What The Heart Wants

First-Day Jitters

The first hour of Thursday's opening training session was spent handling necessary paperwork for the players (Direct Deposit, W-4s and I-9s, emergency contact information, etc.). As the players completed their forms, they left the conference room and headed down to the practice field. Small groups formed as players made it onto the field, with some opening-day chit-chat going on.

Steph Ochs (to Cami): Sixth opening day of preseason in NWSL, my third team, and it doesn't get any easier, right?

Cami: For sure. It's the same thing every year. 1) Stay healthy, and 2) Work your butt off. The one thing I guess I am thankful for here is that there aren't extra bodies in camp. Wendy said that the 20 here would be the roster unless injuries get in the way.

Liz: And we all know that there is always one or two of those that will shake things up by the time we get to opening day.

Erin: It looks like we have good depth across the roster, so it should be a battle among us to crack the first XI for the first friendly against Sky Blue in ten days.

Cami: I think I'm more a depth player, not exactly a starter ahead of either you or Liz, Erin.

Steph Labbe, Ali, Bianca, and Stephany were the last four players to get on the field, followed by Erica, Carm, and Kristin. The twenty players were split into three groups, with the goalkeepers following Kristin to the south end of the field, a 5 v 2 rondo taking place in the middle under the watchful eye of Erica, and Carm overseeing a 6 v 4 drill involving the team's potential starting outfield players. After around 20 minutes together, the seven players in the middle swapped with seven of the ten that were with Carm, leaving Diana, Ali, and Cari to do a second go-around.

When the players returned from a short water break, Erica had them do killers (end line to the 18, back to the end line, up to center line, back to the 18, up to other 18, back to center line, up to opposite end line, back to nearest 18, up to the end line, then sprint end line to end line). Steph Labbe and Sammy Jo struggled mightily to make it through one circuit, proving that goalkeepers don't necessarily have the best cardiovascular fitness. EJ, due to her basketball cross-training, was able to keep up with the main pack of the team. Kristie, Jen, and Frannie did the best of the players, which didn't surprise Erica a whole lot (Kristie and Jen were two of the fastest in the league, and Frannie had experience with this type of drill from her three years under Erica at Penn State). Following a second water break, Erica split up the players into two teams for a 10 v 10 scrimmage (Carm would play with one of the teams so each would have nine outfield players).

Light shirts: Sammy Jo; Steph Ochs, Carm, Becca, Cami; Diana, Ali, Kristie; Steph McCaffrey, Savannah.

Dark shirts: Steph Labbe; Liz, Cari, Bianca, Erin; Morgan; Jen, Mana, Stephany; Frannie.

The dark shirts got off to a hideous start against the starting offense, with Liz burnt for speed on the flank by Kristie, leading to a goal from her cross to Steph McCaffrey. Morgan pushed forward to provide a second attacking option through the center of the park for her team, which forced Sammy Jo into a fingertip save on a long shot from her fiancee. The light shirts picked up a second goal on a decisive on-the-button long ball from Becca to Savannah, one which drew Steph out of her net only to be circled by the striker. When the first thirty minutes had elapsed, Erica had Steph come out of goal, Sammy Jo switch to the dark shirts, and EJ backstop the light-shirted team. While on the sideline with Erica and Kristin, Steph discussed her opinion of her two understudies.

Steph: Sammy Jo has the experience of facing this level of competition, but didn't have the defense in Boston to keep her from having her weaknesses exposed. EJ's the better shot-stopper and has the better ball-playing skills, but she's not been exposed to teams where everyone in the front six can score on you from anywhere inside 30 yards. We'll see how Sammy Jo handles facing Steph, Savannah, Diana, and Kristie. I didn't fare all that well against them with our first-choice defense, so I'm expecting her not to do much if any better.