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Force needs victories in California
Jestina Orlando, right, and Lisa Kosena vie for a header on June 21 against the L.A. Legends. (photo by George Tanner/ ColoradoSoccerNow.com)
With its eyes on a playoff spot, the Colorado Force kicks off a three-game Southern California road trip tonight against league-leading Pali Blues.
The Force, 1-1-6, sits in fifth place in the W-League’s seven-team Western Conference with nine points, only six points behind second-place Seattle. A string of victories coupled with a misstep by Seattle could vault the Force back into postseason contention. The top two teams in the conference qualify for the W-League playoffs.
The Force and defending W-League champion Pali Blues tied 0-0 when they met June 14 at the Loveland Sports Park -– the only time the Blues have been held scoreless this season. Pali, 7-0-3, has clinched a least a tie for the conference title with 24 points.
The Blues, hoping to complete a second-straight unbeaten season, are coming off of a dominating 4-0 victory over Ventura County on Sunday. The Blues are the highest-scoring team in the league at 19 goals, led by Mexican international Iris Mora, with three. Five other players have two goals for the team.
Colorado, meanwhile, has enjoyed a break in the schedule since playing at Vancouver on June 28, a 1-1 tie. The Force is riding a seven-match unbeaten streak.
Colorado has seen Lisa Franke emerge as a scoring threat. Franke has posted three goals in the past three matches for Colorado, taking the team lead in goals for the season. She also had the best scoring opportunity in an exhibition against the NY/NJ Sky Blue of Women’s Professional Soccer.
The trip continues Sunday night against the Ventura County Fusion (1-5-3).
The teams met June 17 in Loveland, where Ventura County notched a late goal to salvage a 1-1 tie.
Colorado will be trying to repeat its success from a year ago, when it won on Ventura County’s home pitch.
With just eight goals in nine matches, Ventura County is the lowest-scoring side in the Western Conference. The team’s principal threat is forward Emily Cressy, who is tied for the team lead with two goals but has fired 13 shots, nearly twice as many as anyone else on the Fusion.
Ventura County currently sits in sixth place in the conference with six points.
The SoCal swing ends Tuesday against the L.A. Legends (1-6-2).
Colorado has won three straight against the Legends, including a 2-0 win June 21 at Loveland. Los Angeles is sitting in seventh place with five points but is coming off of a strong outing in a 3-2 loss against Pali Blues on July 1, in which all of the scoring took place in the first half. Pali jumped out to an early 2-0 lead before L.A. bounced back. A Pali goal in the 38th minute was the winner.
Los Angeles has been led in scoring so far this season by Charney Burk’s three goals. Burk also scored once against Pali.
THE FORCE ON THE NATIONAL TEAM: Force forward Molly Thomas will miss the California road trip after being called up to train with the U-20 national team. Thomas, who will be entering her sophomore season at Nebraska, has scored one goal in seven appearances for the Force. According to U.S. Soccer, the U-20 side will train in Colorado this month and will play several matches against Canada. Thomas’s call-up marks the second time this season the Force has lost a player to national team duty. Defender Carly Peetz missed three matches when she was called up to the U-23 national team. Last season the Force lost Nikki Marshall for a number of matches when she was called up to the U-20 side.
PALI ON THE NATIONAL TEAM: The Force isn’t the only team losing a key player in the name of national team duty. Pali Blues goalkeeper Kristin Olsen is currently in England with the U-23 national team for a pair of matches against England.
COUGARS ON THE NATIONAL TEAM: And recently Beth West and Taylor Vancil of Real Colorado were on the U-20 roster for two international matches in Germany. West recorded two assists in a 4-1 drubbing of England, and she and Vancil played the full 90 in a 2-2 draw against Germany.
IN GOAL: Since taking over as the starting goalkeeper for the Force, Maria Del Guercio has registered a 0.67 goals-against average in three matches, including eight saves, which is good for seventh overall in the 37-team W-League. Del Guercio has allowed two goals.
MADE OF IRON: Midfielder Monica Dolinsky leads the Force in minutes played, having logged 674 of a possible 720 minutes through eight matches. Nikki Marshall is second at 657 minutes.
Monica has been logging some major minutes.
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