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Sky Blue, Thorns pick up preseason wins; Dash fall

Portland Thorns FC, Sky Blue FC and the Boston Breakers all picked up preseason victories on Wednesday night, while the Houston Dash lost in an in-house friendly.

Portland defeated FC Tuscon, 2-0 in the first game of the Thorns’ trip to Arizona, while Sky Blue picked up a 2-0 victory over Penn State University in Palmyra, Penn.

New addition Jodie Taylor scored the game-winning goal for Portland against the WPSL side, finding net in the 24th minute on an Allie Long through ball. Trialist Kelsey Haycook continued to make her case with her second goal of the preseason. Haycook sat atop the watch list of The Equalizer’s Jen Gordon for undrafted players, and Gordon predicted that she would get a shot in Portland alongside former college teammate Courtney Niemiec.

In Pennsylvania, Maya Hayes and Nadia Nadim both scored for Sky Blue FC to give the club a third win of preseason, having previously defeated St. John’s and North Carolina. Sky Blue FC also recently added former U.S. national team defender Jennifer Grubb to the roster.

Meanwhile, five different scorers lifted the Boston Breakers to a 5-0 win over the Jamaican women’s national team in St. Augustine, Fla., on Wednesday.

Rookie Stephanie McCaffrey, Kristie Mewis and Cat Whitehill scored in the first half, while new addition Morgan Marlborough and Bianca Brinson each scored in the second half to lift Boston in its first of two matches this week against Jamaica. The Breakers play Jamaica again on Saturday.

Elsewhere, the Houston Dash lost to the Houston Dynamo U-16 Academy team for the second time in a week, falling 5-0 on Wednesday. Last week, the Dash lost 2-0.

“One big difference tonight was probably that unlike the other night, the Academy boys did a better job of finishing because I think last week could have been worse than two. We all know they had some chances that they missed,” Dash head coach Randy Waldrum told Keeper Notes.

Waldrum experimented with forward Ella Masar at right back as the Dash try to figure out how to address defensive needs.

NWSL team lineups

PORTLAND: GK Nadine Angerer (Michelle Betos, 45); D Courtney Niemiec (Taylor Comeau*, 63), D Kat Williamson (Kate Bennett*, 77), D Emily Menges; M Hanna Terry (Kelley Monogue*, 63), M McCall Zerboni (Sarah Robbins, 63), M Sinead Farrelly, M Kendall Johnson (Tessa Andujar*, 63), M Allie Long (Alyssa Kleiner*, 63), M Mana Shim (Sarah Jackson*, 63); F Jodie Taylor (Kelsey Haycook*, 63)

* indicates trialist

SKY BLUE: B.Cameron (A.Bledsoe-46), M.Morris, L.Cutshall, K.Grubka, M.Waldus (L.LaBonta-46), S.Gordon (T.Diederich-70), S.Killion, K.Freels, N.Stanton, M.Hayes, N.Nadim (G.Wagner-68)

HOUSTON:

BOSTON: Jami Kranich, Kassey Kallman (Chanel Johnson, 70), Cat Whitehill (Rachel Wood, 46), Maddy Evans (Jasmin Corniel, 46), Mollie Pathman (Samantha Lofton, 46), Amy Barczuk (Katie Schoepfer, 46), Bia (Suzane Pires, 46), Rafaela (Stephanie Verdoia, 46), Ketlen Wiggers (Bianca Brinson, 46), Stephanie McCaffrey (Morgan Marlborough, 31; Nkem Ezurike 62), Kristie Mewis (Jamia Fields, 46)

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