Sky Blue managed to do the one big thing: sign Nadia Nadim for a full season. But is Danish-striker-as-savior a surefire strategy for the postseason or a recipe for more middle of the table upside-down cake?
Head coach: Jim Gabarra, third season
Where we left off: Sky Blue FC made a late push for the postseason, but ultimately fell short, finishing in sixth with a 9-8-7 record and just 30 goals scored -- the second-worst in the league.
Let the Jenni Branam tribute commence!: Somehow Sky Blue has always looked more comfortable with a keeper who's not afraid to take a little mid-game constitutional among the grasses and pretty white painted lines. Brittany Cameron doesn't have quite the adventuring spirit that Jenni "Ferdinand Magellan" Branam did, but she's way closer to it than Jill Loyden was. Last season, with Loyden and her more stay-at-home style back in the starting lineup, the Jersey defense never looked totally comfortable or confident the way they had in front of Cameron in 2013. Now, Loyden has retired, leaving Cameron to fire up the old Branam nostalgia machine full-time. Except...
Where have all the defenders gone?: The defense this season looks totally different. Gone are Giantest Giant CoCo Goodson (retirement) and Kendall "more than once they announced her name as Jackson, which is wine and definitely explains a lot about Sky Blue in general but maybe I'm just projecting" Johnson (traded to Portland for draft picks). Christie Rampone and Caitlin Foord return, but both will be tied up with World Cup commitments for the U.S. and Australia respectively. Does it say "different" up there? Maybe that was supposed to say non-existent. Those are totally synonyms, no?
Jim Gabarra at least sort of planned ahead for this, picking up Kristin Grubka in the draft and bringing back Lindsi Cutshall, Cami Levin and Meg Morris. There's also Kelley O'Hara, who's listed as a defender but might as well be listed as "person" because we're quite a few years into this now and still no one has decided what position she actually plays.
Do you Freels like talking a Lytle about the midfield?: Gone are Ashley Nick (traded to Houston for draft picks), Sophie Schmidt and Nanase Kiryu. Sky Blue did manage to bring back Katy Freels, Taylor Lytle and Nikki Stanton, either out of an appreciation for all the pun possibilities, or because Freels tallied five goals and four assists last season, while Nick scored once and Lytle had her 2014 cut very short (SORRY) by a broken leg suffered a month into the season, but scored a few big goals in 2013 -- it's up to you to decide. Sky Blue did pick up Sarah Killion in the draft and hey, let's just mention Kelley O'Hara in this section too, because why not.
Nadia Nadim is probably made of magic: Sky Blue returns its entire forward corps from 2014. That's Jonelle Filigno, Monica Ocampo, Maya Hayes, KELLEY O'HARA, and Nadia Nadim. They've also added Lo'eau LaBonta, who was picked up in the draft, and Samantha Kerr, acquired in a trade with Western NY. Filigno (Canada), Ocampo (Mexico), O'Hara (U.S.) and Kerr (Australia) all have international commitments, but the real story here is Nadim anyway.
The Afghanistan-born Denmark international came to New Jersey late in the 2014 season and immediately did some kind of magic that made Sky Blue look like a functional soccer team. Nadim put up seven goals (and three assists) tying her with O'Hara as Sky Blue's leading scorer. Except Nadim did it in six games, while O'Hara needed 22. But it wasn't just the goals and the assists, it was that something about the way Nadim played seemed to make everyone around her better, too. O'Hara, stricken with injuries and a general malaise through the previous season-and-a-half in Jersey, looked like a different, more alive, player alongside Nadim. And it wasn't just O'Hara. Everyone looked better. It made you wonder what kind of year it would've been for Sky Blue if they'd had this magical secret weapon striker for an entire season instead of just six games. Well, we're about to find out.
In conclusion: Nadia Nadim is here for the full season, all of our troubles are taken care of you guys. You know, as long as that new striker shine hasn't worn off and we also don't talk about that revolving door of a defense. Whatever. It will be fine. The team is called Sky Blue. Blue skies. How could it not be fine?
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