Western New York Flash – 2016 NWSL Season Review – We Are The Champions

Cue up the classic rock song by the band Queen for the Western New York Flash, “We Are The Champions”.

Now that we have that out the way,  how did the Western New York Flash become 2016 NWSL Champions?

The simple answer is the dynamic duo of forwards Lynn Williams and Jessica McDonald.

They combined for 21 goals and 12 assists, best among 2 teammates. Lynn Williams won the Golden Boot and Most Valuable Player awards. She and McDonald both won the “Best XI” award as well for the 2016 season.

This is the best “1-2 punch” team since the Lauren Holiday and Amy Rodriguez days for FC Kansas City in 2014 and 2015. With both forwards very skilled and very quick, this is probably the most dangerous duo ever in the NWSL.

Every game in which they played has to have at least one “highlight reel” moment, if not 3 or 4 easily.

And what makes them so formidable is in the fact they are genuinely unselfish, and will look to pass to the other before shooting a goal themselves.

But this is not basketball, where you can have Michael Jordan and Scottie Pippen and 3 other average players, and still win a championship.

You need 11 skilled players on a soccer field if you want to win.

And an example of that is the Canadian Women’s National Team. Last year, Christine Sinclair finally got some “help”, and now Canada is now a top 5 world power.

So, one player alone cannot do it by herself. And what about 2 very good players?

You have Marta and Formiga playing for many years together for the Brazilian National Team. How many championships have they won in the World Cup and Olympics? ZERO. So, two players by themselves cannot win a championship.

Teams win championships! Not individuals! So, let me introduce the rest of our 2016 NWSL Champions:

Goalkeepers

• Sabrina D’Angelo.is the team’s starting goalkeeper, and is also a member of the Canadian National Team. She broke her on wrist on May 21, and played the entire game despite the injury.
• Britt Eckerstrom played 3 games in relief of D’Angelo’s injury. In fact, the following 2 games, there was no one listed on the roster as her backup goalie. She returned to being the backup goalie when D’Angelo resumed starting duty.
• Katelyn Rowland. was traded from Kansas City and took over for 6 weeks covering during  D’Angelo’s recovery and the Rio Olympics. Although Eckerstrom is now the backup, Rowland is still a member of the team on the 20 player roster.

• Overall, the 3 combined goalkeepers were about league average for goals against average (GAA). They had 1.30 GAA compared to the average of 1.32. Being average is sometimes the best you can do in a competitive league. Therefore, goalkeeping was not a team weakness.

Defenders

• Abby Dahlkemper was recently called up to the U.S. National team. She patrols the center back area.
• Alanna Kennedy is the other center back, who is overshadowed here by Dahlkemper. But she is a member of the Australian National Team.
• Elizabeth Eddy. was a “utility player” in 2015, and this year has settled in the right fullback mode nicely this year. She might not be the fastest defender. But over the year, was able to overcome some early season errors. She is fairly good at crosses with over 51% connecting to  a teammate, compared to a league average of around 33% for the time period measured.
• Jaelene Hinkle. received a few call ups to the National team last year. Lately, she seems to have fallen out of favor with them. But this year, she has not been herself, missing some time due to injury. But overall, she is a quality left fullback.

• The defense can be considered a strength. With youth on their side, they can only mature into a more formidable defensive unit in 2017.

Midfielders

• Abby Erceg was a center back earlier in the year, but struggled at times. But the New Zealand National Team player has found her niche on this team as the defensive midfielder.
• Sam Mewis on some other teams would be the center of attention. But here, the U.S. National Team Player is overshadowed by Williams and McDonald. She is a good scoring threat, who has the height for knocking in header goals, but also has a killer shot as well. She is not known for her pace, but can play both attacking midfield and defensive midfielder quite well.
• McCall Zerboni returned back to WNY after some time in Boston. She is really a defensive midfielder as she is tough-minded player who will fight for every ball. But here, she is placed on the left wing usually. She is a good all-purpose player, who may not score a lot of goals. But does not mind setting up opportunities for  her teammates.
• Makenzy Doniak is the right-wing usually. She was criticized in college for her lack of pace. But on a team with 2 super speed burners, her role is more of setting up the goals. She like Eddy has a decent cross. The rookie can score, and serves as another option for when Williams and McDonald get shut down by the opposition.
• Lianne Sanderson was a starter in the “number 10” attacking center midfield spot after her trade from Orlando. But, she suffered an injury at the end of the regular season, and recently had surgery. She is a versatile player, who can score, and pass the ball around the field.

• Overall, this is an underrated midfielder group. Seattle’s midfield will get more publicity, but this unit is also quite capable of controlling a game from start to finish.

Substitutes

• Taylor Smith gets my vote for being among the best “super subs” in the league. She played in Hinkle’s spot when she suffered an injury. But often comes in around the seventieth minute for a tired forward or midfielder. She scored a couple of goals this year.
• Michaela Hahn is a rookie who also fits in the versatile sub role. Hahn is capable of playing center back or midfield. She offers a solid defensive presence, while being capable of scoring on set pieces.
• Kristen Hamilton is another versatile player. She often comes in for attacking player. But she can play defense well, and is quite good at passing. With a team as deep as the WNY Flash , she struggles to find playing time. She averaged about 10 minutes per game over 12 appearances.
• Meredith Speck is another player vying for playing time on a talent loaded team.She gets more playing time than Hamilton and contributed an assist this year.
• Adrianna Leon  is a forward who had played with Boston and Chicago. But. she did not quite breaking into the consistent starting role. The same continues for WNY. She seems best for playing 20 minutes left in the game. She did not score this year, but is capable of scoring if given the chance..
• Courtney Niemiec formerly played 2 seasons for Portland. She is a backup defender on this team.

• Every team needs a good list of backups to cover for injuries and National Team call ups. This is among the “deepest” teams in the league possibly second to only Portland.

These players were also on the roster:

• Halimatu Ayinde.
• Janice Cayman.
• Laura Liedle.

• Every team has players like these who may not even make the stat sheet, but work hard at practice and at every opportunity that they are given.

Coaches/Front office

• Paul Riley is the head coach. This year he took over for Aaron Lines who had coached the WNY Flash since the beginning prior to the NWSL. Riley coached 2 seasons with the Portland Thorns, but failed to win a championship with them. Riley had been to championship games with the Philadelphia Independence of the WPS league. Therefore, he was qualified to lead this team to the promised land.
• Scott Vallow is an assistant coach.
• Marcelo Moreira is the goalkeeping coach.
• Demeris Johnson is the fitness trainer.
• Gary Bruce is the technical coordinator.
• Charlie Naimo is the technical director.
• Joe Sahlen is the owner.
• Alex Sahlen is the team president.
• Aaron Lines is the team vice president.
• Rich Randall is the general manager.
• Jack Honan is the soccer operations executive.
• Kayla Kent is the senior account executive.
• Dave Maurer is the communications manager.
• Missy Taylor is the administrative assistant.

• And who can win a championship without the guidance of a good coaching staff? A good coach must find the balance of keeping it fun for the players to stay motivated, while maintaining the discipline for them to stay fit and focused. Also, the front office staff who assembles the team in the first place gets credit. After all, some teams have made questionable draft choices and bizarre trades that seem to benefit the other teams in the league.

The scary thing about this team is that they are among the youngest teams in the league. That means they can only get better with more experience. If the team is relatively unchanged and healthy in 2017, look for them to continue their quest for a consecutive championship.

And 2016 was supposed to be a “rebuilding” year!

Coming soon – I have at least one more 2016 season review where I attempt to analyze all of the teams statistically.

Here are a couple of articles from other sources about Jessica McDonald and other interviews.

http://www.fourfourtwo.com/us/features/jessica-mcdonald-nwsl-championship-star-journey-wny-flash

Here are the videos!

When I looked at the Boston 2016 season review, I saw that I had placed Boston’s worst game (ever?) against WNY Flash as one of the videos. That was because it was the “beat Zerboni” game, but I think it marked a turning point for Boston. Here is a “make-up game” for the Boston fans, a thrilling game. And this was also during part of the season where WNY Flash had difficulty winning.

I know the playoff game videos are redundant for my season reviews. But the playoff videos a little harder to find. All NWSL videos can be found in the Schedule tab under http://nwslsoccer.com. But any TV game done by FOX Sports needs to be searched on Youtube itself.

Again, the Championship video in case anyone has not seen this.

Other season reviews: