In their first season in club history, the Brooklyn FC women's side are thriving. The team won their last six games and sit atop the USL Super League with 29 points, six ahead of second-place Dallas Trinity FC.
A key factor in Brooklyn’s success has been the defense. Conceding a league-low eight goals in 14 games, Brooklyn concluded the fall portion of the 2024-2025 campaign on a four-game shutout streak. The credit largely goes to a defense anchored by rotating goalkeepers Neeku Purcell and Sydney Martinez, and central-defensive midfielder Sam Kroeger.
Hudson River Blue caught up with Kroeger virtually before Brooklyn traveled to Italy for a series of friendlies ahead of the start of the spring slate of the USL Super League season. The team is set to play Napoli Femminile on Wednesday at 9 AM ET.
Takashi Williams
From No 10 to a No 6
Before joining Brooklyn, Kroeger played for Rutgers University for four seasons. She started in 73 of the 78 games she played, scored 15 goals, and had 15 assists playing as an attacking midfielder. But in the final few games of her senior season, Kroeger played as a No 6, a defensive midfielder role. This is the position she would end up playing once she joined Brooklyn.
“I’ve come to really like it, actually,” Kroeger said on playing the role. “I think just the teamwork and the chemistry between everyone and my backline has been really good. They’ve done a great job communicating with me and I’ve done a lot of work with film in terms of how to grow every single day, and just obviously, the one percent for me is what I want to do better. So I think any small detail that I can get up to par and master is what I wanna do every single day."
Kroeger’s started all 14 games this season and played the full 90 minutes in every match. She credits the team culture for helping her get adjusted to Brooklyn so quickly. As for the defense, Kroeger says playing in a 4-1-4-1, with her as the lone defensive midfielder, has worked to keep the team compact and organized at all times.
“I think just keeping the lines compact and in synchronization, I think that’s been key,” she said. “I think our press has been really well done, in terms of our forwards dictating the press, and that comes from the communication from the backline and myself. So, I think that we have done a great job with that … I think the communication aspect, keeping the lines tight and compact, and making teams go around is what’s helped us a lot for the first half of the season.”
Andrew Leigh
You can take the player out of the attack...
Despite being a defensive midfielder, Kroeger has a knack for taking shots from outside of the box. She scored her first career goal in the 3-1 win over Fort Lauderdale United FC. Mackenzie Pluck played the short corner to Kroeger, who settled the ball at the top of the box and struck it with her right foot into the top corner.
What a way to score your first goal of the season 🤯@samkroegerr launches a shot from DISTANCE to give @_BrooklynFCw the lead! 🚀#ThisIsOurMoment pic.twitter.com/GLJYaLwKsX
— USL Super League (@USLSuperLeague) October 27, 2024
"I was knocking on the door, I had a few different shots during a few different other games and I was like I know it's coming I just didn't know when it was coming," Kroeger said. "The defender from Fort Lauderdale, none of them really stepped, so, I took my shot — that's a pretty technical shot in terms of just how it went in. I usually hit that on my left foot because I'm naturally a lefty but, honestly, you have to be good with both feet in this league. Super pumped that I had my first goal, I knew it was coming at some point."
Kroeger has enjoyed her time so far in his first season with Brooklyn and has adapted to the team well.
"It's been great," Kroeger said. "Everyone has done a good job in terms of sticking to the game plan. Our staff has a great training plan every single day, it's thought out very well. So, between the staff and then the players, we've done a great job in terms of communicating. Some days are a little lighter and then we have our heavy days leading up to games, so I think that we’ve done a great job.”
Work left to be done
With Brooklyn set to return to league play on February 22 against Tampa Bay Sun FC, Kroeger knows the team can’t be content with where they are in the table, knowing that there are still 14 games left in the season.
“We have to put our foot on the gas, continue that, and anything honestly can happen within a game, so every game is gonna be important,” she said. “We’re gonna take it game by game, but we need results for both home and away for this season to win it.”
