Credit: Chadd Cady-Imagn Images
On Sept. 6 against the San Diego Wave in Seattle, veteran defenseman Kristen McNabb started throwing up. Head coach Jonas Eidevall moved to the bench and replaced McNabb with Tatum Wynalda. It was the 6th minute of the main time. The 32-year-old defender played 89 minutes in a 1-0 loss to the Reign. That missed minute was the only one he would miss all season.
“I don’t care about awards and stuff,” McNabb told The Equalizer of being so close to ironwoman status in the longest NWSL season on record. “But when you’re that close to someone like that, you’re like, ‘Ugh, I had to be pressed in the 92nd minute of a game.’ It’s confusing. But whatever.”
It turns out that McNabb’s nearly perfect 2,699 minutes this season weren’t his most played in a central defensive pairing. Kennedy Wesley, seven years his junior, started every game alongside McNabb during the regular season. Wesley finished them all. Eidevall’s four defenders, Mimi Van Zanten and Perle Morroni, both started 29 of 30, each with a loss for a shutout. It’s that familiarity, along with the quartet’s skill sets, that has made the Wave defense one of the best units in the league.
“We really built solid chemistry together,” Wesley said. “We’ve been fortunate that a lot of us have stayed healthy, and I think that’s helped a lot with our relationships with each other. I think that’s a big part of it.”
Of course, staying on the field requires more than health. Strong performance is also important.
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