FRIDAY, JULY 6

Detroit Sun FC vs. Fort Wayne Gryphons

7:00 PM EDT – Ultimate Indoor Soccer Arena (Pontiac, MI)

Coming into the final week of play, Detroit have dropped valuable points over their last couple of matches. A wild 4-4 draw against Lansing on June 24 and a 2-2 draw at Michigan last week did net the Sun a spot in the postseason but if they turned one or both of those draws into wins, they could have been fighting for the top-spot in the Conference tournament. They know however that at least a point from this week’s contest against Fort Wayne will net them the three seed next weekend and sets up a match with Grand Rapids. The draw against Michigan last week was a gritty performance from the Sun as they had to claw their way back from a two-goal deficit inside the final few minutes. But they received a final product from all their effort to fight back as they got goals from Anastasia Savich and Rachel DeLuca inside the final seven minutes. Now if they can carry that effort into this weeks match and build on their momentum into the postseason, they will be a very tough out.

Fort Wayne will wrap up their season with a pair of matches this weekend and are looking for their first result since their Week III draw with Genesee at home. These two teams met back on June 17 and despite the Gryphons getting a fifth minute goal from Amelia White, the response from Detroit was a swift one and the hosts ended up falling to last years’ UWS National Semifinalist 5-1. Last week, Fort Wayne put in a good shift against Indy Premier on the road but fell 1-0 on Wednesday and in their rematch against Genesee last Friday, they had a response for every Genesee attack for 44 minutes, but giving up a goal right on the stroke of halftime made it 3-2 for their opponents and the Gryphons could not recover. But it was their first multi-goal output of the season and no doubt they will ride their scorers from that contest, Alana Richmond and Alex Koontz, into this weekend’s action.

SATURDAY, JULY 7

Indy Premier SC vs. Michigan Legends

7:00 PM EDT – Marian University (Indianapolis, IN)

The Michigan Legends secured their spot in the UWS Midwest Conference Tournament for the second straight year last weekend and are looking to potentially climb up the standings in the final weekend of regular season play. Currently the Legends sit in fourth place with 15 points (4-2-3 record) and trail third place Detroit by two points. With a win and a Detroit loss, they would be able to climb up into third place and set themselves up for a meeting against Grand Rapids in the semifinals next weekend but anything less than three points for Michigan or if Detroit wins or draws with Fort Wayne, they will play top-seeded Lansing United in the semifinals. It’s been a challenging last couple of weeks for the Legends as they’ve let points slip through their hands twice at home. Against Lansing on June 22nd, they led 1-0 heading into the final minutes of the match before allowing a 90th minute equalizer. Same story against Detroit last Friday as they led 2-0 heading into the final ten minutes before conceding twice in the final seven minutes to drop two more points. Michigan will want to change their fortunes on the road this weekend as they know they will need to build some confidence heading into the postseason.

SUNDAY, JULY 8

Grand Rapids FC Women vs. Fort Wayne Gryphons

3:00 PM EDT – Grandville H.S. (Grandville, MI)

Grand Rapids comes into this weekend knowing that they have secured the number two seed in the Midwest Conference Tournament and cannot advance any higher than that. So, the goal of this week for the defending UWS Champions is to put in a good performance on the field this week and gain some momentum heading into the postseason next weekend. James Gilpin's team responded in a positive manner after falling to Lansing United last Friday by filling up the back of the net with a lot of goals against Indy Premier the next night, 14 of them to be exact. While they won’t have learned much about themselves from a contest like that, they were able to start building that all-important momentum heading into the postseason by finishing off their chances. As they know, once a team gets into postseason action, you have to finish off your chances when you get them and they did exactly that last Saturday. And they’ll have the motivation of putting on a good show for their home crowd one more time as well so expect an inspired performance from GRFC.

This will be the second match of the weekend for Fort Wayne as they’ll travel from Pontiac after their match on Friday to Grandville for this contest. When these two teams met back on June 15, it was Grand Rapids who came away with a 5-0 victory, with goals from five different players, including Grace Labadie notching three assists along with a goal, so the Gryphons will be sure to keep her marked well in the rematch.

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.