Boston Breakers waive Libby Stout

The Boston Breakers have waived goalkeeper Libby Stout. Stout started 2017 preseason with an ankle injury which put her out four to six weeks and never managed to get back into the roster.

Stout was brought onboard in November of 2015 after the Breakers dealt away former starting goalkeeper Alyssa Naeher to the Chicago Red Stars. Stout was familiar to then-new head coach Matt Beard after her time at Liverpool and, while perhaps not considered as reliable as Naeher, was supposed to be behind a strengthened Boston back line after they acquired Whitney Engen.

Unfortunately, Stout spent a lot of 2016 nursing a hamstring injury, which was a bit of a blow after their second goalkeeper Abby Smith went down with a season-ending knee injury. Smith’s injury required Boston to re-sign Jami Kranich, who had already been released by that time. Kranich stepped in and did an admirable job on short notice. Stout had 10 games and nine starts for Boston in an extremely rocky 2016 season, earning a 2.1 goals against average while facing 139 shots, with 62 SOG. She ended the season with a 68% save rate, a number which doesn’t quite reflect Stout’s work for Boston in a quagmire of a 2016 season.

The Breakers’ #1 GK is now the returning Abby Smith, who seems to have shaken off her 2016 knee injury to become dominant in goal for Boston. Four games into the season Smith has shown her quality not just as a shotstopper with a head for good positioning, but her range as a distributor out of the back. She’ll be backed up by 2017 draft pick Sammy Jo Prudhomme out of USC, who was taken #31 overall in the college draft.