Club: | Sky Blue FC |
Season: | 2019 |
Chrtitle: | President & CEO |
Chairman: | Thomas Hofstetter |
Mgrtitle: | Head coach |
Manager: | 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) |
League: | NWSL |
League Result: | 8th |
Highest Attendance: | 9,415 vs Reign FC, August 18, 2019 |
Lowest Attendance: | 1,321 vs Portland Thorns FC, April 28, 2019 |
Average Attendance: | 3,338 |
League Topscorer: | Carli Lloyd (8) |
Pattern B1: | 001D4A |
Pattern Sh1: | _white stripes |
Leftarm1: | 001D4A |
Body1: | 001D4A |
Rightarm1: | 001D4A |
Shorts1: | 001D4A |
Socks1: | 001D4A |
Pattern B2: | _sbfc_18a |
Leftarm2: | FFFFFF |
Body2: | FFFFFF |
Rightarm2: | FFFFFF |
Shorts2: | 90bbee |
Socks2: | FFFFFF |
American: | true |
Prevseason: | 2018 |
Nextseason: | 2020 |
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]
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]
As of July 19, 2019[12]
Rank | Player | Goals |
---|---|---|
1 | 8 | |
2 | Raquel Rodriguez | 3 |
3 | Jen Hoy | 2 |
Imani Dorsey | ||
Paige Monaghan | ||
6 | Sarah Killion | 1 |
McKenzie Meehan | ||
Domi Richardson | ||
Elizabeth Eddy | ||
Rank | Player | Assists |
---|---|---|
1 | Sarah Killion | 3 |
Raquel Rodriguez | ||
3 | 1 | |
Jen Hoy | ||
Elizabeth Eddy | ||
Julie James | ||
Nahomi Kawasumi | ||
Kenie Wright | ||
Source: National Women's Soccer League[13]
Round | Pick | Player | Previous Team | |||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Round 1 | 2 | F | UCLA | |||
Round 1 | 6 | D | University of North Carolina | |||
Round 2 | 10 | F | Butler University | |||
Round 2 | 11 | M | Baylor University | |||
Round 3 | 19 | F | Georgetown University | |||
Round 4 | 28 | G | University of Florida | |||
Round 4 | 29 | M | Rutgers University | |||
Round 4 | 34 | D | University of Notre Dame |
Date | Player | Positions played | Previous club | Fee/notes | Ref. | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
January 10, 2019 | Caprice Dydasco | DF | [14] | |||
January 10, 2019 | DiDi Haracic | GK | ||||
January 10, 2019 | Estelle Johnson | DF | ||||
January 14, 2019 | Nahomi Kawasumi | FW | Acquired in Trade with Reign FC in exchange for Shea Groom | [15] | ||
April 10, 2019 | Gabi | MF | Signed. | [16] | ||
May 7, 2019 | Gina Lewandowski | DF | Signed. | [17] | ||
June 11, 2019 | Elizabeth Eddy | MF | [18] | |||
July 19, 2019 | Nicole Baxter | MF | Asarums IF | Signed. |
Date | Player | Positions played | Destination club | Fee/notes | Ref. |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
November 14, 2018 | Amanda Frisbie | DF | Signed with Klepp IL in Norway. | [19] | |
November 20, 2018 | Rebekah Stott | DF | Signed with Avaldsnes IL in Norway. | [20] | |
January 9, 2019 | Katie Johnson | FW | 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. | ||
January 12, 2019 | Christina Gibbons | DF | Retired | [21] | |
January 14, 2019 | Shea Groom | FW | Traded to Reign FC in exchange for Nahomi Kawasumi | ||
March 8, 2019 | Caroline Casey | GK | Retired | [22] | |
June 11, 2019 | McKenzie Meehan | FW | Traded to the North Carolina Courage in exchange for Elizabeth Eddy. | ||
June 19, 2019 | Savannah McCaskill | FW | [23] | ||
July 14, 2019 | Gabi | MF | Released | [24] | |
July 19, 2019 | Sabrina Flores | MF | Sevilla | Released | [25] |
Month | Goalkeeper | Defenders | Midfielders | Forwards | Ref | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
April | Kailen Sheridan | [26] | ||||
July | Kailen Sheridan | [27] |
Week | Result | Player | Ref. | |
---|---|---|---|---|
6 | Raquel Rodriguez | [28] | ||
13 | Jennifer Hoy | [29] | ||
16 | Imani Dorsey | [30] | ||
18 | Paige Monaghan | [31] | ||
23 | Carli Lloyd | [32] | ||
24 | Carli Lloyd | [33] | ||
25 | Domi Richardson | [34] |
Week | Result | Player | Ref. | |
---|---|---|---|---|
2 | Kailen Sheridan | [35] | ||
3 | Kailen Sheridan | [36] | ||
4 | Kailen Sheridan | [37] | ||
5 | DiDi Haracic | [38] | ||
6 | DiDi Haracic | [39] | ||
7 | DiDi Haracic | [40] | ||
9 | DiDi Haracic | [41] | ||
10 | DiDi Haracic | [42] | ||
12 | Kailen Sheridan | [43] | ||
14 | Kailen Sheridan | [44] | ||
15 | Kailen Sheridan | [45] | ||
16 | Kailen Sheridan | [46] | ||
17 | Kailen Sheridan | [47] | ||
18 | Kailen Sheridan | [48] | ||
21 | Kailen Sheridan | [49] | ||
23 | Kailen Sheridan | [50] | ||
25 | Kailen Sheridan | [51] |