Gotham v RLFC -1
The Friday evening results didn’t break Racing’s way, so if they don’t want to leave things to the last match, a win will be required on Sunday in New Jersey (we don’t let the any other city get away with this nonsense, play in a stadium in New York or drop it from your name). On Friday the teams prepared for the upcoming match and spoke with the media. Taylor Flint commented that the team had a really good week of practice and that the team and staff believe that good practices translate to good performances. I have been around long enough to know that no player or coach ever admits to having a “bad” week at practice, so take that for what it’s worth. I asked Arin Wright if she thought the team was playing their best football at this point of the season, and she said that she thought the team was. I asked Bev a similar question about the team maintaining a consistently high level of play over the season and she thought that their consistent level showed and that it was key to being in the position that they currently sit (a good chance to make the playoffs).
Selfishly, I want them to get things done on Sunday. I think we all do. I don’t want a nervous crowd in Lynn Family Stadium on the final day (although if there isn’t anything to play for other than positioning it could impact the number of attendees). The fact is that Racing has simply played better on the road this season. The team has 3 more points in one less match on the road this season. If you think that Sears needs to put in a good performance for Racing to win at this point, that also occurs more often on the road.
A good piece of news is that Racing is seeming to get healthy at the right point in the season, or at least healthier than they have been recently. Arin Wright appears to have recovered from her leg injury. Milliet put in a full 90 minutes int he last match. There was a bit of a surprise announcement yesterday in that Pokorny and Lund have come off of the SEI list. Pokorny is a really valuable piece as a substitute which is something Racing sorely needs. The players are also not carrying as many minutes this season as they have in previous ones. Last season, Racing has 3 players play 100% of the minutes. This season, Petersen and Sears are the highest with 96%. It might be good to try to sit Petersen for a few minutes at some point over these last two matches to get her some rest. Sears could come off for some rest too, and she also has National Team minutes on her legs. I am a little concerned about her as she has played quite a few full 90s for Racing recently.
