After a winless August, the Boston Legacy have now won back-to-back games against top-5 NWSL teams.
In a nervy, physical affair on Sunday afternoon in Washington, Boston kept the Spirit’s attack quiet and then notched three late goals, including two in stoppage time, to quickly turn what had long looked like a scoreless draw into a 3-0 rout.
Boston is one of just three teams to have allowed 40 or more goals this season, with a stretch of conceding 11 goals in three games prompting head coach Filipa Patão to bench starting goalkeeper Casey Murphy for backup Laurel Ivory.
It was Murphy back in net for the Legacy on Sunday, keeping her first clean sheet since July 25 at home against Kansas City and just her second on the road this season.
In both of Boston’s September wins, their defense has kept two top-tier opponents to just a handful of shots. Murphy made three saves in Sunday’s game that totaled just 0.11 expected goals on target but did not need to make an official save until the 67th minute.
Similarly, in their 2-1 win against Utah, the Legacy only needed Ivory to face three total shots on target.
“I think every NWSL team now has a lot of firepower in their forwards, so every game is going to be a challenge for us,” Legacy defender Deja Davis said after the game. “But I think now we’ve gotten it down: our press. Our forwards, they are pressing. They are not giving their goalie and back line a lot of time, so our job is easier because it limits their strikers for what they can do. I think it’s just a team effort.”
And while that can stifle teams and limit shots, it can also turn directly into goals on the other end. Boston’s forward Amanda Gutierres iced the game in the fourth minute of stoppage time with a goal to put the Legacy up by two, and it came off a press. Gutierres forced Spirit center back Tara Rudd into a turnover by deflecting a pass into open space. And with everybody for Washington, including goalkeeper Sandy MacIver, playing high up to try to push for an equalizer, it allowed Gutierres to arc a ball over everyone’s heads to dribble into the net.
Sunday’s win showed off a Legacy team that looked like it has come a long way in just the last two games.
It was just two weeks before that Patão aimed to give Ivory a window in net. And after a 5-2 loss to Angel City, Patão explained that it was “a question of rotation” and that “after 21 games for Casey, we said ‘Let’s give some minutes to our second goalkeeper.’”
On Sunday, assistant coach Bárbara Reis, stepping in to speak to reporters after Patão needed to race out to catch a flight right after the final whistle, said the team feels confident regardless of who is in net.
“All of our goalkeepers for us are reliable options,” Reis said.
She added that the coaching staff did not expect to have Murphy on the bench long.
“We of course had in mind that Casey was going to get back and I think there’s not a lot of explanation behind,” she said. “We just know she’s a reliable goalkeeper. Laurel is a reliable goalkeeper too.”
The two keepers have strikingly different paths to splitting time for the Legacy. Murphy has ample experience on the U.S. national team and is a veteran NWSL starter, having started the vast majority of games since making her debut in 2019. Ivory, meanwhile, has not received a national team call since her youth days and has spent five seasons primarily as a backup.
And then there’s the size difference. Ivory is listed at 5’9” but broadcasts have described her as closer to 5’7”. Murphy is 6’1”, and Reis suggested that some of the traits associated with Murphy’s size made the team feel that it was an opportunity to get her back into goal. “Crossing situations, some moments that Washington had, Casey is very safe and strong in those moments, so we felt like it was a good option to rotate back again,” she said.
Murphy and Ivory are set to remain with the Legacy next year. Ivory’s contract runs through 2027, while Murphy is locked in through 2029 with an option for 2030 on a deal that ESPN reported is worth a total of $1.5 million guaranteed.
The Legacy are still in 13th place and sit eleven points below the playoff line with just six games left to play. As they look beyond year one of building their expansion team, they will need to solve their defensive and goalkeeping woes. It remains to be seen whether these two games are an anomaly or the sign of a club figuring things out, but with their goalkeeper situation locked in for another year at least, they will need it is the latter.
