Sky Blue FC, with owner Gov. Phil Murphy away, lose again

Dave Schatz
Correspondent

PISCATAWAY – Sky Blue FC lost 2-1 to the Portland Thorns in the club’s return to Yurcak Field on the campus of Rutgers University Saturday night after garnering negative media reports over mismanagement and less than satisfactory living conditions.

On Friday, the club’s majority owner Gov. Phil Murphy said the accounts were “completely unacceptable … the buck stops with me and my fellow owner. In some cases, it’s in the process of being corrected -- and was already (before the stories surfaced).”

“There’s no excuse whatsoever to not correct the things off-the-field and we are on that,” he added.

MORE: Gov. Murphy says he's cracking down on Sky Blue issues

Murphy did not attend the Saturday match -- his office said he departed out of state on a family trip earlier in the day and will return Monday night -- but co-owner Steven Temares, the chief executive of retailer Bed Bath & Beyond, watched as Sky Blue failed in bidding to pick up its first victory of the season. Players indicated they were on the same page and sticking together, while holding strong.  

With Sky Blue now at 0-13-3, the result eliminated the team from the playoffs. In the seventh minute, Sky Blue fell behind 2-0 when Portland’s Ana-Maria Crnogorcevic picked off a clearance attempt just outside the 18 and tucked the ball inside the far post.

Sky Blue scored in the 27th minute when Imani Dorsey converted on a Savannah McCaskill pass.

Throughout the second half, Sky Blue fired shots from all angles but saw some of those attempts hit the post and crossbar or fall victim to saves.

Sky Blue coach Denise Reddy said her team played “with a great amount of energy.”

 “Honestly, this was not even a one-point performance for me. I felt we played well enough to earn three points,” Reddy said. “We created some of our best chances of the year, especially in the second half. Collectively, our players did exactly what we asked them to do. Even when we were down two-nil, nobody hung their heads, and we got ourselves back into the game. I am very proud of the performance (we) put forth.”

Next up for Sky Blue is a road match on July 28 against the Chicago Red Stars. 

There are still three more home matches remaining for the 2018 season: August 11 (v. Houston Dash), August 18 (v. Utah Royals FC), and September 8 (v. Orlando Pride).