Page 10 n THE ASIAN REPORTER
SPORTS
October 1, 2018
Asians in American sports w Asian Americans in world sports
Asian NWSL players lead their teams
to the playoffs — and beyond
By Mike Street
Special to The Asian Reporter
he teams in the National Women’s
Soccer League (NWSL) aren’t
packed with Asian players, but as
this year’s playoffs show, clubs that have
talent with eastern roots seem to rise to
the top. The NWSL squads in this year’s
semifinals featured some of the best Asian
players in the league.
The
one
team
without
Asian
representation in its starting lineup is our
very own Portland Thorns, who last season
lost forward Nadia Nadim when she went
across the pond to play for Manchester
City, as well as midfielder Meleana
“Mana” Shim, who mutually agreed with
the club late last season to part ways and
went on to play for Vaxjo DFF in Sweden.
But Portland lined up more talent in the
2018 college draft, snagging forward
Sandra Yu with the eighth overall pick.
A former captain for women’s soccer
powerhouse Notre Dame, Yu won two
state championships and one national
championship in high school. She has also
been a regular fixture in the U.S. Soccer
youth national team system since 2009,
including appearances with the under-23
and under-20 squads.
After Yu was drafted, Thorns coach
Mark Parsons said that she “is smart,
versatile, and technical … She can play
anywhere in the midfield or on the front
line and could even play at fullback ...” Yu’s
flexibility should ensure that she finds a
spot on the Thorns, a team with plenty of
talent already.
Portland’s semifinal opponent, the
Seattle Reign, has some of the best Asian
talent from goal line to goal line. Keeper
Lydia Williams, an Australian native with
aboriginal heritage, excelled in her first
AR Photo/Jody Lim
AR Photo/Jan Landis
T
full season with the team.
Williams missed the first several games
of the season while playing international
matches, but she allowed just 11 goals and
notched 10 clean sheets in her 17 games
with the Reign. She helped Seattle record
its best defensive season ever, allowing
only 19 goals while allowing just 0.79 goals
per game, both club records. Her efforts
placed her second in voting for the 2018
NWSL Goalkeeper of the Year honor, just
behind Portland’s Adriana Franch.
The Reign had Japanese help on offense
from midfielder Rumi Utsugi and forward
Nahomi “Naho” Kawasumi. Although both
spent time away for international duties,
Kawasumi again proved a good
table-setter, tying for second on the team
with three assists in 13 games played. Leg
injuries and international duties sidelined
Utsugi quite a bit, but on the pitch, she
played well defensively and scored a goal.
Utsugi and Williams appeared in
Seattle’s semifinal matchup against
Portland, while Kawasumi’s absence was
evidence of the Reign’s offensive depth.
PLAYOFF CITY, USA. The semifinals of the Na-
tional Women’s Soccer League (NWSL) playoffs fea-
tured the Portland Thorns, Seattle Reign, Chicago Red
Stars, and North Carolina Courage. Semifinal #1 fea-
tured the Thorns defeating the Reign, 2-1, at Provi-
dence Park in Portland. Semifinal #2, a match that
was originally scheduled to take place in North
Carolina, was moved to Providence Park due to Hurri-
cane Florence. The Courage defeated the Red Stars in
the match, 2-0, to advance to the championship game
against Portland, also held at Providence Park. For-
ward Samantha Kerr (top photo, #20), who was
traded to the Red Stars this season, led the league in
scoring for the second consecutive year, again earn-
ing her the league’s Golden Boot award. Goalkeeper
Lydia Williams (bottom photo, center left, light gray
jersey) and midfielder Rumi Utsugi (bottom photo,
center right, navy jersey) of the Seattle Reign helped
lead their club to the NWSL semifinal this year. The
Reign allowed only 19 goals this season.
But the excellent keeping skills of
Williams and the Reign’s stingy defense
were not enough to keep the Thorns from
advancing, 2-1, to their third NWSL
championship appearance.
In the final, Portland faced the winner of
the semifinal matchup between the
Chicago Red Stars and North Carolina
Courage, a game that was moved to
Providence Park due to Hurricane
Florence. Chicago’s offense was anchored
by one of the league’s best players,
Samantha Kerr. Her 16 goals accounted
for an incredible 42 percent of Chicago’s
total of 38, part of the young player’s
growing scoring legacy.
Kerr, who has Indian heritage, led the
league in scoring for the second consecu-
tive year, again earning her the league’s
Golden Boot award. Incredibly, she
accomplished this despite missing five
games to play for Australia, her mother’s
home country. She now has 59 regular-
season goals, the most in NWSL history;
she is also the only NWSL player to score
more than 50 career goals.
Kerr also became the only NWSL player
with three career hat tricks after a match
against Sky Blue FC, the team that traded
her to Chicago before the season. The trade
placed her alongside another top Asian
player, Japanese forward Yuki Nagasato.
Known for her prolific scoring with Japan’s
national team, Nagasato joined Chicago in
2017 but missed most of the year due to a
knee injury.
When she returned this season and
joined Kerr on the front line of the Red
Stars, Nagasato turned her attention to
setting
up
her
already-legendary
teammate. Nagasato was second in the
league and first on the Red Stars with
seven assists, all of them to Kerr.
These two had their work cut out for
Continued on page 11
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