Let’s relive some underappreciated moments through the digital art of GIFification

A lot of stuff happens in soccer games. How can it not? Twenty-two players chase a ball around a field for 90 minutes trying to kick, head, or otherwise manifest the ball into their opponent’s goal. When successful, a point is awarded and clips of the goal circulate social media. But what about when other stuff happens? Other stuff that was as or even more neat, good or astonishing, but didn’t result in a goal and therefore gets lost in sporadic individual memories. Well not on our watch.

We here at The District Press love these moments. They can be impactful momentum-altering moments, or simply just look cool, and several things in between. We’re going to pick out some these moments from each match and bring them to you in GIF form. So with regards to your WiFi bandwidth, let’s get to the GIFs.

Aubrey Kingsbury breaks the press with one pass

Heavens. Kansas City’s high press is one of the best in the league. In fact, the StatsBomb machine tells me they rank first in passes per defensive action (PPDA). This measures the number of passes allowed before a defensive action (pressure, tackles, interception, duel, etc), so the lower the better. The Current are the only team below 8.0.

This means that a team intent on passing the ball to build through the thirds has a lot to contend with, and everyone has to be able to ping a pass. Kingsbury absolutely pinged this pass, under pressure, along the ground, completely splitting Kansas City’s high press. The first time touch layoff is exquisite too, but it only works because of the speed and accuracy of Kingsbury’s pass.

I also love how Aubrey set this up. Even though she was forced to receive a back pass with a player charging toward her, she didn’t panic. She calmly waited, and shifted the ball to her right to open the passing lane. Delightful stuff.

Paige Metayer’s other sixty-yard run

When Metayer took off from the right back position, driving sixty-yards before scoring her first goal with her feet—with just under ten minutes played—it was already clear why the coaches had full confidence in her filling the role against such a dangerous team. Surely they didn’t expect that sort of run and goal to be her first major contribution, but it happened and was great. However, that wasn’t the only sixty-yard run she made.

After a turnover in the box in an attacking phase Kansas City claimed possession and clipped a ball into space out wide that Debinha charged into. It was not an ideal situation, but exactly the sort of thing Kansas City has been able to terrify teams with. Unfortunately for those other teams they don’t have Paige Metayer, who spotted the danger and took off. She covered ground on one of the best attacking players this league has ever seen and did so with enough time to make a precise tackle before Debinha could even think about what she was going to do to threaten Kingsbury’s goal.

I loved Paige’s run and goal, but this defensive moment saved a high quality chance at goal. And to be honest, given how much and for how long Debinha has been terrorizing NWSL defenses, probably a goal.

Tara McKeown’s perfect tackle

Tara McKeown becoming a center back and racking up a list of dangerous attackers that she’s had success against is a truly incredible thing that we’ve all been blessed to witness. She’s had 1v1 success against Alex Morgan, Debinha, Lynn Williams and Barbra Banda. Now Temwa Chawinga has been added to the list.

In this phase Kansas City got into a position that typically leads to a goal, or at least high quality shot. McKeown knew the danger but waited for the right moment to diffuse it. She shadowed Chawinga’s run to stay close and looked for the moment to clear the danger before they entered the box. She executed a perfect tackle, avoiding any contact that would get VAR involved, and cleanly won the ball. So well that she was able to pop up and immediately play a forward pass.

Rosemonde Kouassi introduces herself to the NWSL

Rosemonde Kouassi subbed on in the 71st minute to make her NWSL regular season debut, and in the 72nd minute Kansas City center back Alana Cook received a yellow card for fouling her. Kouassi received an outlet pass wide in transition which forced Cook to come wide to defend her, but Rose was ready. She pirouetted and rolled the ball away from Cook to keep possession and ensure she’d either charge up the pitch or be fouled.

This was a signal to the Current that while subs may have been made, they still had plenty of danger to contend with. That’s an important improvement for the Spirit. In the past a dropoff from fatigue or subs would alter the way the team played, which led to late goals and dropped points. Now it seems they have a way to not only secure leads, but build on them.

Croix Bethune shows off her defensive skills

Let’s be honest, this was less than ideal. Perhaps the most non-ideal. You really do not want your left winger/CAM defending in space on an empty right side with four opposing players crashing the box. It is in theory a thing you would want to avoid. But sometimes these things will happen, particularly in a system that relies on a lot of fluidity to solve problems.

Still, this is a scary situation. Croix is good at pressing from the front but not the sturdiest defender, so being faced up against Ellie Wheeler in that much space was concerning. It would have been understandable if Wheeler got her cross away and the defenders in the box had to clear the danger. But Bethune didn’t allow it to get that far. She stayed composed and didn’t dive in, despite defending in an unfamiliar position and dangerous situation. Bethune stayed close and waited for her moment to go shoulder to shoulder and block Wheeler from the ball. She pulled it off perfectly and in the end the danger amounted to nothing but a goal kick.

While it was amazing to see this team work with one another so well in possession to build attacking sequences from anywhere on the pitch, but their ability to step up in defensive situations is as important too. This play was big, and showed that everyone is bought in on both sides of the ball.