EAST BRUNSWICK, NJ - The Summer 2016 season in United Women’s Soccer (UWS) kicks into high gear as six games will be played in two conferences from Thursday through Sunday. The West Conference will kick off the biggest slate of games in UWS so far this season, as the Santa Clarita Blue Heat (1-0) host the Colorado Pride (0-1) on Thursday. Real Salt Lake Women (0-1) look to avenge last weekend’s loss in their home opener to the Houston Aces (1-1) on Saturday, while the Storm continue their road trip with Sunday’s match against in-state rival Colorado Pride (1-0).

THURSDAY, JUNE 2
Santa Clarita Blue Heat vs. Colorado Storm (6:00 PM PST)
Venue: The Master’s College
21726 Placerita Canyon Road
Santa Clarita, CA 91321

The Blue Heat and the Storm will both play in their second match of the 2016 season, but had different experiences in their season openers. The Santa Clarita attack were led by UWS West Offensive Player of the Week and former UCLA Bruin Kodi Lavrusky in their big season opening road win at Houston on May 14th, while Colorado hosted their in-state rival Pride on May 22nd, losing by a tight 1-0 score. This will be Santa Clarita’s home opener, so the hosts will look to make a similar statement as they did in their first game of the season.

The Blue Heat were powered by two-goal efforts from Lavrusky, forward Julia Hernandez (UCLA) and defender Yadira Toraya (Mexico WNT) against Houston, and boast a great mix of experience and youth in heir squad. Former Quebec Dynamo and Canadian U-20 Women’s National Team defender Melissa Roy made her presence felt at both ends of the pitch in their season-opening win. Add more experience in attack with forward Mele French and in defense with Israeli WNT defender Diana Redman combined with five players from the nationally-respected UCLA program and Santa Clarita poses a threat whether its on the road or at home.

Even with their strong youth club system, the Storm will still need an element of experience to counterbalance the overall strength of the UWS West this year. They received that in their opener from a pair of Australian imports who have experience in their homeland’s W-League. Both Kahlia Hogg and Alexandra Huynh - who also have spent plenty of time in Australia’s youth national team system - played the full 90 minutes in their 1-0 less to the Pride. The best chance for the Storm came in the 22nd minute of the match when they received a direct kick 25 yards out but Huynh’s shot was blocked by a header from the wall.

After Thursday’s match, the Blue Heat will have nine days off before they travel to Utah to face the Real Salt Lake Women on Saturday, June 11th. The game against Santa Clarita will be the first of three matches in a eight-day span for the Storm, as they face the Pride this Sunday and than host the Houston Aces on Friday, June 10th. How they perform over this span will be an early indicator of what the UWS West holds in store for them this season.

SATURDAY, JUNE 4
Houston Aces vs. Real Salt Lake Women (7:00 PM CST)
Venue: Houston Sports Park
12131 Kirby Drive
Houston, TX 77045

Last season, Houston won both contests against Real Salt Lake and after a disappointing loss to Santa Clarita to open the 2016 campaign, they looked for similar success against their old adversaries in last Saturday’s game in Utah. The Real Women were most certainly aware of their recent record against the Aces and came out with all guns ablaze in front of a capacity crowd at Davis High School Stadium. Yet, the Houston defense would bend but not break in the face of RSL’s pressure and kept the game scoreless.

The bounce-back ability of the Aces gave them a chance to get a positive result, and in the 71st minute, they did. A well-placed cross by Houston defender Shauna Peare found forward Paige Hayward, and she beat RSL goalkeeper Rebecca Ritchie to the ball and headed home for the eventual 1-0 victory. Aces keeper Courtney Seelhorst (five saves) was a brick wall as she almost single-handedly kept the Real Women attack at bay with her first-half performance in goal. Both Hayward and Seelhorst would be selected as West Offensive and Defensive Players of the Week for their efforts.

Returning the favor in this Saturday’s rematch will be of utmost importance to the Real Salt Lake Women, but if their offense can continue their pace of play, scoring goals should eventually come around for them. The forward trio of Madie Lyons, Brecken Mozingo and team co-captain Colette Smith harassed Houston to no end, but the lack of luck in front of goal alongside the play of Seelhorst kept them off the score board. Although disappointed with the result, RSL Women Head Coach Mark Davis was pleased with his team’s effort, as they out-shot the Aces by a 16-9 margin and out-cornered them, 10-2.

Houston will hit the road for three consecutive road games after Saturday’s match, and return home to face the Colorado Storm at Houston Sports Park on Friday, July 15th. The Real Women return home to Davis H.S. Stadium on Saturday, June 11th in an important match vs. Santa Clarita. RSL have not been shy that their mission is to win the UWS Championship this season, and the game against the Blue Heat could begin to tell their tale.

SUNDAY, JUNE 5
Colorado Pride vs. Colorado Storm (1:00 PM MST)
Venue: Washburn Field
Colorado College
Colorado Springs, CO 80903

The Colorado Pride kick off the home portion of their 2016 UWS West schedule on Sunday, hosting the Storm in one of the most gorgeous settings in all of pro-am women’s soccer - Washburn Field at Colorado College. The two teams met up on May 22nd, with the Pride holding the overall run of play on the road even amidst the windy conditions at Sports Authority Field in Parker, CO. They would not succumb to what ailed RSL in last weekend’s loss to Houston, as although their offense did not light up the score board, the Pride did get that much-needed goal to get all three points.

The vital breakthrough occurred in the 52nd minute when Texas Tech grad and Pride forward Briana Rohmer put the ball away from eight yards out off a perfectly slotted pass from University of Northern Colorado sophomore midfielder Mariel Gutierrez. Roomer and Gutierrez would not receive West Offensive Player of the Week honors - with thanks to Santa Clarita’s Kodi Lavrusky - but defender Lexi Long would get recognition as Defensive Player of the Week after the 1-0 win. The former Colorado College center back bottled up the Storm attack, had frequent clears of dangerous passes and numerous strong tackles to dispossess attackers in contributing to the clean sheet.

New Pride Head Coach Richard Simonyi was obviously pleased with the result vs. the Storm but also believed there was a “lot of room for improvement, as too much impatience led to too many turnovers.” The Pride organization are used to success, as they made it to the National Final of the now-defunct W-League last summer. Depending on the Storm’s result on Thursday vs. at Santa Clarita, the Pride can both dent the hopes of a berth into this summer’s UWS Championship for their in-state rivals and also keep pace with the conference leaders this Sunday. This game will also be the start of a three-match home stand at Washburn Field.

(Photo credit to Victory Rising Photography)

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.

UWS is managed by EDP, a leading soccer management company that runs a number of leagues and tournaments.  In addition to UWS, EDP operates youth leagues that includes an NPL league, the EDP Super Club program, the EDP Premier League and the EDP Championship League. EDP also runs EDP Futures programs for U-7’s to U-12’s and it conducts more than 20 youth tournaments, including tournaments within its EDP Cup Series and EDP Showcase Series.

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 by e-mail at Joe@UWSSoccer.com.