# 2018 Sky Blue FC season

The 2018 Sky Blue FC season was the team's ninth season as a professional women's soccer team. Sky Blue FC plays in the National Women's Soccer League, the top tier of women's soccer in the United States. Sky Blue had a difficult season in 2018 as they finished in last place. They went 23 games without winning a game, setting the mark for the longest winless streak in NWSL history. Sky Blue finally won on September 8 as they beat the Orlando Pride 1-0 in their final game of the 2018 season.
There were numerous reports of off-field issues that came out after former Sky Blue player Sam Kerr spoke to the media following the Sky Blue vs Chicago game on July 7. Reports of poor management and training facilities as well as housing, travel, and transportation issues were also reported, and were believed to be contributing factors to the team's poor performance on the field.

## Team
### First-team roster

Source: Sky Blue FC
Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.
| No. | Pos. | Nation | Player |
| 1 | GK | CAN | Kailen Sheridan |
| 2 | FW | USA | McKenzie Meehan |
| 6 | FW | USA | Shea Groom |
| 7 | FW | USA | Jen Hoy |
| 8 | DF | USA | Erica Skroski |
| 9 | DF | USA | Amanda Frisbie |
| 10 | MF | USA | Carli Lloyd |
| 11 | MF | CRC | Raquel Rodriguez |
| 13 | DF | NZL | Rebekah Stott |
| No. | Pos. | Nation | Player |
| 14 | FW | MEX | Katie Johnson |
| 16 | MF | USA | Sarah Killion |
| 17 | DF | USA | Domi Richardson |
| 21 | FW | USA | Savannah McCaskill |
| 22 | DF | USA | Mandy Freeman |
| 27 | GK | USA | Caroline Casey |
| 28 | MF | USA | Imani Dorsey |
| 29 | DF | CAN | Amandine Pierre-Louis |
| 31 | DF | USA | Christina Gibbons |
| 73 | MF | USA | Madison Tiernan |

## Match results
### League table

| Pos | Teamvte | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | |
| 1 | North Carolina Courage (C) | 24 | 17 | 6 | 1 | 53 | 17 | +36 | 57 | NWSL Shield |
| 2 | Portland Thorns FC | 24 | 12 | 6 | 6 | 40 | 28 | +12 | 42 | NWSL Playoffs |
| 3 | Seattle Reign FC | 24 | 11 | 8 | 5 | 27 | 19 | +8 | 41 | NWSL Playoffs |
| 4 | Chicago Red Stars | 24 | 9 | 10 | 5 | 38 | 28 | +10 | 37 | NWSL Playoffs |
| 5 | Utah Royals FC | 24 | 9 | 8 | 7 | 22 | 23 | −1 | 35 | |
| 6 | Houston Dash | 24 | 9 | 5 | 10 | 35 | 39 | −4 | 32 | |
| 7 | Orlando Pride | 24 | 8 | 6 | 10 | 30 | 37 | −7 | 30 | |
| 8 | Washington Spirit | 24 | 2 | 5 | 17 | 12 | 35 | −23 | 11 | |
| 9 | Sky Blue FC | 24 | 1 | 6 | 17 | 21 | 52 | −31 | 9 | |

### Results summary

| Overall | Overall | Overall | Overall | Overall | Overall | Overall | Overall | Home | Home | Home | Home | Home | Home | Away | Away | Away | Away | Away | Away |
| Pld | Pts | W | L | T | GF | GA | GD | W | L | T | GF | GA | GD | W | L | T | GF | GA | GD |
| 24 | 9 | 1 | 17 | 6 | 21 | 52 | −31 | 1 | 9 | 2 | 10 | 22 | −12 | 0 | 8 | 4 | 11 | 30 | −19 |
Last updated: September 8, 2018. Source: NWSLsoccer.com

### Results by round

| Round | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | 19 | 20 | 21 | 22 | 23 | 24 |
| Stadium | A | H | A | H | A | H | A | H | H | H | A | A | A | H | H | H | A | A | H | H | A | A | A | H |
| Result | L | L | D | L | L | L | L | L | L | D | L | D | L | L | L | L | D | L | D | L | L | D | L | W |
| Position | — | 9 | 9 | 9 | 9 | 9 | 9 | 9 | 9 | 9 | 9 | 9 | 9 | 9 | 9 | 9 | 9 | 9 | 9 | 9 | 9 | 9 | 9 | 9 |

## Honors and awards
### NWSL Yearly Awards
#### NWSL Rookie of the Year

| Player | Player Statistics | Ref. |
| Imani Dorsey | 4 Goals; 1 Assist; 14 Appearances | |

#### NWSL Team of the Year

| Team | Position | Player | Ref. |
| Second XI | Midfielder | Carli Lloyd | |

### NWSL Weekly Awards
#### NWSL Player of the Week

| Week | Result | Player | Ref |
| 21 | Won | Katie Johnson | |

#### NWSL Save of the Week

| Week | Result | Player(s) |
| 3 | Nominated | Kailen Sheridan |
| 9 | Nominated | Kailen Sheridan and Rebekah Stott |
| 11/12 | Nominated | Kailen Sheridan |
| 19 | Nominated | Kailen Sheridan |
| 20 | Nominated | Kailen Sheridan |
| 21 | Nominated | Kailen Sheridan |
| 24 | Nominated | Kailen Sheridan |

#### NWSL Goal of the Week

| Week | Result | Player |
| 4 | Nominated | Savannah McCaskill |
| 7 | Nominated | Savannah McCaskill |
| 8 | Won | Carli Lloyd |
| 10 | Nominated | Shea Groom |
| 11/12 | Nominated | Savannah McCaskill |
| 24 | Nominated | Carli Lloyd |

## Player transactions
### 2018 NWSL College Draft

    Source: National Women's Soccer League
| Round | Pick | Player | Pos. | Previous Team |
| Round 1 | 4 | Michaela Abam | F | University of West Virginia |
| Round 1 | 5 | Imani Dorsey | F | Duke University |
| Round 1 | 6 | Amandine Pierre-Louis | D | University of West Virginia |
| Round 2 | 13 | Casey Murphy | GK | Rutgers University |
| Round 4 | 35 | Kiana Palacios | F | University of California, Irvine |

### In

| Date | Player | Positions played | Previous club | Fee/notes |
| December 13, 2017 | Thaisa | MF | Grindavík | Signed in offseason |
| December 29, 2017 | Christina Gibbons | DF | Utah Royals FC | Acquired in trade for Kelley O'Hara, Taylor Lytle, and Utah's 4th overall pick in the 2018 NWSL College Draft. |
| December 29, 2017 | Shea Groom | FW | Utah Royals FC | Acquired in trade for Kelley O'Hara, Taylor Lytle, and Utah's 4th overall pick in the 2018 NWSL College Draft. |
| January 11, 2018 | Katie Johnson | FW | Seattle Reign | Acquired in trade for the rights to Caitlin Foord |
| January 11, 2018 | Rebekah Stott | FW | Seattle Reign | Acquired in trade for the rights to Caitlin Foord |
| January 19, 2018 | Carli Lloyd | MF | Houston Dash | Acquired as part of a three team trade that also included Janine Beckie, Christen Press, Sam Kerr, Nikki Stanton and Jen Hoy. Draft picks and international roster spot were also part of trade. |
| January 19, 2018 | Janine Beckie | FW | Houston Dash | Acquired as part of a three team trade that also included Carli Lloyd, Christen Press, Sam Kerr, Nikki Stanton and Jen Hoy. Draft picks and international roster spot were also part of trade. |
| January 19, 2018 | Jen Hoy | FW | Chicago Red Stars | Acquired as part of a three team trade that also included Carli Lloyd, Christen Press, Sam Kerr, Nikki Stanton and Janine Beckie. Draft picks and international roster spot were also part of trade. |
| January 30, 2018 | Savannah McCaskill | FW | Boston Breakers | Acquired during Boston Breakers Dispersal Draft |
| January 30, 2018 | Adriana Leon | FW | Boston Breakers | Acquired during Boston Breakers Dispersal Draft |
| January 30, 2018 | Amanda Frisbie | FW | Boston Breakers | Acquired during Boston Breakers Dispersal Draft |

### Out

| Date | Player | Positions played | Destination club | Fee/notes |
| December 29, 2017 | Kelley O'Hara | DF | Utah Royals FC | Traded to Utah Royals FC along with Taylor Lytle for Katie Johnson, Christina Gibbons, and Utah's 4th overall pick in the 2018 NWSL College Draft. |
| December 29, 2017 | Taylor Lytle | MF | Utah Royals FC | Traded to Utah Royals FC along with Kelley O'Hara for Katie Johnson, Christina Gibbons, and Utah's 4th overall pick in the 2018 NWSL College Draft. |
| January 19, 2018 | Samantha Kerr | FW | Chicago Red Stars | Traded to the Chicago Red Stars as part of a three team trade that also included Janine Beckie, Christen Press, Carli Lloyd, Nikki Stanton and Jen Hoy. Draft picks and international roster spot were also part of trade. |
| January 19, 2018 | Nikki Stanton | MF | Chicago Red Stars | Traded to the Chicago Red Stars as part of a three team trade that also included Janine Beckie, Christen Press, Carli Lloyd, Sam Kerr and Jen Hoy. Draft picks and international roster spot were also part of trade. |
| May 4, 2018 | Erin Simon | DF | | Waived. |
| June 12, 2018 | Adriana Leon | MF | Seattle Reign | Traded to the Seattle Reign for Seattle's 4th Round pick in the 2019 NWSL College Draft |
| June 15, 2018 | Kayla Mills | DF | | Waived. |
| July 25, 2018 | Michaela Abam | FW | Paris FC | Waived. Signed with Paris FC in the Division 1 Féminine. |
| July 25, 2018 | Thaisa | MF | A.C. Milan | Waived. Signed with A.C. Milan in the Serie A. |
| August 9, 2018 | Janine Beckie | FW | Manchester City | Transferred to Manchester City in the FA Women's Super League |