2019 Sky Blue FC season

The 2019 Sky Blue FC season was the team's tenth season as a professional women's soccer team. Sky Blue FC plays in the National Women's Soccer League, the top tier of women's soccer in the United States.^[1]

Sky Blue FC

2019 season
President & CEO	Thomas Hofstetter
Head coach	Denise Reddy (until June 28) Hugo Macedo (caretaker, from June 28 until September 4) Freya Coombe (from September 4)
Stadium	Yurcak Field Piscataway, New Jersey (Capacity: 5,000)
NWSL	8th
Top goalscorer	Carli Lloyd (8)
Highest home attendance	9,415 vs Reign FC, August 18, 2019
Lowest home attendance	1,321 vs Portland Thorns FC, April 28, 2019
Average home league attendance	3,338
Home colors Away colors
← 2018 2020 →

Since the 2018 Sky Blue finished in last place and only won one game, 2019 offered opportunities for improvement. The off-season didn't get off to a promising start as two of the team's top draft picks, Hailie Mace (2nd overall pick) and Julia Ashley (6th overall pick) chose not to sign with the club. Mace signed with FC Rosengård and Ashley with Linköpings FC.^[2][3] Sky Blue's third and fourth picks, Paige Monaghan (10th overall pick) and Julie James (11th overall pick) did however choose to come to preseason and were ultimately signed. During preseason training two Sky Blue players suffered season-ending injuries. Defender Mandy Freeman ruptured her Achilles tendon and midfielder Madison Tiernan tore her ACL and MCL.^[4][5]

On April 9, 2019 General Manager and President Tony Novo resigned from his position, Sky Blue Vice-President Alyse LaHue was appointed to take over as interim general manager.^[6] Kyra Carusa, Sky Blue's 19th overall pick in the 2019 Draft signed with Le Havre AC in France on April 25, making her the third Sky Blue draft pick to sign in Europe.^[7]

On June 28, Denise Reddy was fired as the team's head coach. Her record as head coach was 1-8-24.^[8] Goalkeeper coach Hugo Macedo filled in on a temporary basis until the club named Freya Coombe interim head coach on September 4.^[9]

Sky Blue played their first ever game at Red Bull Arena on August 18 against Reign FC. They set a club record with 9,415 in attendance for the game, which finished in a 1–1 draw.^[10] The positive feedback and high demand led the club to move their September 29 home finale to Red Bull Arena, where they drew 8,314 for a 1–1 draw against the Orlando Pride.^[11]

Team

First-team roster

As of July 19, 2019^[12] Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules; some limited exceptions apply. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.

No. Pos. Nation Player 1 GK  CAN Kailen Sheridan 3 DF  USA Caprice Dydasco 4 MF  USA Paige Monaghan 5 MF  USA Julie James 7 FW  USA Jen Hoy 8 DF  USA Erica Skroski 9 FW  JPN Nahomi Kawasumi 10 MF  USA Carli Lloyd 11 MF  CRC Raquel Rodriguez 12 DF  USA Gina Lewandowski 13 GK  BIH DiDi Haracic

No. Pos. Nation Player 14 MF  USA Kenie Wright 16 MF  USA Sarah Killion 17 DF  USA Domi Richardson 19 MF  USA Elizabeth Eddy 22 DF  USA Mandy Freeman 24 DF  CMR Estelle Johnson 28 MF  USA Imani Dorsey 29 DF  CAN Amandine Pierre-Louis 73 MF  USA Madison Tiernan — MF  USA Nicole Baxter

Competitions

Preseason

Sky Blue FC v St. John's University

March 16, 2019	Sky Blue FC	6–0	St. John's University	Manalapan, New Jersey
3:00 p.m.		Report	Monaghan 12', 45' Dorsey 23' Hoy 33' Lloyd 41', 65'	Stadium: Sportika Sports

Sky Blue FC v West Virginia University

March 23, 2019	Sky Blue FC	0–0	West Virginia University	Manalapan, New Jersey
3:00 p.m.				Stadium: Sportika Sports

Sky Blue FC v Rutgers University

March 29, 2019	Sky Blue FC	2–0	Rutgers University	Manalapan, New Jersey
7:00 p.m.	Hoy 9' Monaghan 77'	Report		Stadium: Sportika Sports

Regular season

Washington Spirit v Sky Blue FC

April 13, 2019 1	Washington Spirit	2–0	Sky Blue FC	Boyds, Maryland
19:00	Staab 59' Crosson 90+2'	Report		Stadium: Maryland SoccerPlex Attendance: 2.373

Sky Blue FC v Houston Dash

April 20, 2019 2	Sky Blue FC	0–1	Houston Dash	Piscataway, New Jersey
18:00	Lloyd  80'	Report	Agnew  49' Huerta 83'	Stadium: Yurcak Field Attendance: 1,394

Sky Blue FC v Portland Thorns FC

April 28, 2019 3	Sky Blue FC	2–2	Portland Thorns FC	Piscataway, New Jersey
18:00	Lloyd 6', 18' James  60'	Report	Sonnett 32' Heath 34'	Stadium: Yurcak Field Attendance: 1,321

North Carolina Courage v Sky Blue FC

May 4, 2019 4	North Carolina Courage	0–0	Sky Blue FC	Cary, North Carolina
19:00	McCall Zerboni  87'	Report	Paige Monaghan  34'	Stadium: WakeMed Soccer Park Attendance: 5,039

Sky Blue FC v Washington Spirit

May 11, 2019 5	Sky Blue FC	2–3	Washington Spirit	Piscataway, New Jersey
15:00	Rodriguez 32' Dorsey 80'	Report	Matthews 22', 68' Dougherty Howard  27' DiBiasi 55' Nielsen  54'	Stadium: Yurcak Field Attendance: 1,330

Reign FC v Sky Blue FC

May 18, 2019 6	Reign FC	2–1	Sky Blue FC	Tacoma, Washington
16:00	James 13' (o.g) Taylor 78' Onumonu  90+8'	Box	Rodriguez 10' McCaskill  45+1'	Stadium: Cheney Stadium Attendance: 3,036

Sky Blue FC v Portland Thorns FC

May 25, 2019 7	Sky Blue FC	0–1	Portland Thorns FC	Piscataway, New Jersey
18:00		Box	Purce 69' Brynjarsdottir  87'	Stadium: Yurcak Field Attendance: 1,472

Utah Royals FC v Sky Blue FC

June 15, 2019 8	Utah Royals FC	1–0	Sky Blue FC	Sandy, Utah
22:00	Rodriguez 16' Tymrak  90+2'	Box	Skroski  84'	Stadium: Rio Tinto Stadium Attendance: 5,777

Sky Blue FC v Orlando Pride

June 22, 2019 9	Sky Blue FC	1–2	Orlando Pride	Piscataway, New Jersey
19:00	Killion 67' (pen.) Dydasco  90+3'	Box	Ubogagu 32' (pen.) Lewandowski 67' (o.g.)	Stadium: Yurcak Field Attendance: 1,644

Chicago Red Stars v Sky Blue FC

July 6, 2019 10	Chicago Red Stars	1–2	Sky Blue FC	Bridgeview, Illinois
20:00	Colaprico 83'	Report	Rodriguez 23' Hoy 81' James  90+4'	Stadium: SeatGeek Stadium Attendance: 2,374

Sky Blue FC v Utah Royals FC

July 12, 2019 11	Sky Blue FC	1–0	Utah Royals FC	Piscataway, New Jersey
19:30	James  42' Flores  77' Pierre-Louis  88' Hoy 90+2'	Report		Stadium: Yurcak Field Attendance: 1,842

Orlando Pride v Sky Blue FC

July 20, 2019 12	Orlando Pride	1–0	Sky Blue FC	Orlando, Florida
19:30	Viggiano 23' Zadorsky  52' Ubogagu  78'	Report		Stadium: Exploria Stadium Attendance: 9,415 Referee: Danielle Chesky

Sky Blue FC v Washington Spirit

July 24, 2019 13	Sky Blue FC	0–1	Washington Spirit	Piscataway, New Jersey
19:30	James  50'	Report	Hatch 54' Huster  90+2'	Stadium: Yurcak Field Attendance: 5,003

Houston Dash v Sky Blue FC

July 28, 2019 14	Houston Dash	1–0	Sky Blue FC	Houston, Texas
19:00	Daly 22'	Report	Dorsey  68'	Stadium: BBVA Compass Stadium Attendance: 3,510

Portland Thorns FC v Sky Blue FC

August 4, 2019 15	Portland Thorns FC	1–1	Sky Blue FC	Portland, Oregon
23:00	Sinclair 39' (pen.)	Report	Dorsey 69' Pierre-Louis  73'  90+2'	Stadium: Providence Park Attendance: 19,070

Utah Royals FC v Sky Blue FC

August 7, 2019 16	Utah Royals FC	3–0	Sky Blue FC	Sandy, Utah
22:00	Press 27', 29' Rodriguez 28'	Report	Hoy  60' Wright  60'	Stadium: Rio Tinto Stadium Attendance: 7,715

Sky Blue FC v Chicago Red Stars

August 14, 2019 17	Sky Blue FC	2–1	Chicago Red Stars	Piscataway, New Jersey
19:00	Monaghan 71' (Lloyd), 90+3' (Lloyd) Wright  56'	Report	Kerr 90+1' (Nagasato) Nagasato  62' Naughton  64'	Stadium: Yurcak Field Attendance: 2,558 Referee: Thomas Snyder

Sky Blue FC v Reign FC

August 18, 2019 18	Sky Blue FC	1–1	Reign FC	Harrison, New Jersey
13:00	Eddy 36'	Report	Taylor 38' Long  84'	Stadium: Red Bull Arena Attendance: 9,415

Houston Dash v Sky Blue FC

August 24, 2019 19	Houston Dash	1–2	Sky Blue FC	Houston, Texas
20:30	Ohai 90+4'	Report	Dydasco  9' Lloyd 26', 41' Skroski  34' Lewandowski  49' Sheridan  83'	Stadium: BBVA Stadium Attendance: 4,102

Sky Blue FC v North Carolina Courage

September 7, 2019 20	Sky Blue FC	1–2	North Carolina Courage	Piscataway, New Jersey
15:00	Lloyd 13' (pen.) Rodriguez  79'	Report	Skroski 1' (o.g.) Dunn 57'	Stadium: Yurcak Field Attendance: 2,895

Sky Blue FC v Chicago Red Stars

September 15, 2019 21	Sky Blue FC	0–3	Chicago Red Stars	Piscataway, New Jersey
17:00	Rodriguez  78'	Report	Brian 31' Kerr 33' Nagasato 80'	Stadium: Yurcak Field Attendance: 2,871

Reign FC v Sky Blue FC

September 21, 2019 22	Reign FC	0–1	Sky Blue FC	Tacoma, Washington
22:00		Box Report	Dorsey  43' Lloyd  50' 77'	Stadium: Cheney Stadium Attendance: 6,189

Sky Blue FC v Orlando Pride

September 29, 2019 23	Sky Blue FC	1–1	Orlando Pride	Harrison, New Jersey
11:00	Dorsey  45+2' Monaghan  56' Lloyd 88'	Report	Zadorsky 18' Edmonds  42'	Stadium: Red Bull Arena Attendance: 8,314

North Carolina Courage v Sky Blue FC

October 12, 2019 24	North Carolina Courage	3–2	Sky Blue FC	Cary, North Carolina
19:00	McDonald 16' Debinha 28' McDonald 81'	Report	Lloyd 26' Richardson 86'	Stadium: WakeMed Soccer Park Attendance: 9,195

Regular-season standings

Pos	Team v t e	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification
1	North Carolina Courage (C)	24	15	4	5	54	23	+31	49	NWSL Shield
2	Chicago Red Stars	24	14	2	8	41	28	+13	44	NWSL Playoffs
3	Portland Thorns FC	24	11	7	6	40	31	+9	40
4	Reign FC	24	10	8	6	27	27	0	38
5	Washington Spirit	24	9	7	8	30	25	+5	34
6	Utah Royals FC	24	10	4	10	25	25	0	34
7	Houston Dash	24	7	5	12	21	36	−15	26
8	Sky Blue FC	24	5	5	14	20	34	−14	20
9	Orlando Pride	24	4	4	16	24	53	−29	16

Source: NWSL
Rules for classification: Tiebreakers
(C) Champions

Results summary

Overall								Home						Away
Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD
22	5	4	13	17	30	−13	19	2	2	7	10	17	−7	3	2	6	7	13	−6

Last updated: September 22, 2019.
Source: NWSLsoccer.com

Results by round

Round	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	18	19	20	21	22	23	24
Stadium	A	H	H	A	H	A	H	A	H	A	H	A	H	A	A	A	H	H	A	H	H	A	H	A
Result	L	L	D	D	L	L	L	L	L	W	W	L	L	L	D	L	W	D	W	L	L	W	D	L
Position	8	9	8	8	8	8	8	8	9	9	9	9	9	9	9	9	8	8	8	8	8	8	8	8

Updated to match(es) played on September 22, 2019. Source: NWSLsoccer.com
A = Away; H = Home; W = Win; D = Draw; L = Loss

Statistical leaders

Top scorers Rank Player Goals 1 Carli Lloyd 8 2 Raquel Rodriguez 3 3 Jen Hoy 2 Imani Dorsey Paige Monaghan 6 Sarah Killion 1 McKenzie Meehan Domi Richardson Elizabeth Eddy

Top assists Rank Player Assists 1 Sarah Killion 3 Raquel Rodriguez 3 Carli Lloyd 1 Paige Monaghan Jen Hoy Elizabeth Eddy Julie James Nahomi Kawasumi Amandine Pierre-Louis Kenie Wright Savannah McCaskill Shutouts Rank Player Clean sheets 1 Kailen Sheridan 3

Player transactions

2019 NWSL College Draft

Source: National Women's Soccer League^[13]

Round	Pick	Nat.	Player	Pos.	Previous Team
Round 1	2		Hailie Mace	F	UCLA
Round 1	6		Julia Ashley	D	University of North Carolina
Round 2	10		Paige Monaghan	F	Butler University
Round 2	11		Julie James	M	Baylor University
Round 3	19		Kyra Carusa	F	Georgetown University
Round 4	28		Kaylan Marckese	G	University of Florida
Round 4	29		Kenie Wright	M	Rutgers University
Round 4	34		Sabrina Flores	D	University of Notre Dame

In

Date	Player	Positions played	Previous club	Fee/notes	Ref.
January 10, 2019	Caprice Dydasco	DF	Washington Spirit	Acquired in Trade with the Washington Spirit for the 3rd Overall Pick in the 2019 NWSL College Draft	[14]
January 10, 2019	DiDi Haracic	GK	Washington Spirit	Acquired in Trade with the Washington Spirit for the 3rd Overall Pick in the 2019 NWSL College Draft	[14]
January 10, 2019	Estelle Johnson	DF	Washington Spirit	Acquired in Trade with the Washington Spirit for the 3rd Overall Pick in the 2019 NWSL College Draft	[14]
January 14, 2019	Nahomi Kawasumi	FW	Reign FC	Acquired in Trade with Reign FC in exchange for Shea Groom	[15]
April 10, 2019	Gabi	MF	Esporte Clube Iranduba da Amazônia	Signed.	[16]
May 7, 2019	Gina Lewandowski	DF	Bayern Munich	Signed.	[17]
June 11, 2019	Elizabeth Eddy	MF	North Carolina Courage	Acquired in a trade with the North Carolina Courage in exchange for McKenzie Meehan	[18]
July 19, 2019	Nicole Baxter	MF	Asarums IF	Signed.	[19]

Out

Date	Player	Positions played	Destination club	Fee/notes	Ref.
November 14, 2018	Amanda Frisbie	DF	Klepp IL	Signed with Klepp IL in Norway.	[20]
November 20, 2018	Rebekah Stott	DF	Avaldsnes IL	Signed with Avaldsnes IL in Norway.	[21]
January 9, 2019	Katie Johnson	FW	Chicago Red Stars	Traded to the Chicago Red Stars in exchange for the 6th overall pick in the 2019 NWSL College Draft and the highest second-round pick in 2020.	[20]
January 12, 2019	Christina Gibbons	DF		Retired	[22]
January 14, 2019	Shea Groom	FW	Reign FC	Traded to Reign FC in exchange for Nahomi Kawasumi	[15]
March 8, 2019	Caroline Casey	GK		Retired	[23]
June 11, 2019	McKenzie Meehan	FW	North Carolina Courage	Traded to the North Carolina Courage in exchange for Elizabeth Eddy.	[18]
June 19, 2019	Savannah McCaskill	FW	Chicago Red Stars	Traded to the Chicago Red Stars in exchange for a First and Second Round draft pick in the 2020 NWSL College Draft	[24]
July 14, 2019	Gabi	MF		Released	[25]
July 19, 2019	Sabrina Flores	MF	Sevilla	Released	[25][19]

Awards

NWSL Team of the Month

Month	Goalkeeper	Defenders	Midfielders	Forwards	Ref
April	Kailen Sheridan				[26]
July	Kailen Sheridan				[27]

NWSL Weekly Awards

NWSL Goal of the Week

Week	Result	Player	Ref.
6	Nominated	Raquel Rodriguez	[28]
13	Nominated	Jennifer Hoy	[29]
16	Nominated	Imani Dorsey	[30]
18	Nominated	Paige Monaghan	[31]
23	Nominated	Carli Lloyd	[32]
24	Nominated	Carli Lloyd	[33]
25	Nominated	Domi Richardson	[34]

NWSL Save of the Week

Week	Result	Player	Ref.
2	Won	Kailen Sheridan	[35]
3	Won	Kailen Sheridan	[36]
4	Nominated	Kailen Sheridan	[37]
5	Nominated	DiDi Haracic	[38]
6	Nominated	DiDi Haracic	[39]
7	Nominated	DiDi Haracic	[40]
9	Nominated	DiDi Haracic	[41]
10	Nominated	DiDi Haracic	[42]
12	Nominated	Kailen Sheridan	[43]
14	Nominated	Kailen Sheridan	[44]
15	Nominated	Kailen Sheridan	[45]
16	Nominated	Kailen Sheridan	[46]
17	Nominated	Kailen Sheridan	[47]
18	Nominated	Kailen Sheridan	[48]
21	Nominated	Kailen Sheridan	[49]
23	Nominated	Kailen Sheridan	[50]
25	Nominated	Kailen Sheridan	[51]