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Kristin Luckenbill and the Breakers will hope to stay within shouting distance of the Los Angeles Sol with a win Sunday in New Jersey. (Photo by CHRIS ADUAMA/aduama.com) |
As the Breakers prepare for Sunday night’s match against Sky Blue FC at Rutgers University, striker Amy Rodriguez will be hoping to do the same.
After starting Boston’s first four matches, Rodriguez has come off the bench in the last three, as head coach Tony DiCicco has gone with Kelly Schmedes and Christine Latham up top. With Latham serving the first of her two-game suspension for throwing an elbow at Washington defender Alex Singer in the teams’ 1-1 draw May 17, Rodriguez figures to get the nod in the Breakers’ front line.
The first overall selection of the WPS Draft has yet to find the back of the net this season, and has been spending extra time at recent practices to work on her shooting. That is just part of a still ongoing adjustment from the college game at USC to the professional ranks.
“This is not just something I’m playing for fun; this is my job,” Rodriguez said. “For me, it’s really important to come out everyday knowing that I need to make my team better so that we can win… Everyday at practice is something where I need to get better. I have to get better; I can’t just be the same player.”
DiCicco believes that while there is a lot of room for improvement, the best is yet to come from “A-Rod.”
“She’s got unbelievable abilities,” DiCicco said. “She doesn’t read the game very well yet. Her runs aren’t very tactical. But she’s working at it, and she’s gotta have a more consistent work rate on both sides of the ball. As a coach, that’s my goal, to bring those qualities out for her, and if we do she’s going to make us a lot better.”
Rodriguez spent last week with the U.S. national team, culminating in a 4-0 win Monday against Canada in a friendly in Toronto. She got the start alongside Abby Wambach and played 77 minutes. While at times she looked out of sync with her teammates - as she has for the Breakers - Rodriguez said the overall experience was a positive one.
“It was a little sad leaving my teammates with the Breakers, but at the same time I’m going to represent my country, and how can you not do that?” she said. “It’s nice to get out in that environment and play with some of those girls that I haven’t in a while, and I think it just gave me that extra spark that hopefully I can bring back here.”
DiCicco is ready to see that spark from Rodriguez and some of the other younger players on the squad.
“We’re ready to break loose,” DiCicco said. “We’re ready for players like A-Rod and (midfielder Stacy) Bishop and Schmedes to start to really have an impact. Our young players are ready, I think, to get to the next level of the season.”
Sky Blue are the only team the Breakers haven't played yet this season, and they're catching them at an interesting time.
The New Jersey-based side sit last in the WPS standings with just five points from seven games (a 1-4-2 record). Sky Blue is coming off a five-game road stand in which they picked up their only win of the season, a 2-0 decision over Chicago May 10. Since then, the team has lost to Los Angeles (1-0) and Washington (2-1).
Thursday, the club fired head coach and general manager Ian Sawyers. Thomas Hofstetter, Sky Blue CEO and president, said in a statement, “The disagreements between the coach, team, and management made it impossible to move forward successfully.”
The team is currently coached on an interim basis by Kelly Lindsey, who won a WUSA title with the San Jose CyberRays in 2001.
Weber knows she and her teammates will be running into a highly motivated side come Sunday night.
“They’ve had a few setbacks with their coach and with some losses, but they’re finally back at home and they’re going to look to get three points to get out of the bottom of the group,” Weber said. “I think it’s a big game for us. We need to come away with three points to stretch the point difference between us and (third-place) FC Gold Pride.”
Sky Blue has scored just four goals in seven matches, but feature good attacking talent in Heather O’Reilly, Natasha Kai and Sarah Walsh. In the back, the team is led by U.S. captain Christie Rampone.
“They kind of like to play direct, so we have to control that pace,” DiCicco said. “We have to be better on the counter-attack than we’ve been in either the L.A. game or the Washington game because they have counter-attacking personalities. Then we have to keep the ball. If they get too much of the ball, they’re going to be really dangerous.”
Possession has been a big focal point for DiCicco, who got fairly testy at times during Friday’s practice when the team struggled in that aspect. Overall, however, the coach says he has seen development in that and other phases of the game.
“I think this team has progressed nicely,” DiCicco said. “I think we’re starting to hold the ball better. I think once we put [Angela Hucles] in the holding midfield, there was a lot of confidence to play her the ball… Really, the only thing we’re missing right now is that late goal… In my mind, that’s the piece of the puzzle now that we have to get. These last two ties could’ve been wins.”
Mark Goodman can be reached at newsdesk@soccernewengland.com.
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