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Depleted Force holds Pali to 0-0 tie
Colorado Force midfielder Sara Campbell, right, fends off Pali’s Ali Riley as Mo Smunt closes in. (photo by Tom Auclair/ColoradoSoccerNow.com)
The Colorado Force was missing some heavy hitters Sunday against the defending W-League champions.
Central defender Carly Peetz was invited to train with the U.S. U-23 national team.
Shay Powell hurt her left knee last week in a 2-2 tie with the Real Colorado Cougars; she wanted to play in Sunday’s matinee against the Pali Blues, but the Force kept her out of the game as a precaution.
And Emmalie Pfankuch, because she was playing with her Rush club team in a regional tournament in California, missed Sunday’s match even though her image was on the game-day tickets. Yep … on Emmalie Pfankuch Day, no Pfankuch.
But despite the crew of missing players, the Force was up to the task.
Goalkeeper Kara Linder made eight saves and Estelle Johnson, pictured at right, led a defense that would not break as the Force held off the undefeated Pali Blues in a scoreless draw at the Loveland Sports Park.
“Carly is a great, great player. I actually talked to her before the game, and she gave me some words of wisdom. She was there in her heart,” Johnson said. “It’s hard to adjust without such a dynamic player back there.”
Adjusting to Peetz’s absence didn’t seem like a problem on Sunday. There was plenty of dynamic play in the defensive third.
The back line of Johnson, Sally Cole, Zoe Avner and Mo Smunt was under the gun in the first half but wouldn’t let the Blues through, and Linder made four saves as the bulk of the first 45 minutes belonged to the Blues. The visitors, from Pacific Palisades, Calif., controlled play and spent long stretches in the Force’s half of the pitch, but they couldn’t score. And despite their possession, they couldn’t manage many quality scoring chances against Colorado’s back line.
“We definitely did some chasing today, but I think once Craig (Deacon, the Force’s coach) got us in for halftime, he gave us a little more strategy to work with,” Johnson said.
After the intermission, the Force applied more pressure on the ball and, as a result, put the Blues on their heels.
In fact, forward Nikki Marshall created the best opportunity for a goal, for either team, almost immediately. She ran into the Pali penalty box in the 49th minute, got tripped but got right back on her feet. She checked the ball off to teammate Monica Dolinsky, whose 15-yard blast rocketed off the crossbar and right to the feet of striker Molly Thomas. Her rebound shot, though, sailed over the goal.
The Blues’ best chance to score came in the 73rd minute, when Lauren Cheney tried to chip Linder but hit the far post. The Force’s defense mopped up the loose ball, and the threat was over.
“They definitely created some chances, but so did we. We probably created more than they did,” Deacon said. “I thought we could’ve won the game. Pali is a good team, and you’ve got to make sure you minimize mistakes. That’s what we did. We didn’t really have any defensive lapse today, and communication was great.”
After opening with a 1-0 loss to Seattle at home, the Force has strung together two 2-2 ties against Real Colorado and Sunday’s draw against the Blues.
Pali, after completing a 1-0-1 road trip to Colorado, sits atop the W-League’s Western Conference at 3-0-3.
“A point there against Pali Blues is a very good point for us,” Deacon said. “We wanted to win that game, but we’re not losing. We’re undefeated in three games now. We’ve just got to keep getting better and stronger, and that’s what we’ll do.”
Goalkeepers Ashlyn Harris and Kristen Olson each played a half in goal for Pali and combined for four saves.
WOMAN OF THE MATCH: Johnson. She was a rock all day, whether it was executing a precarious sliding tackle in the box in extra time or snuffing out a run up the left wing by defender Jenny Anderson-Hammond earlier in the second half.
PALI’S WOMAN OF THE MATCH: Leah Tapscott was extremely busy building the Blues’ attack, especially in the first half. She worked well on both sides of the field and in the middle.
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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