Lavelle and Oyster are ready for season start

The Boston Breakers had to finish out preseason without a number of key players, including US internationals Rose Lavelle and Megan Oyster. Lavelle and Oyster were both called up to the US women’s national team and saw field time against Russia in two games. Lavelle had herself a bit of a barnburner and got her first international goal, while Oyster got her first two senior team caps.

“I was really nervous,” said Lavelle of her first goal. “Mal [Pugh] set me up perfectly and I thought I was offside for a second, and then when I realized I wasn’t offside, I was like shoot, I gotta finish this because I’m wide open. And thankfully I did.”

“I think one thing first off, playing next to Becky Sauerbrunn was amazing,” said Oyster, who went in as a CB in a four-back. “I think she’s an incredible center back and to learn from her and just play next to her throughout the week was an incredible experience. The players in front of me as well, I think they demand a lot and they know what they want. So I learned a ton from them and kind of adjusted to their formation.”

Now they’re back with the Breakers and ready to dig into the regular season. First up? Away at FC Kansas City, where they’ll be facing WNT teammate Amy Rodriguez.

“She’s so shifty and knowledgeable about the game,” Oyster said of Rodriguez. “Just her runs are going to be a handful in itself. And I know Syd Leroux too. It’s going to be a tough game. I think we’re going to prepare for it really well this wee. Just looking forward to a fresh start with this team and I think we’re going to do really well.”

“I’m really excited,” said Lavelle. “We had, me and Megan, obviously we were gone for two weeks [with the WNT] so we had a little bit of FOMO. Missing out on the game and stuff. So I’m excited to get back and get playing with them for our first game in a week.”

While Lavelle is a rookie, Oyster comes to Boston from the Washington Spirit, where she played for two seasons. In 2015, she started every game and played every minute for the Spirit. “I feel like a fresh start is a good thing,” she said. “I can take what I learned and all the mistakes I made in DC and fix some with this team. I hope to be a leader on this team. I want to have a more leadership role here and bring my experience.” Oyster will certainly get a chance to do that; she’s expected to help anchor the Breakers back line, especially after the departure of former WNT player Whitney Engen.

Despite the interruption to their preseason, both Lavelle and Oyster had quick answers for which teammate they would bring with them to a desert island.

“I would love to go with a lot of the girls,” said Oyster, “But definitely Rosie White. She’s a New Zealander so she’s adventurous, she’s innovative, she would come up with a way to have fun on that island, that’s for sure.”

“Midge [Purce],” said Lavelle. “She kind of refers to herself as Katniss Everdeen. So I just feel like she would have that survival mode in her and she would get all the food and I could just like, chill.”

Boston Breakers vs FCKC kicks off at 6 PM ET on Sunday, April 16 at Swope Soccer Village.