The NWSL Disciplinary Committee announced on Wednesday that it has suspended Portland Thorns midfielder Tyler Lussi for three games and fined her an undisclosed amount for yanking Danielle Colaprico down by the hair on Saturday in Chicago. Lussi wound up stepping on Colaprico’s arm in the aftermath forcing the Red Stars midfielder out of the match. Colaprico is listed as questionable with a left wrist contusion for Wednesday night’s match against the Reign.
Watching the Chicago-Portland match and seeing Lussi's foul on Colaprico. How did she not get booked for it? pic.twitter.com/bM8lRamPeD
— brandi (@brandiortega) August 13, 2017
The suspension will cover the Thorns’ Wednesday night match in Kansas City followed by consecutive Saturday matches at home to Houston and in Seattle.
Lussi is the second player this season to be suspended by the Disciplinary Committee for a hair-pulling incident. The Reign’s Merritt Mathias received a three-match ban after grabbing hold of the Thorns’s Emily Sonnett in May.
Dash sign Kelly Conheeney
The Dash have bolstered their depleted roster with the signing of Kelly Conheeney. The club is desperate for bodies with Carli Lloyd joining Kealia Ohai and Morgan Brian (questionable for Wednesday) on the injury report and the recent waiving of Denise O’Sullivan.
Conheeney missed three full years of soccer to deal with concussion issues before making a dramatic return for Sky Blue last season. After earning a contract as traialist, Conheeney scored the game-winning goal in an opening day win at Seattle that sent the Reign to their first ever loss at Memorial Stadium after 24 unbeaten (playoffs included). She did not score or tally an assist in 12 subsequent appearances.
Conheeney was still training with Sky Blue though she has not been an active player in 2017.
Fara Williams signs with Reading
Fara Williams says she signed with Reading to win trophies (photo: Reading FC)
Long time England midfielder Fara Williams has left Arsenal and signed a two-year contract with Reading FC.
“Last year watching the style of football, it’s an attractive style that I think suits the way I enjoy playing,” Williams said of Kelly Chambers’s side on the club’s official site. “Reading are a developing team and they’ve come a long way in the past few seasons in the (FA)WSL.”
Reading won WSL2 in 205 to earn promotion to the top flight and last season checked in eighth of nine. Williams says she went there to win trophies. She won the FAWSL crown in 2013 and 2014, the only two years she played at Liverpool. She also plied her trade for Charlton Athletic and Everton.
On the international scene Williams has made a record 165 appearances for the English women and the recently concluded European Championship was her fourth. She has also appeared in three World Cups for England and the 2012 Olympics for Team Great Britain.
Reading open the FAWSL season on September 24 at home to Sunderland.
In other news out of England, Lucy Bronze, Jade Moore, Jordan Nobbs, and Jodie Taylor are the nominees for the Player of the Year award.
