For the 5th time in a row the
FC Willamette U18 Pride team were crowned state champions after
defeating the Lake Oswego Sting in the State Championship game May 5th
at Tualatin Hills Rec. Center. The game ended at 4-1 and was the
fourth consecutive time that the Pride have defeated the Sting in the
championship game.
Erica Porter got the team off
to a great start after 3 minutes with a drive from 23 yards that flew
into the top left corner. Saraid Faville assisted with a delicate
lay-off pass. Five minutes later the Sting equalized from a free
kick on a header by Giles. At the 22 minute mark Faville ran onto
a flick from Katie Wopat to finish with composure to restore the Pride
lead for good. At the 35 minute mark Liz Young set up Melissa
Purvis who struck a rasping shot from the corner of the penalty area
that scorched into the far corner of the net.
With a 3-1 score at half-time
the Pride coach, Tom Rowney, was confident that the team could sew up
the win. "I told them that LO was bound to come out fighting
but that if we could maintain our defensive composure and look to hit
them on the break we could probably put the game out of their
reach," said Rowney. And that is pretty much what happened.
Eight minutes in, Katie Wopat rounded the keeper and a couple of
defenders to tap home the 4th Pride goal of the game. Both teams
had some chances afterwards but the score remained at 4-1.
"This was probably our
best showing in a State Cup game", said Assistant Coach Bob Duncan
Rowney. "I thought we were excellent at the back - our
composure was top drawer. Nikki Crabtree, who was playing in her
first State final for us, had an outstanding game. In the
middle, we were creative as well as competitive and up front we were as
sharp as I've ever seen us - the finishing was clinical."
The Pride will now head off
to New Mexico for their 5th trip to the Regional tournament. In
the past they have reached the semi-finals once and the quarter-finals
on two occasions. Last year they lost (for the first time in 3
meetings) in overtime to the Royals from Washington and didn't progress
to the quarter finals.
As it turns out the LO Sting
team have been given the chance to go Regionals on a wild card "I'm
pleased for them," said Rowney. "They have been excellent
competition for us over the years. I know they've worked hard and it was
tough on them to come up against us when we were flying. We
usually have a very close game".
"I am confident we'll do
well at regionals if we play anything like we did in the State
Finals" said Pride midfielder Brit Shidaker after the game.
Posh lose in Barnburner - but
heading to Regionals
FC Willamette had two teams
in the State finals this last weekend. The Posh, playing in
their 3rd Final in 4 years, ended up on the losing end of one of the
most exciting matches of the day. Playing the LO Fusion, the
Posh started nervously, particularly in the defensive third.
Unfortunately, just as the defense started to settle down they
gave up a goal on a corner. Ten minutes later they were back in
the game after Tiffany Smith provided an excellent cross for Kelli
Cronkrite to tap home. With the equalizer the Posh began to play
their normal possession game and created several chances.
Thirteen minutes into the
second half, with the game going back and forth, the referee
awarded LO a dubious penalty kick which was saved by Clarissa Barnett.
Two minutes later, another interesting referee decision led to the award
of an indirect free-kick in the penalty box from which the Fusion scored
to take the lead. Although the Posh kept pushing to get the
equalizer it appeared, with time running out, that they were
going to fall just short. Then with 3 minutes to go, Caitlin
Schauer equalized with a header from a corner assisted by Anna Miller
and the teams were headed to overtime.
Five minutes into the 1st
overtime period, another Miller corner saw Kaily Winther flick the
ball (with her back to goal) into the top corner of the LO net and the
Posh took the lead. Three minutes from the end of the period
though two defensive miscommunications allowed LO to score twice and
take the lead again. This time there was no come back for the Posh
team. With the Posh looking tired LO scored twice more in the 2nd
overtime period to seal a 6-3 win.
"This was one of the
most exciting State Cup Final games I've ever been involved in,"
said Tom Rowney, the Posh's Head Coach. "I thought we played very
well for the most part. Some poor defensive lapses and a couple of
mystery calls from the referee certainly hurt us. I looked at the
video of the game afterwards and was generally pleased with how we
played and I'm thinking about getting a copy to the ref! I knew
going into the game we'd be in trouble if we went into overtime since we
had so many injuries on the team. But you've got to give credit to
LO - they stuck to their game plan and on the balance of chances
deserved the win."
Despite the loss however,
the Posh received a wild card to attend the Regional tournament in
Albuquerque where Rowney will be coaching both the Posh and the Pride.
"I'm pleased we get to go to Regionals, I thought we deserved
something out of such a great game." This will be the
Posh's second visit to regionals in 4 years. In 1998 they reached
the quarter finals, losing to the San Diego Surf.