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Win extends unbeaten streak to five
Force midfielder Sara Campbell controls the ball as Los Angeles defender Jenae Gibbons closes in on Sunday in Loveland. (photo by Tom Auclair/ColoradoSoccerNow.com)
Finally, a victory.
The Colorado Force had played five matches, all in this state, but had not won a game … until Sunday.
Lisa Franke scored two goals and Maria Del Guercio recorded six saves as the Force shut out the Los Angeles Legends 2-0 in W-League play at the Loveland Sports Park.
Franke, pictured at right, scored the only goal the Force would need in the 10th minute on a cross from Jestina Orlando.
Then, 58 minutes in, Franke put some distance between her team and the visitors. Midfielder Lisa Kosena pushed the ball ahead to the attacking third, and Franke’s first touch sprang her past the Legends’ defense. She took a long shot into the bottom of the far corner before the defense could recover.
But Franke said the first goal stands out as the high point of the match for her. She outleaped her mark and headed Orlando’s cross past L.A. goalkeeper Alicia Lugo.
“I love getting crosses in the middle of the field; it’s my favorite spot,” Franke said. “I don’t think anyone likes tying four games in a row, but I think we just decided today that we’re going to do it here, tonight.”
And they did.
“We had a good game plan today,” coach Craig Deacon said. “It gave us good opportunities to get in behind them, quite frequently, actually. Two-nil was a good result, but it could’ve been more. It could’ve been four or five. But we’ll take the three points.”
The Force was winless before Sunday’s match, but the team wasn’t without points. Colorado lost its first match 1-0 then reeled off four consecutive draws. Sunday’s victory extended the team’s unbeaten streak to five games and lifted the Force into the thick of the Western Conference race.
The team’s seven points in the standings (1-1-4) trail only Pali, Seattle and Real Colorado.
Franke said the players were getting frustrated searching for the first victory — but not discouraged. And now, she said, they’re looking forward to road trips to the Pacific Northwest and to Southern California.
“Being in altitude for the first half of the season then being able to go to sea level for the second half of the season will be an advantage for us,” Franke said. “This is the first time I’ve ever played on a team that meshes as well as we do, and that should work in our favor, too.”
PLAYER OF THE GAME: Franke.
DEFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE GAME: Sally Cole broke up numerous attacks by Los Angeles, high and low. She’s not the tallest player on the field, but she was the most dominant player in the air.
SECOND SHUTOUT OF THE SEASON: Del Guercio and Kara Linder each has recorded a shutout for the Force in 2009.
DIFFERENT LOOK: The Force started Cole, Estelle Johnson and Zoe Avner in the back; Franke and Shay Powell in the attack; and Sara Campbell, Monica Dolinsky, Lisa Kosena, Maggie Doe and Orlando in the middle. Emmalie Pfankuch, Cayla Deacon and Carly Peetz were unavailable. Regulars Nikki Marshall, Linder and Molly Thomas began the game on the bench. “We have a good squad,” Deacon said. “Different players, different formation. That just shows all that this squad has.”
NEXT FOR THE LEGENDS: Los Angeles faces the Real Colorado Cougars at 6:30 p.m. Tuesday at Shea Stadium in Highlands Ranch.
NEXT FOR THE FORCE: The team will take on the NY/NJ Sky Blue of Women’s Professional Soccer at 4 p.m. Wednesday at Dick’s Sporting Goods Park. The match is part of a doubleheader that has the Rapids hosting FC Dallas afterward.
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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