2017 Sky Blue FC season explained

Club:	Sky Blue FC
Season:	2017
Chrtitle:	President & CEO
Chairman:	Thomas Hofstetter
Mgrtitle:	Head coach
Manager:	Christy Holly (until Aug. 16) Dave Hodgson^[1] (after Aug. 16)
Stadium:	Yurcak Field Piscataway, New Jersey (Capacity: 5,000)
League:	NWSL
League Result:	6th
Highest Attendance:	3,451 (May 27 vs. Orlando)
Lowest Attendance:	2,008 (September 10 vs. Washington)
League Topscorer:	Samantha Kerr (17)
Pattern B1:	_precision_vneck
Leftarm1:	90bbee
Body1:	90bbee
Rightarm1:	90bbee
Shorts1:	90bbee
Socks1:	90bbee
Pattern B2:	_vneck
Leftarm2:	FFFFFF
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American:	true
Prevseason:	2016
Nextseason:	2018

The 2017 Sky Blue FC season was the team's eighth 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.^[2]

Review

After a 7th-place finish in 2016, Sky Blue FC finished the 2017 season in 6th place, five points out of playoff contention. Sam Kerr scored a league-record 17 goals, won the league's Golden Boot award, and was named MVP, the first time a player on a non-playoff team had won the award.^[3]

Raquel Rodriguez set the NWSL record for fastest goal scored with a 25-second strike against Portland Thorns FC on June 17.

Head coach Christy Holly resigned mid-season on August 16, and was replaced by four assistant coaches, Jill Loyden, Dave Hodgson, Paul Greig, and Maria Dorris.^[4] A full-time replacement for Holly was not announced until November 15, 2017, when Sky Blue FC hired Washington Spirit assistant coach and former Jersey Sky Blue head coach Denise Reddy.^[5]

Soon after Holly's resignation, center back and team captain Christie Rampone announced that she would miss the rest of the season due to an accumulation of injuries.

Team

First-team roster

^[6]

Competitions

National Women's Soccer League

Regular season

Results by round

Honors and awards

NWSL Yearly Awards

NWSL Player of the Month

Month	Player of the Month	Statline	Ref.
May	Samantha Kerr	2 goals, 2 assists in 5 games; Sky Blue FC 3–2–0 in May	^[8]
June		3 goals, 1 assist in 4 games; 30th career goal	^[9]

NWSL Team of the Month

Month	Goalkeeper	Defenders	Midfielders	Forwards	Ref.
May	Kailen Sheridan		Sarah Killion	Samantha Kerr	^[10]
June				Samantha Kerr	^[11]

NWSL Weekly Awards

NWSL Goal of the Week

Week	Result	Player	Ref.
3		Raquel Rodriguez	^[13]
5		Leah Galton	^[14]
9		Samantha Kerr	^[15]
10		Madison Tiernan	^[16]
11		Samantha Kerr	^[17] ^[18]

NWSL Save of the Week

Week	Result	Player	Ref.
7		Kailen Sheridan	^[19]
9			^[20]
10			^[21]

Statistics

^[22]

16	MF	Sarah Killion	10	10	900	5	0	6	9	6	66.67%	1	1	8	1	0
20	FW	Samantha Kerr	9	8	752	9	3	0	23	17	73.91%	0	7	9	1	0
11	MF	Raquel Rodriguez	9	8	710	3	0	0	13	8	61.54%	0	0	15	2	0
19	FW	Kelley O'Hara	8	8	720	1	1	0	15	8	53.33%	35	4	14	2	0
5	FW	Maya Hayes	8	3	295	1	1	0	3	2	66.67%	0	1	2	0	0
21	FW	Leah Galton	10	6	540	1	0	0	4	4	100.00%	1	1	0	0	0
2	FW	McKenzie Meehan	7	2	239	0	1	0	9	6	66.67%	0	1	2	0	0
22	DF	Mandy Freeman	10	10	900	0	1	0	1	1	100.00%	0	0	2	0	0
73	MF	Madison Tiernan	8	2	257	0	1	0	4	1	25.00%	0	0	9	2	0
10	MF	Daphne Corboz	7	3	292	0	1	0	2	2	100.00%	11	1	2	0	0
12	FW	Kim DeCesare	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	--	0	0	0	0	0
3	DF	Christie Pearce	8	8	720	0	0	0	0	0	--	0	0	0	0	0
8	DF	Erica Skroski	8	8	680	0	0	0	0	0	--	0	1	9	0	0
17	DF	Dominique Richardson	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	--	0	0	0	0	0
6	MF	Taylor Lytle	8	8	614	0	0	0	6	1	16.67%	1	2	2	0	0
7	MF	Nikki Stanton	5	4	298	0	0	0	1	0	0.00%	0	0	6	2	0
33	DF	Erin Simon	5	5	438	0	0	0	0	0	--	0	0	4	1	0
1	GK	Kailen Sheridan	10	10	900	0	0	0	1	0	0.00%	0	0	0	0	0
32	FW	Tasha Kai	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	--	0	0	0	0	0
15	DF	Kayla Mills	9	7	645	0	0	0	1	0	0.00%	0	0	17	1	0
27	GK	Caroline Casey	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	--	0	0	0	0	0
Team Total			139	110	9900	15	9	6	92	56	60.87%	49	19	101	12	0

References

Match reports (pre-season)

Match reports (regular season)

See also

• 2017 National Women's Soccer League season
• 2017 in American soccer

Notes and References

1. Web site: Experienced coach joins women's soccer staff. McGinley. Alex. The Temple News. September 4, 2018. July 27, 2020.
2. Web site: About Sky Blue Soccer. skybluefc.com. June 17, 2017. https://web.archive.org/web/20160506114836/http://www.skybluefc.com/about/. May 6, 2016. dead.
3. Web site: 2017 NWSL season review: Sky Blue FC. Casey. Caprio. October 21, 2017. Vavel. November 15, 2017.
4. Web site: STEPPING DOWN: Christy Holly resigns as Sky Blue FC coach. Front Row Soccer. Michael. Lewis. August 16, 2017. November 15, 2017.
5. Web site: Sky Blue FC name Denise Reddy as new head coach. November 15, 2017. November 15, 2017. NorthJersey.com/The Record.
6. Web site: 2017 Roster. skybluefc.com. June 17, 2017.
7. Web site: Sam Kerr named Golden Boot. National Women's Soccer League. April 30, 2017.
8. Web site: Sam Kerr named May Player of the Month. National Women's Soccer League. nwslsoccer.com. May 31, 2017. May 31, 2017.
9. Web site: Sky Blue FC forward Samantha Kerr voted NWSL Player of the Month. Excelle Sports. Celia. Balf. June 30, 2017. June 30, 2017. https://web.archive.org/web/20171205142918/http://www.excellesports.com/news/sky-blue-fc-forward-samantha-kerr-voted-nwsl-player-month-2/. December 5, 2017. dead.
10. News: Purdy. Jacqueline. May Team of the Month announced. June 3, 2017. NWSL. June 1, 2017.
11. Web site: June Team of the Month announced. NWSL. Meg. Linehan. 30 June 2017. 30 June 2017.
12. Web site: Sam Kerr named Player of the Week. National Women's Soccer League. Meg. Linehan. June 20, 2017. June 20, 2017.
13. Web site: Goal of the Week Nominees: Week 3. National Women's Soccer League. www.nwslsoccer.com. May 1, 2017. June 19, 2017.
14. Web site: Week 5 Goal of the Week Nominees. National Women's Soccer League. www.nwslsoccer.com. May 15, 2017. June 19, 2017.
15. Web site: Vote: Goal of the Week. National Women's Soccer League. www.nwslsoccer.com. Jacqueline. Purdy. June 19, 2017. June 19, 2017.
16. Web site: Goal of the Week Nominees. National Women's Soccer League. www.nwslsoccer.com. June 26, 2017. June 30, 2017.
17. Web site: Vote: Goal of the Week. National Women's Soccer League. Jacqueline. Purdy. www.nwslsoccer.com. July 3, 2017. July 3, 2017.
18. NWSL. National Women's Soccer League. 882660384334675968. July 5, 2017. Week 11 #NWSL Goal of the Week: @samkerr1 of @SkyBlueFC!.
19. Web site: Save of the Week Nominees. National Women's Soccer League. www.nwslsoccer.com. May 29, 2017. June 19, 2017.
20. Web site: Vote: Save of the Week. National Women's Soccer League. www.nwslsoccer.com. Jacqueline. Purdy. June 19, 2017. June 19, 2017.
21. Web site: Save of the Week Nominees. National Women's Soccer League. www.nwslsoccer.com. June 26, 2017. June 30, 2017.
22. Web site: Statistics. National Women's Soccer League. www.nwslsoccer.com. June 18, 2017.