Defending is a group effort for the Boston Legacy

Well, but she was backup to Claudia Dickey, and she was good for the Reign when we needed her to step up

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.

I watched the game against the Royals with Ivory in goal and there were definitely a couple cases where she came out to punch a cross or corner and never got a hand on it. We were lucky that Utah struggled to finish those kinds of opportunities, but it didn't inspire a ton of confidence. It seems like she is a good shot stopper, but those lofted crosses are definitely a case where the height can make a difference.

Overall, through August, our defense struggled...a lot. So, it is nice to see them kind of get in sync in these recent games. Our midfield has been pretty consistently good, but if our back line can't ever get them the ball due to sloppy turnovers or being unable to build out of a press, then the ball just gets stuck in your defensive third the whole game. That is how we conceded so many goals through August; the ball hardly spent any time in the opposing half.