NWSL Challenge Cup Goalkeeper Power Rankings: Round Two

By Bill Reno

Two rounds down, two more to go, and then the real action starts: knockout rounds! Read up on last week’s goalkeeping round up here, if you’re a true goalkeeping nerd.

1.) Alyssa Naeher (Chicago Red Stars) - Naeher wasn’t featured against the Portland Thorns. Return later in the week for a recap on round three or scroll down to see how Emily Boyd and Cassie Miller did in her stead.

2) Bella Bixby (Portland Thorns) - It was a fairly quiet outing for Bixby as Portland tied Chicago, but she’s jumping up for two reasons. First, her competition is showing some cracks. Second, she’s rarely looking out of her depth. Yes, she’s still a little behind the speed of play, but for a goalkeeper with only two professional starts, it’s something we can only expect to improve over time. Although Bixby was limited to essentially some crosses and passes out of the back in the zero save shutout, she’s going to make it difficult for the Thorns staff when approaching their goalkeeper situation moving forward. (We’ll cover her peformance vs Houston in round three in the next post in this series.)

3) Kailen Sheridan (Sky Blue) - As I wrote last week, I think Sheridan’s apprehension and eagerness got the better of her in the 1-0 loss to Utah Royals FC. She deserves a little grace with her team struggling to get the ball out of their half and the goal coming from a terrible turnover in the back, but the ideal balance she showed in the opening round is wasn’t found in round two. This shot was actually at a better angle for her in the goal below (closer to the endline) but she tried to parry the ball away with both her hand and foot, which traditionally means neither is going to get it. See how close the ball passed her body:

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Any shot outside the knee/calf area is always tricky, but it’s one Sheridan needs to save if she really wants to contend for the Canadian national team spot, which she’s more than capable of doing. Sheridan isn’t shy about throwing her face in front of a boot but if she can find success in situations that call for patience as well, she can be a top goalkeeper in the NWSL. Otherwise it’ll be a one step forward and one step back for her.

4) Aubrey Bledsoe (Washington Spirit) - We talked about consistency with Bledsoe last week and she was off to a great start, but Washington’s second game wasn’t as good. In the 50th minute, Lynn Williams took advantage of a missed tackle, moved left-to-right (from Bledsoe’s point of view) and scored just eight yards from goal. It was a tough situation for obvious reasons but goalkeepers can’t make bad situations worse. If Williams slotted it upper 90, Bledsoe would have been off the hook, but the ball passed a yard outside Bledsoe’s hip. It seems the momentum got the better of her, catching Bledsoe leaning (guessing?) the opposite way. It was certainly more difficult than the save of the game from round one, where she kept her feet and found the attacker moving straight on goal from an acute angle, but the same principle applied here: keep your balance and cover your bubble. Ask Bledsoe and I’m sure she’ll admit it’s one she’ll want back. On a positive note, Bledsoe looked really fluid on a few crosses, coming out with a strong run and meeting the ball at a good height. She also has looked like one of the better goalkeepers at organizing the defense, which probably goes a long way with the Spirit. Bledsoe gets a week to recoup before facing off against a high scoring Houston Dash squad, so look to see if Bledsoe can handle the pressure or if inconsistencies plague her in the round three matchup.

5) Casey Murphy (OL Reign) - With all the talk about a modern goalkeeper needing to play out of the back, it is odd to see so many NWSL goalkeepers consistently failing to do so. Early in their game against Houston, Murphy tried to no-look a pass across her body and 40 yards up the field. Needless to say, it didn’t go well, leading to the Dash gaining an early 1-0 lead. Murphy misplayed a couple other times out of the back, not seeing a nearby opposing forward and later putting a pass on the back foot of the center back (and thus killing the play out). It leaves you wondering just how modern the goalkeeping is in the NWSL.

Still, Murphy looked fine elsewhere. She handled crosses with ease as her handling is certainly above average. A 1v1 in the 79th minute (that ultimately missed the goal) looked surprisingly difficult for Murphy, stumbling to one knee while doing a 180 as the chip soared over the crossbar. Murphy is reminiscent of Naeher in that her strengths and weaknesses are pretty loud on both ends. So far, OL Reign haven’t put her into too many difficult situations, but one can only wonder how Murphy would handle more 1v1s or demands for distributing from the back.

6) Jane Campbell (Houston Dash) - Campbell might as well have brought a lawn chair out with her during the match against OL Reign. She faced zero shots on goal as the Houston offense has now scored five goals in two matches. There’s not much to talk about here, although I will highlight a great time wasting tactic from Campbell in the 94th minute to just give some more content. As a ball was rolling out for a corner kick, Campbell slid to keep it inbounds and prevent the ensuing set piece. She was unsuccessful in her attempt, but slyly stood up with the ball in hand, took a few steps, then tossed the ball to a ball boy in the opposite direction. It’s probably only five or ten seconds burned at the end of the day, but the awareness of the situation isn’t something you see from every goalkeeper.

7) Stephanie Labbé (North Carolina Courage) - Labbé parried a swerving shot away in the third minute and…. I think that was it? The front ten did most of the heavy lifting for her, utilizing an incredibly efficient “bend but don’t break” strategy. The Courage are apt at giving some possession away but recapturing it exactly where they want to. Labbé made a meal out of a simple corner in the 53rd minute but the ref spotted a soft foul and awarded a free kick. The Courage finish with the toothless Sky Blue FC, so we may not see Labbé called back into action until the knockout rounds start.

8) Abby Smith (Utah Royals) - Not much action on Smith’s end until the 90th minute, where she once again was caught between two decisions. The ball spilled out of her hands inside the six and Smith was stuck on the ground, leaving an empty net that her defense fortunately coverd for her. It’s never easy to sit for an hour and a half and then be called into a high pressure situation in the blink of an eye, but Smith’s indecision isn’t going to earn high marks with the coaching staff.

Backup Goalkeeper Reviews
(We won’t do power rankings here as these goalkeepers are unlikely to get more than 90 minutes throughout the tourney, but we’ll review them all the same.)

Emily Boyd (Chicago Red Stars) - Any time a backup goes into a game and makes the exact same mistake the starter made, it’s an incredibly frustrating experience. Boyd didn’t make it 45 seconds before turning the ball over inside the 18 yard box. Fortunately her teammates are familiar with this situation and did a good job of covering up for Boyd’s mistake. It’s an embarrassing error - even more so, considering what happened to Naeher in round one - but it only made her save in the 14th minute all the more impressive. Boyd responded to her mistake with an incredible strong palm, pushing a shot destined for the back of the net over the crossbar. It may be the save of the tournament, to be completely honest. While Boyd’s footwork and mobility seem sophomoric far too often, this is a great example of having the mental fortitude to rebound from an error.

Cassie Miller (Chicago Red Stars) - World traveler Cassie Miller entered in the second half for Boyd. Hopefully Miller ends up being a success story for young goalkeepers who ply their trade in Europe. After a year with PSV and Apollon Limassol each, Miller made her debut with the Red Stars with a 45 minute second half. Her movement felt a little clunky at times, but there’s a good chance it’s a result of first game jitters and filling in for Naeher, no less. Miller was decisive and more mobile than I remember seeing her at Florida State, but with the crowded goalkeeping corps in the NWSL, don’t be surprised if she ends up back overseas.

Hopefully we see the goalkeepers pick up their game and shake off the rust in round three. I’ll be back with updated rankings next week.