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Week VI Preview: UWS West

06/14/2018, 3:00pm EDT
By Admin

RSLW look to jump start their second half, So Cal step on home field for first time

Friday, June 15

Calgary Foothills Women’s FC vs. Real Salt Lake Women

6:30 PM MDT – Calgary Soccer Center (Calgary, AB)

Calgary remain in the top spot in the West Conference at the halfway mark of the season with 13 points (4-0-1) and welcome in Real Salt Lake Women, a team that they defeated 3-0 in their season opener on May 25. CFWFC only recorded five shots on target that day but when three find the back of the net, you’ll certainly take it. Grace Stordy, Tori Martyn and Rehana Murani all scored and Emily Burns posted a clean sheet with four saves. Last week, the team was without Stephanie Labbé, who was in goal for the Canadian National Team as they played Germany in the friendly in Hamilton, Ontario. But with the international window closed, she should be available for selection but even then, Burns has done a nice job in net this season by picking up a pair of wins and keeping her defense sharp and alert. The schedule becomes very testing from this point forward for Troye Flannery’s team as they will play three of their last four games on the road, including a home-and-home against a formidable Santa Clarita side. So getting maximum points this weekend will be key for his team.

After dropping two straight matches, a 4-1 victory over Colorado Pride was exactly the result that Real Salt Lake Women needed to keep pace with the rest of the West Conference pack. Currently Mark Davis’ team sits in third place with seven points (2-2-1) but the next two matches for his team, both this week's contest and their Week VII home match against LA Galaxy OC Women, will be the telling sign if RSLW will make a run at the Conference title. The positive news is they got Haley North back up and running in the goal scoring column as her eighth minute strike against Colorado upped her total to three goals on the season. They will hope that she will bring her goal scoring shoes north of the border this week if they want to come back home with a result against the top team in the West.

Saturday, June 16

Colorado Pride vs. LA Galaxy OC Women

2:00 PM MDT – Mountain Lion Stadium (Colorado Springs, CO)

It was a weekend of highs and lows last week for the Colorado Pride. It started off on a high note as AJ Adcock’s side went up to Calgary and took home a 2-2 draw, becoming the first team to take points off of the West Conference leaders. His team had to erase a pair of one-goal deficits but Sara Spaulding and Athena Kuehn tallied second half goals to share the points with CFWFC. But on Sunday, the Pride never got going against Real Salt Lake Women and lost 4-1. Spaulding scored in her second straight match but conceding a pair of goals inside the first ten minutes put the team in a hole they could not overcome. With this being the last home game of the season for the Pride and only having a three-game road trip before their season concludes, they will have to start getting some positive results very quickly if they want to keep their postseason hopes alive.

LA Galaxy OC Women have started off their inaugural season in good form. So far they've accrued four points from three matches (1-1-1 record) have put themselves in fourth place, with a handful of matches in hand on some of the teams at the top of the table. Scott Juniper’s team will need to use this weekend’s match as a launching pad as the next two weeks will be double-match weeks, which could determine if LAGOC are contenders for the conference crown. Last Sunday, his team competed well for long stretches against Calgary, including seeing his side post a quality team goal finished off by Noel Baham volleying home a beautiful cross from Nicole Molen. But despite competing well, they came home empty handed and will want to reverse their fortunes this week. Keep in mind as well that they will finish off the season by playing four of their final six matches at home, with their lone game so far at the Orange County Great Park being a 4-0 win in Week III over Real Salt Lake Women. So getting points on the road this week could set themselves nicely for the stretch run.

Sunday, June 17

So Cal Crush FC vs. Santa Clarita Blue Heat

4:00 PM PDT – Crescenta Valley H.S. (La Crescenta, CA)

Of the 27 teams that are competing in the 2018 UWS Season, So Cal Crush FC are the last team to play their home opener. And finally Kurtis Millan’s team will set foot onto the field this week at Crescenta Valley High School, knowing that five of their next six games will take place on their home turf. And this is a team that needs to put their opening season road trip behind them as from their first three matches, the team has earned just one point and have been outscored 9-2. But, there is nothing like playing at home in front of your supporters and So Cal will hope that some home cooking will do the trick.

Meanwhile it has been business as usual for Santa Clarita over the last two weeks. After opening the season with a pair of draws, the Blue Heat picked up a thrilling 3-2 win over Colorado in Week IV and a straight forward 4-0 win last week over the same So Cal side they will face this week. There has been some nice scoring balance for Leonardo Neveleff’s team this season but the tone has been set by Kassandra Massey over the last few weeks. She picked up the UWS Offensive Player of the Week nod in Week IV for a goal and an assist over Colorado and struck for a pair of goals against So Cal last weekend. Massey was named to the All-UWS First Team back in 2016 as her five-goal, three-assist campaign helped lead the Blue Heat to a League Championship. And the way that she has been scoring over the past couple of weeks, we could be in for another standout campaign from her this year.

About United Women's Soccer:

UWS is a national women’s soccer league sanctioned by U.S. Soccer. 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 the UWS Communications office by e-mail at UWSPress@gmail.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 |   West  Foothills WFC  Real Salt Lake  Santa Clarita Blue Heat  So Cal Crush  Colorado Pride  LA Galaxy