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UWS Week VI Preview: West Conference

06/15/2017, 4:30pm EDT
By Admin

Real Salt Lake travels north to Calgary for vital West tilt

METUCHEN, NJ - The Santa Clarita Blue Heat are not only the defending conference champions in the West, but they also hold the 2016 United Women’s Soccer (UWS) title for themselves. Three games into the 2017 season and Santa Clarita are ahead of the pack with an undefeated record and games in hand on their top competition for the West crown, the Real Salt Lake Women. The RSL Women and Calgary Foothills Women’s FC face off in a vital showdown in each team’s mission to keep pace with the Blue Heat while Houston faces a tough two-game road trip to southern California.

SATURDAY, JUNE 17

Calgary Foothills Women’s FC vs. Real Salt Lake Women
6:00 PM MDT - Calgary Soccer Centre (Calgary, AB)

Coming into the 2017 season, both Calgary Foothills Women’s FC (1-2 West) and Real Salt Lake Women (3-2 West) had big expectations and high hopes for their respective conference campaigns. Even though they are a first-year team, Calgary Head Coach Troye Flannery put together a strong roster chock full of the top talent not only from the area but from around Canada Like the trio of Mya Jones, Sarah Kinzner and Michelle Roy. Real Salt Lake were mere minutes away from capturing the West title last season and with a veteran core returning this season combined with new talent like U.S. U-23 Women’s National team forward Hailey Skolmoski (4 goals scored, leading the team), the conference crown was on the mind of 2016 West Coach of the Year Mark Davis.

Yet, this Saturday’s game between the two sides will prove to be a make-or-break type of result when it comes to each organization’s title aspirations. Simply put, a third loss in conference play will doom that team to fighting the rest of their campaign for a winning record. A win for either side will help them keep pace with the Santa Clarita Blue Heat, who are tied in first-place with the RSL Women in points (9) but are undefeated and have two games in hand. Real Salt Lake has momentum on their side as they were victorious last Saturday night over Houston by a 4–2 score via a stunning late-game comeback. At the same time, Calgary fought valiantly against defending UWS champion Santa Clarita but to no avail, as the Blue Heat came away with a 1-0 road win.

Santa Clarita Blue Heat vs. Houston Aces
6:00 PM PDT - Master's Univ. (Santa Clarita, CA)

The Santa Clarita Blue Heat (3-0 West) have come out of the gates this season in impressive fashion, going undefeated, not allowing a goal scored against them and winning in a differing matter of ways. In their season opener, they went up against first-year side So Cal Crush FC and in the first installment of their local derby, Santa Clarita was powered by two goal efforts from Costa Rican international Carolina Venegas and Florida State freshman Emily Madril in a 4-0 win. Two 1-0 shutout wins over Real Salt Lake and Calgary have followed, as veteran goalkeeper Jojo McCaskill has made the important saves while FSU standout Natalie Kuikka has been a great addition to an experienced back line.

The Houston Aces (0-2 West) were also minutes away from capturing the West crown last year and while they have fought bravely in their first two matches of 2017, they have yet to break the deadlock in their favor. In both losses to Calgary and Real Salt Lake, Houston was able to come from behind and tie the match. Although, Calgary would forge ahead in their 2-1 win via goals from Joelle Gosselin. And after going up 2-1 in last Saturday night’s match at Real Salt Lake, the Aces defense would fold their hand in the second half, allowing three unanswered goals in a 4-2 loss. In an effort for their first win of 2017, Houston can look back on their success in 2016: on June 18th, the Aces dealt the Blue Heat their only home loss, a thrilling come-from-behind 4-3 victory that kept them in the title race.

SUNDAY, JUNE 18

So Cal Crush FC vs. Houston Aces
1:00 PM PDT - Crescenta Valley H.S. (La Crescenta, CA)

It will be a two-week layoff since their last match for So Cal Crush FC (1-2 West), and after a momentous start to their inaugural campaign, the first-year team has most certainly needed that time off. Crush FC kicked off their 2017 season with one of the biggest upsets in recent pro-am soccer history with a 2-0 shutout on the road at Real Salt Lake on Saturday, May 20th. So Cal were led by goalkeeper Adriana Maldonado on defense and forward Nancy Avesyan on offense and prospects were looking good for the team and aspirations were sky high. In their next two games, however, SCCFC would be harshly brought back down to earth.

Santa Clarita would open their title defense in rock solid fashion and humble So Cal in the first-ever derby between the two Los Angeles-based sides by a 4-0 score on Friday, May 26th. Eight days later, Real Salt Lake would exact unyielding revenge on Crush FC, getting a first half hat trick from Hailey Skolmoski en route to a 5-0 win. In the big picture, being out-scored by a 9-0 margin can certainly give SCCFC Head Coach Reggie Rivas much to contemplate but he can be buoyed by the second half performance of his side in the RSLW defeat. Avesyan is still someone that an opponent’s defense has to take care of while his defense has been boosted by the play of left back Allison Arriola.

About United Women’s Soccer (UWS): UWS is a national women’s soccer league sanctioned by U.S. Soccer through the United States Adult Soccer Association (USASA). UWS is a professionally operated league created for teams that meet high minimum standards. The season runs from May until the end of July, culminating in a National Championship match. The UWS player pool is comprised of college players, aspiring & former professionals and international stars. You can follow UWS on social media on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.

Media can contact UWS Director of Communications Jorma Kansanen by e-mail at Press@UWSSoccer.com. You can visit the league’s official website at UWSSoccer.com. Interested team applicants can contact League Commissioner Joe Ferrara, Jr. by e-mail at Joe@UWSSoccer.com.

Tag(s): News |   Real Salt Lake  Santa Clarita Blue Heat  Foothills WFC  So Cal Crush