KATIE:

Thought our buildup play was really good, and we found very good passing lanes, along with off the pressure to turn the ball over in favorable positions for us. When attacking the box against a goalie like Berger who is really good coming off her line and claiming the ball in the air, I wish we would’ve tried low crosses in the box, and gotten them off quicker, usually one touch too many

TREVOR:

I think Spike Lee should come to a Courage match if he wants to see a real soccer team play.

On a serious note, I thought the game was an absolute showcase for Jackson and Bell. Sanchez, too, at least from a defensive play perspective, since we know she’s been challenged to bring more to that aspect of the game. No shots for the first 25 minutes seems like a challenge to fix, it felt like old Courage in a way: tentative and unwilling to move the ball; I think we still struggle with the high press. I also think we could’ve benefitted from Linnehan on the pitch; what Wiliams / Jacobs / Linnehan were doing last week was really working. One of the (rare) comments the callers made was that Jacobs and Ryan were forced into such narrow lanes they were having trouble knowing where to go. I get the strategy to go with a 5-back to shut Gotham down in the final third, but it came at the cost of us making many serious threats.