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Four days, two matches, two 2-2 ties
Second-half substitute Brianna Pugh sprints into the Colorado Force’s penalty box on Sunday in Highlands Ranch. (photo by Tom Auclair/ColoradoSoccerNow.com)
It looked more like a hockey goal than a soccer goal.
After a corner kick by Colorado Force midfielder Cayla Deacon, Emmalie Pfankuch poked home a loose ball in the goal mouth in the 66th minute of a 2-2 tie with the Real Colorado Cougars on Sunday afternoon in Highlands Ranch.
Deacon’s corner kick from the left flag dropped near the far post, just beyond the range of Cougars goalkeeper Taylor Vancil. The ball bounced around in traffic, and bodies began to fly. When Pfankuch finally was able to punch the ball past Vancil for the equalizer, she was pinned under two Cougars in the goal box.
“Cayla played a perfect ball across, and it just kind of bounced around in there,” Pfankuch said. “It’s hard because we really wanted to come out here and win. I feel like we all came together, but at the same time it would’ve been nice to win.”
As it was, the Force erased one-goal deficits with each of its goals.
The Cougars struck first with a goal in the 19th minute. Real’s Vanessa Mais took a free kick outside the top of the Force’s penalty area after an iffy foul call against defender Sally Cole. Mais’ powerful kick shot down off of the underside of the crossbar, and Jenna Owens popped in the rebound.
Two minutes before halftime, the Force tied it, also on a corner kick. But this time, rather than a fire drill in front of the net, Force players used their heads, three of them.
Deacon put the ball in play, and teammate Molly Thomas headed it from the near post toward the front of goal. Lisa Franke was waiting there and nodded it toward the far post, where defender Jessica Boots headed it in.
Real Colorado’s Kellyn Farrell answered just after halftime. In the 51st minute, Cougars playmaker Beth West played a long, perfectly weighted ball to Taryn Hemmings up the left wing. Hemmings crossed into the box, and Farrell banged it past goalkeeper Tara Linder for her second goal in four days against the Force. The teams also battled to a 2-2 draw on Thursday in Loveland.
Farrell’s second-half goal made the score 2-1 and set the stage for Pfankuch’s tying goal. Pfankuch, though, almost provided the Force with the winning goal on two occasions.
In the 69th minute, Pfankuch was headed in a diagonal line toward goal in the Cougars’ penalty area. Real Colorado’s Karter Haug was on a line to intercept her diagonally in the other direction. Pfankuch tapped the ball forward, and Haug shouldered her to the ground. The referee ruled it was shoulder-to-shoulder contact and allowed play to continue.
Then, in the 77th minute, Pfankuch, Vancil and a Real Colorado defender all converged on a bounding ball. Pfankuch got to it first and chipped Vancil. The ball floated over Real’s keeper and into the net, but the linesman raised his flag. The play was whistled offside.
“There was the one that Pfankuch knocked it past her and they brushed each other, and the rules state that if you knock it past they cannot impede your path to the ball. And she did that. That should be a guaranteed PK,” Force coach Craig Deacon said. “On the offside decision, when Pfankuch dips in there, she came in from 10 yards behind everyone.
“I don’t want to blame the officials. I don’t want to be that coach. But one’s a clear-cut goal, and one’s a PK.”
Cougars coach Brian Haynes wasn’t as disappointed with the officials, but he didn’t like the flow of the game. Thursday’s match saw a player from each side ejected, and Sunday’s game might have been more chippy.
Twice the referee had to break up shouting matches between players, and once again a player was sent off for discipline. Real captain Brianne Young received her second yellow card of the match in the 67th minute, and the hosts had to play short-handed the rest of the way.
“I told the girls to just stay calm no matter what. They’re a physical team; they’re going to play that way. Let them do what they do, and let’s do what we do. And we didn’t,” Haynes said. “We got involved in some picky stuff, which as far as I’m concerned is not soccer. Soccer is putting the ball down and playing. And when we did that, we did a great job.”
FORCE WOMAN OF THE MATCH: Pfankuch.
COUGARS WOMAN OF THE MATCH: West. The little No. 10 was listed as a forward on Thursday, but she’s nearly unstoppable in the center of the field. She didn’t get an assist on Farrell’s goal, but she should have. She was the smallest player on the pitch but had more of a say in the direction of the contest than anyone, perhaps, other than Pfankuch.
LEADING SCORERS: Pfankuch leads the Force (0-1-2) with two goals this season. Becca Mays and Farrell each have two goals for Real (2-2-2).
ATTENDANCE: About 150 to 200 people at Shea Stadium on an afternoon that threatened rain but never gave up more than a sprinkle (although the wind increased and the temperature decreased at halftime).
PACE OF THE MATCH: Late in the second half, it seemed that each side was wearing down after playing nearly two complete matches in a span of four days. But the volume cranked up to 11 in the final minutes and in extra time. Vancil and Linder each made stops in the last minute of regulation, and extra time was back and forth. Real Colorado substitute Brianna Pugh was part of the reason. She provided a jolt of speed up the right wing, and her teammates guided the ball her way more and more as the half wore on. She is a player to watch out for, and it wouldn’t be a surprise to see her in the starting lineup the longer she’s with the team.
George Tanner is a former writer and editor for the Rocky Mountain News; the Greeley Tribune; The Daily Independent of Ridgecrest, Calif.; the Durango Herald; and the Boulder Daily Camera. He is a graduate of the University of Colorado and an associate professor at Metropolitan State College of Denver. E-mail him at ColoradoSoccerNow@gmail.com.
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