 people at Soldiers Field Soccer Stadium on Saturday, Aug. 8. The ending score was a 2-1 win over Washington, a happy surprise for the Breakers, who had been on quite a winless streak for the last nine games (0-7-2).
The Breakers’ Julie King scored the game’s first goal in the 12th minute. With an assist by Kristie Mewis, King headed the ball into the net.
Breakers goalie Alyssa Naeher (right) poses with a Watertown Splash reporter following Boston’s 2-1 win over the Washington Spirit on Saturday, Aug. 8, 2015, at Soldiers Field Soccer Stadium.
After a frenzy at the net, the second goal was scored by the Breakers’ Kyah Simon in the 18th minute.
The final goal of the game was delivered by Washington’s Diana Matheson after a crazy pinball game of a battle for the ball in the 49th minute.
At the end of the second half, there was some fighting tension from the teams, which caused yellow cards to be given out to Boston’s Nkem Ezurike (79th minute), the Spirit’s Angela Salem (85th), and Boston’s Stephanie McCaffrey (90th).
“It feels good to get a W, especially the last home game you get to come away with 3 points,’’ said Breakers goalie Alyssa Naeher, who was credited with 11 saves.
Boston and Washington battle in the early going of their NWSL game on Aug. 8, 2015, at Soldiers Field Soccer Stadium, which sits next to Harvard University’s football stadium. The host Breakers beat the Spirit, 2-1, in their final home game of the year.
“We’ve had obviously a tough go of it around not getting the results that we wanted, so it feels really good to be able to come out against a good team and get 3 points in front of our home fans in our last home game.”
Naeher, who was one of three backup goalies for the US National Team at the recent Women’s World Cup, reflected on winning a gold medal.
“Words can’t really do it justice, but I’m a very proud American, proud of the US,’’ she said. “To be able to wear the red, white, and blue every game was really something special and something that I don’t take for granted. And to be able to add a gold medal onto that was something pretty special.”
The Breakers play their last three games on the road in Kansas City (Aug. 22), Seattle FC (Aug. 26), and Houston (Aug. 30), but will have some time before they start traveling.
“I think we have a week break now, so it’ll be nice I think to get our bodies back a little bit, get our legs back underneath us after a long stretch of games,’’ Naeher said. “[Winning] definitely feels really good and gives us a lot of confidence going forward to finish out the season strong.”
–Aug. 10, 2015–
