U.S. Women's National Team 2021 spotlight: Goalkeepers

Photo by
Darla S Tamulitis
La Vita Loca Photography
Copyright 2021
All Rights Reserved

By Jennifer Edwards
Copyright 2021 All Rights Reserved 

HOUSTON, TEXAS (May 30, 2021) The United States Women’s National Team head coach Vlatko Andonovski has named his 23-player roster for the training camp Summer Series that kicks off in Houston against Portugal on June 10 at BBVA Stadium.

Andonovski’s choices in goalkeepers are Jane Campbell (shown right) of the Houston Dash, Adrianna Franch of the Portland Thorns, and Alyssa Naeher of the Chicago Red Stars. Absent is Ashlyn Harris of the Orlando Pride. 

Goalkeeping has always been one of the defensive keys to the National Team strategy and they are getting that with these three keepers. Naeher has been the go-to keeper for the last several years and she has proven herself to be a valuable asset to the team. Franch has had a few call-ups and a few starts but is largely untested in national team play as has Campbell. Both Keepers have put up impressive stats with their respective home teams. 

Keep an eye out on national team keepers. They put on a spectacular clinic for young soccer players to watch. 

The first National Team Summer Series game is June 10, 2021 at 7 p.m. CDT and will air on FS1 at the same time.

Houston Dynamo FC gain three points in 2-1 win over Vancouver Whitecaps FC

Photo credit: Trask Smith / Houston Dynamo FC

By Robert H Kelly
Copyright 2021 All Rights Reserved

HOUSTON, TEXAS (May 22, 2021) Houston Dynamo FC scored two goals in the first half and raised their season record to 3-2-2 in their 2-1 win over Vancouver Whitecaps FC on a cloudy Saturday evening at BBVA Stadium.

The match was the first meeting between the two teams since 2019, with Houston coming into the match with a 5-1-1 home record against the Caps.

It did not take long for Houston to get on the scoreboard. Midfielder Fafa Picault kicked the ball from the left side which was deflected by Vancouver goalkeeper Maxime Crepeau. Midfielder Memo Rodriguez recovered the defection and drilled the ball into the net from 12 yards (in the eighth minute) out for his second goal of the season.

The Dynamo gave Vancouver a chance in the midfield, costing midfielder Derrick Jones a yellow card for a professional foul in preventing the goal from the Whitecaps attack. 

Forward Maxi Urruti got his third goal of the season in the 42nd minute when Rodriguez fed him the ball for the score to give the Men in Orange a 2-0 lead at the halfway mark.

Vancouver cut Houston's lead to one in the 80th minute when forward Deiber Caicedo nailed a close shot as a result of a turnover from midfielder Boniek Garcia.  The Caps tried to even the score late in the game, but left Houston with a 2-4-1 record.

The match saw the return of Dynamo legend Ricardo Clark to BBVA Stadium o for the first time since he retired in February, 2020. The two-time MLS Cup champion returned as an assistant coach for the Vancouver after beginning his coaching career with the Houston Dynamo FC Academy in 2019 and spending time with the U-20 US Men’s National Team. 

Clark played for the Dynamo for nearly a decade and finished his career with the second most games in club history with 304 matches played and 25,139 minutes played in all competitions for the Dynamo.

Houston had 14 shots during the match, with three shots on target. Vancouver countered with 11 shots and two on target.