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Week VII Preview: UWS West

06/21/2018, 4:15pm EDT
By Admin

CFWFC, SAC square off for first time to cap off a busy week in the West

Friday, June 22

So Cal Crush FC vs. Calgary Foothills Women’s FC

6:00 PM PDT – Crescenta Valley H.S. (La Crescenta, CA)

While So Cal Crush will be disappointed with the 2-0 loss to Santa Clarita last Sunday, the effort that Kurtis Millan’s team put out against the traditional UWS power was a good one. They kept the Blue Heat offense at bay for nearly the entire match and created a few good looks of their own before succumbing to the pressure in the final five minutes. But the schedule doesn’t get any easier for So Cal as they welcome in the unbeaten Calgary Foothills WFC side to open up a two-match weekend. With Week VII being their first of two, two-match weekends, So Cal will want to get off to a quick start to try and generate some momentum to last them throughout the weekend.

Calgary made short work of So Cal in their first encounter with a 3-0 win back on June 1st at the Calgary Soccer Center. Harvard’s Lauren Raimondo was on the mark with a pair of goals that day while Jessica Jones chipped in with a goal and an assist. This match starts a stretch of four matches that ultimately can make or break the season for Troye Flannery’s club. In order to avoid mirroring the second place finish his squad had in 2017, CFWFC will need to do well on the road as they finish off this season with three of four matches being played away from home. Additionally, looming after this match is a home-and-home series against Santa Clarita so his team will have to be wary of that potential “trap game” and not get caught looking past So Cal as any dropped points from here on out can come back to hurt them.

LA Galaxy OC Women vs. Santa Clarita Blue Heat

7:00 PM PDT – Orange County Great Park (Irvine, CA)

While no doubt a lot of people will be turning their attention to Sunday’s match between Santa Clarita and Calgary, the second meeting of the 2018 season between LA Galaxy OC Women and the Blue Heat could sneakily be one of the best contests of the season. The two teams played to a 1-1 draw back on May 26 with Kiana Palacios giving LAGOC a fourth minute lead before Milene Cabral scored the equalizer in the 74th minute. That was the first time Santa Clarita did not win a UWS West Conference regular season match since July 10, 2016, snapping a run of nine-straight wins, and it gave LAGOC a big boost of confidence early on in their inaugural season. Now, Scott Juniper’s team welcomes Santa Clarita to the Orange Country Great Park stadium after soundly defeating Colorado 4-0 last week, helped by a pair of goals from Jordan Marada. Defender Natalie Jacobs was named the UWS Defensive Player of the Week for Week VI as she has been a key catalyst in one of the better defensive units across the entire league. She, along with the rest of her group in the back, will need to have another big performance if they want to take points off Santa Clarita again.

In a similar situation to what Calgary faces this week, the Blue Heat cannot afford to look past this match before their encounter on Sunday. Leonardo Neveleff’s team had to grind out a 2-0 victory last week with getting late goals from Chloe Castaneda and Nickolette Driesse. But despite an unbeaten start to their 2018 campaign with a 3-0-2 record, outside of a 4-0 win over So Cal in Week V they haven’t had a convincing result go in their favor this season. Three times so far this season they’ve had to score a winner or equalizer inside the final 16 minutes in order to keep that unbeaten record intact. But at the same time, they’ve kept themselves right on pace with Calgary for the lead in the West and if they can get three points against LAGOC on Friday, it will set themselves up nicely for Sunday.

Sunday, June 24

So Cal Crush FC vs. Colorado Pride

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

In So Cal’s second home match of the weekend, they welcome in the Colorado Pride to the Crescenta Valley High School pitch. These two teams battled to a 2-2 draw in Colorado back on May 18, with Colorado staking themselves a 2-0 lead halfway through the second half before the Crush got goals from Karina Cisneros and Taylor Scott to share the points. Colorado are already eliminated from postseason contention as they’ve only mustered two points from seven matches. However, AJ Adcock’s team will want to finish off the season on a high note and that starts on Sunday. His team have found the back of the net quite consistently this season, scoring two or more goals in four of their seven games played. But stopping them has been a real issue as they’ve allowed a conference high 21 goals. But with So Cal only scoring two goals through four matches coming into this week, it could ripe time for the Pride to pick up their first win of the season.

Santa Clarita Blue Heat vs. Calgary Foothills Women’s FC

6:00 PM PDT – Master’s University (Santa Clarita, CA)

This is the first of two head-to-head matches between Santa Clarita and Calgary and the series could not have come at a better time in the season. The top two teams have flip-flopped their positions from where they were at this point in the season last year, with the Blue Heat trying to chase down CFWFC at the top. Both teams will be playing their second match in three days but you figure with everything that is at stake, adrenaline will overpower any fatigue here. Santa Clarita swept the two matches last year including a decisive 4-1 victory win at home last year and staked themselves a 3-0 lead inside 34 minutes. But, Calgary will have put that loss well behind them and will hope that they can get out to an early lead and let their defense do the work from that point on. There are great matchups to watch all over the field but keep an eye on the wide play of Calgary and how they fare against the Blue Heat defense. The combination of Mya Jones and Yvonne Northover on the right side along with young defender Grace Stordy overlapping has been lethal all year but Santa Clarita pose a very stingy defensive unit, highlighted by Lauren Sesselmann and Yadira Toraya. Whichever side can win that battle may have the upper hand in the outcome of the contest.

Real Salt Lake Women vs. LA Galaxy OC Women

7:00 PM MDT – RSL Academy (Herriman, UT)

After hosting Santa Clarita, LAGOC travels out to Utah to take on Real Salt Lake Women, with both teams knowing anything less than three points will likely eliminate them from postseason contention. It was all LA in the first meeting between the two teams as the Galaxy hit the back of the net three times in the second half en route to a comfortable 4-0 victory back on June 2nd. Head Coach Scott Juniper will hope that heavy legs won’t be a factor after their match on Friday with Santa Clarita as his opponents will have had the benefit of eight days of rest since their last match, a 2-1 loss to Calgary. But RSLW put in a very strong effort against the West Conference leaders, responding quickly to a two-goal deficit after 16 minutes when Brecken Mozingo found the back of the net for the first time this season in the 20th minute. But now with only a maximum of 12 points left on the table, Real Salt Lake Women will have to run the table in their final four matches and hope that they can get help elsewhere if they want to make it to the UWS National Championship Weekend. 

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