What The Heart Wants

NWSL 2018 Matchday One

The 2018 NWSL season began in Vancouver, where the Legacy took on the Portland Thorns. A goal by Stephany Mayor in the 68th minute held up as the defending league champion got off on the right foot with a 1-0 win.  Inside the visitors' locker room at Jordan Field, the Hearts were getting their final instructions from Erica.

Erica: The Breakers might be underestimating us. Make them pay for it. First pass, first foul, first shot, first goal. Anyone got something to contribute before the starters go to line up in the tunnel and the rest of us go out to the bench?

Steph Labbe: Everyone, do your part. Don't expect I or Ali or Emily or Cari to be a defensive savior, not when there is more than enough talent on the field to shut Boston down.

Ali: Be brave, offense! Go after them and sound the siren that we are NOT to be taken lightly, even if we're an expansion team.

Steph McCaffrey: Make my parents, and Kristie's parents, and Morgan Andrews' family proud of us being good old-fashioned Massholes against a club that all three of us played for in the past.

Ali: One love on three. One, two, three.

ALL: ONE LOVE!

The Hearts players and coaches left their locker room, with the reserves and staff going through the tunnel and entering Jordan Field while the first XI got into order and waited for the Breakers to join them. The Breakers lined up and some greetings were exchanged between former teammates and friends (Christen Westphal and Savannah Jordan, Allysha Chapman and Steph Labbe, Ali Krieger and Megan Oyster, Kristie Mewis and Angela Salem) before the referees joined them. Up in the booth, play-by-play announcer Marisa Pilla and color commentator Sinead Farrelly, covering the match for NBC Sports Philadelphia, welcomed viewers to the broadcast.

Marisa Pilla: From Jordan Field on the campus of Harvard University, the Philadelphia Hearts play their first match as a member of the NWSL against the Boston Breakers. Good evening, I'm Marisa Pilla and alongside me is former Philadelphia Independence midfielder and native of Havertown, PA, Sinead Farrelly. Sinead, you were fortunate enough to play for the last women's pro soccer team from Philadelphia. How do you think the Hearts are feeling as the successors to your club's on-field legacy of back-to-back WPS championship game appearances?

Sinead Farrelly: Frankly, I think this team will be making their own mark based on the experience they have from previous NWSL seasons. Us former Indies will take immense pride in how they go about representing the City of Sisterly Affection.

Marisa: The starting lineups, presented by Pep Boys. For the Breakers, Abby Smith will be in goal, with a back line of Christen Westphal, Julie King, Megan Oyster, and Allysha Chapman in front of her. The midfield consists of Rose Lavelle, Angela Salem, Rosie White, and Midge Purce, with Tasha Dowie and Katie Stengel up top. The Hearts will start out with Canadian National Team #1 Stephanie Labbe between the pipes, fronted by the foursome of Elizabeth Eddy, Cari Roccaro, Emily Sonnett, and Cami Levin. Diana Matheson, Ali Krieger, Lindsey Horan, and Kristie Mewis make up the midfield, while Stephanie McCaffrey and Savannah Jordan man the forward positions.

Sinead: Despite being the newest team in the league, I expect the Hearts to give Boston everything they can handle over the ninety minutes.

Referee Natalie Simon checked that both goalkeepers were ready to commence, then blew her whistle and the Breakers kicked off to start the game. The first several minutes were played at a high pace, with both sides trying to gain an early advantage on the scoreboard. Steph Labbe made an easy save on a Midge Purce cross that drifted too far into the box. Abby Smith's first test of the evening was on a Savannah Jordan strike from outside the penalty area, which she smothered. Following a goal attempt by Katie Stengel that went wide, Steph Labbe played the ball out to Ali Krieger at the top of the penalty area. She turned and fed a pass across to Liz Eddy, who had pressed forward slightly. Her pass forward to Diana Matheson was played inward to Lindsey Horan, who dribbled forward before passing to Savannah Jordan. The ball was then played back and to the left to Kristie Mewis, who used her speed to go past Christen Westphal with the ball, then crossed it slightly backwards where a dummy by Savannah allowed the pass to drift into the pathway of Lindsey Horan. Her right-footed shot went around Megan Oyster and into the net past a screened Abby Smith. Not satisfied with a one-goal lead, the Hearts stayed on the throttle and were rewarded when Diana's cross was re-directed by the head of Steph McCaffrey into the Breakers' net.