Sky Blue FC (3-3-3, 12 points) evened its record at the midway point of the season on Wednesday night, defeating the Atlanta Beat (1-8-3) by a tally of 1-0 atYurcak Field in Piscataway. The victory extended the franchise-record unbeaten streak to five consecutive games and kept Sky Blue FC unbeaten on their home pitch this season.
Striker Casey Nogueira provided the game-winner by scoring an unassisted corner kick in the 26th minute.
Next up for Sky Blue FC is a road pairing with the Philadelphia Independence on July 6. The team returns home to Yurcak Field on Saturday to host Magic Jack SC at 7 p.m. Tickets for that match are available now, and they can be purchased by calling 888-SBFC-TIX.
Sky Blue FC wasted little time in grabbing hold of the tempo in its match with the Beat and had its first legitimate scoring opportunity in the opening minute. On that play, Nogueira stole a loose ball in the midfield and quickly turned her intentions upward. As she raced down the left flank, she saw an opening and fed a through-ball to Finnish international Laura Kalmari on the right side of the box. Kalmari collected the ball and put a shot on frame, but Atlanta goalkeeper Allison Whitworth was able to save the attempt. Nogueira again made some noise in the sixth minute, when she received a long ball on the left side of the penalty area, sidestepping the defense and firing a laser that Whitworth was able to stop.
MidfielderAllie Long took a feed from Nogueira in the 19th minute and broke through the center of the Atlanta defense for a one-on-one with the Beat goalie, who was again up to the task and made the save.
In the 26th minute of the match, Nogueira again shined on a set piece chance. After a Beat clearance resulted in a corner kick, the two-time NCAA Player of the Year stepped over the ball on the right side of the field. After hitting the ball with her right foot, she put just enough English on the attempt that the ball bent back toward the frame and sailed over the head of Whitworth and into the net. Just past the midway point of the opening half, Sky Blue FC saw itself enjoying a 1-0 advantage.
The second half saw the Beat up their level of play, putting the Sky Blue defense under pressure. But Sky Blue goalkeeper Jenni Branam was very solid in net for her team, as was the back line playing in front of her that consisted of Carrie Dew, Kendall Fletcher, Danielle Johnson and captain Brittany Taylor. First-year defender Jennie Clark also contributed to the cause after she replaced Johnson in the 72nd minute.