The season kicks off for the FCD WPSL team tomorrow at 2:00 pm at the FC Dallas Soccer Complex on Dr. Pink field. You can find the full schedule of games at: http://www.wpsl.info/schedule/index.php?home_division=All And order your season pass to all the home games at: https://www.wepay.com/events/fcd.wpsl.seasonpass $30 plus a $1.50 service fee Tickets to individual games will be $6 and available to be purchased the day of game at the box office of Dr. Pink field.
First game ended with an 8-0 win for FCD. Casey Nogueira was named MVP of the game as she scored 3 of the 8 goals. She and Notre Dame alum, Kerri Hanks are both spectacular additions to the roster, which is retaining the core of the fantastic team from last season. Official writeup about the game is here: http://www.wpsl.info/team/index.php?tid=127 Full Roster list is here: http://www.wpsl.info/team/indexr.php?tid=127 My pics from the game are here: https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.10150910749477497.442829.503242496&type=3 I'm not a pro photographer. Just discovering the fun of taking pics (especially at soccer games). If you post them elsewhere, please give credit.
I was a bit surprised to see that Hanks is still in soccer. Although she seemed like a terrific person, she just didn't really impress in WPS. Obviously, she was a great player at Notre Dame, but she just never seemed to show any fire when she was with Athletica and never really caught on elsewhere. It was like she lost all of her goalscoring...I guess call it anticipation or intuition...when she became a pro. She never seemed to be in the right place at the right time and she never was the fastest player out on the pitch. I hope she does well for Dallas.
Team had two games this past weekend. First was Friday down in Austin vs FC Austin. The team prevailed 1-0 on a goal from guest player (a regular last season) Rachel Shipley, who had driven to the game on her own from Texas A&M. Then yesterday, they returned to Dr. Pink to face Houston South Select. They dispatched them handily with a scoreline of 5-0. Goals by Michelle Young - UNT (2), Leslie Briggs - SMU (2) and Dani Watson - UNT. The temps were right near 95 degrees and on the field turf pitch, things were likely even more toast. I was impressed as the team played patiently and creatively. They weren't rushed to get any of the goals at all. For my pics from the game can be found here: https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.306792762742921.75462.299707620118102&type=3 If you're so inclined, please like the fan page I started up. I try to get updates posted there as soon as I know them.
She was a surprise for me to see on the roster as well. I knew about Casey before the season started but when I saw Hanks, I admit to geeking out a bit. She's been a crafty play maker for the team in the two games I've seen her play in. She and Casey are clearly having fun playing together as yesterday, they were giving each other crap when they made the tiniest of mistakes. She made a fantastic run down the middle of the pitch in the second half to set up Young for her second goal yesterday.
Another weekend passed and two more definitive wins for FCD. Friday night was an away game at the comfy confines of McKinney Boyd High Schools, football stadium. It was a gorgeous little venue. Admittedly I lost track of who scored the goals as I arrive a few minutes late after catching the first half of the USMNT game at a pub and was just enjoying taking in the game. The game ended in an 8-1 win over TFC. According to @FCDwomen: Then yesterday, they were scheduled to play Arkansas Comets but that wasn't the team on the field. The team they actually played was West Texas Pride. Pride pressed hard early but weren't able to break through Dallas' backline and find the back of the net. Then about 8 minutes into the game, FC Dallas found it's first goal of the game and they didn't let up all half. The first half ended with a score of 8-1. Then in the second half FCD came out with the lineup they started with but they juggled thing around and had fun with defenders playing forward and vice versa. Game ended with a scoreline of 9-1. The two points of note: 1 - neither Nogueira or Hanks was at the game and 2 - there were 8 different goal scorers on the day. Here's a link of pics from the game vs TFC on Friday. Edited to include the link to the pics from the game vs West Texas Pride.