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Week IX Preview: UWS West

07/06/2018, 12:30pm EDT
By Admin

LAGOC host CFWFC in a potential Conference title deciding match

FRIDAY, JULY 6

LA Galaxy OC Women vs. Calgary Foothills Women’s FC

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

As the West Conference season schedule starts to wind down, all eyes will be focusing on Friday night’s matchup as LA Galaxy OC Women host Calgary Foothills Women’s FC. The postseason scenarios in the West have become straightforward as with only two weeks remaining in the regular season, the winner of this match will clinch the Conference crown and advance to the UWS National Championship weekend. If the teams draw on Friday night however, it does open the door for Santa Clarita to get back into the mix.

LA Galaxy come into this contest firing on all cylinders as they’ve won their last five matches, outscoring their opponents 18-4. Last weekend, Scott Juniper’s team swept a home-and-home weekend series with So Cal Crush, taking their home contest 4-0 and winning 4-1 on the road. Week VIII Offensive Player of the Week Angelina Hix led the charge for her side with a three-goal, two-assist performance over the two games, including scoring a brace on the road. Their home ground has yielded some very good performances as well as in their three games within the confines of the Championship Soccer Stadium at the Orange County Great Park, they’ve outscored their competition 10-1 and will finish the season next Friday at home as well.

The only time LAGOC have slipped was in their third game of the season when they traveled north of the border on June 10 and lost 3-1 to Calgary Foothills Women’s FC. CFWFC are hoping that the home-and-home series against Santa Clarita now being behind them, they can muster one final strong performance to clinch their first UWS West Conference title. After losing 2-0 to the Blue Heat on the road in Week VII, Troye Flannery’s team were able to grind out a 2-2 draw against the 2016 UWS Champs, including getting a 90th minute goal off a set piece from Tori Martyn. It hasn’t come easy for Calgary over the past few weeks as even in their 2-0 victory back on June 22 at So Cal, they had to scratch out two late goals to take three points. But with the quality that they possess, they will feel that they can travel back to Southern California and clinch the conference crown.

SATURDAY, JULY 7

Santa Clarita Blue Heat vs. Real Salt Lake Women

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

While every other team will be watching the LA/Calgary match with some intent, Santa Clarita will be watching with serious intent as the fate of their season lies in the balance of that game. The only result that keeps Santa Clarita alive during Week IX is a draw from that contest. And then the only way that the Blue Heat can repeat as West Conference champions is that after LA ties with Calgary, they win their remaining two matches and hope that LAGOC lose their final match with Colorado in Week X. But even still, the Blue Heat can’t worry about anything more than what is ahead of them and they will want to bounce back after their disappointing draw last week at Calgary. The Blue Heat fought back valiantly after giving up an early tally to take a lead in the 88th minute before dropping two points in the dying embers of the match, which made their road back to the UWS National Championship Weekend a lot more challenging.

And they will take on a Real Salt Lake Women’s team that took away a point from the Blue Heat back in Week II in a goalless draw at the RSL Academy. It hasn’t been an easy last month for RSLW as after winning 3-2 at Colorado in Week III, they’ve lost four of their last five games, with their lone win against the same Colorado Pride back on June 10. While the chase for the conference crown is over, they can still fight for third place if they win out their remaining matches. And that starts this weekend as this contest will be the first of two for Mark Davis’ team. Carly Nelson was big in goal for RSLW in their first meeting against the Blue Heat as she came up with a couple critical saves in the contest to secure a point for her team and will need to do the same thing this weekend in order to see a similar result.

SUNDAY, JULY 8

So Cal Crush FC vs. Real Salt Lake Women

4:00 PM PDT – Crescenta Valley HS (La Crescenta, CA)

In the final match of the weekend, RSLW stay in Southern California as they trek to the foothills of the San Gabriel Mountains to take on So Cal Crush FC. This is the first of two meetings between the teams’ as they will meet again in Week X at the RSL Academy to close out the season. So Cal are still looking for their first victory of 2018 and their first result since their Week II draw at Colorado. The group can take pride in the fact that they have been a tough out at home this season, forcing the top of the table sides to really reach down in order to pick off results. But goal scoring has been a genuine issue for Kurtis Millan’s team as they’ve managed five goals in eight matches this year while conceding a conference high 25. But expect So Cal to come out firing against a potentially weary RSLW team as Sunday’s contest will be their second in a 24-hour window.  

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  LA Galaxy