"best team ever" but his best HEADER (Ali Hawkins) has been M.I.A. the last what, four games? the girl had a goal a game in the (3?) games she played. what is going on?? i heard she was hurt for 2 of them but no one was sure//would tell me why she didn't travel this weekend-- is she still hurt or what? soooo confused...
Meanwhile, Pali lost AGAIN today to Vancouver and are now nine points off the divisional lead and will probably face a real fight to make the playoffs. How can a team with this much talent be so utterly mediocre?
It's a pretty lame division - odds are they'll make the playoffs. Seattle has the head-to-head tiebreaker advantage, but Pali's last three games are all against patsies and mostly at home, while Seattle has to play Vancouver in Vancouver when they've already lost to Vancouver at home. On the other hand, I just noticed that the Colorado Rush - which tied the Blues - has three games in hand on them and is only two points back in the standings. With the Blues' final game of the season being against the Rush, Pali might be in the unaccustomed position of having to win their final regular-season game just to make the playoffs. Even if they do, though, they'll have to play Vancouver in Vancouver themselves in order to win the Western Conference.
as i said... the player Charlie Naimo called one of the best headers he's ever seen is M.I.A. (and i now have a suspicion as to where she is, but no idea when she'll be back). Ali scored in the exhibition against santa clarita (game winner i think?), then in three straight games (santa clarita, and both colorado games) before she dropped off the planet. those games had Pali at 2-0-1; they haven't won a single game without her. i'm biased, yes, but maybe she's the missing key here? i noticed too in the stats that she was playing full 90s...
Pali slipped again last night, mustering only a tie against the Colorado Force, while the Colorado Rush were able to beat Seattle in Seattle (which Pali was not able to do). The Rush are now tied in the standings with the Blues with three games in hand - the Blues are going to need help even to make second place at this point.
The Colorado Rush tied Vancouver this evening. They're one point ahead of the Pali Blues with two games in hand. If the Rush win two of their remaining four matches, they'll eliminate the Blues. (Actually, there's a slim chance that the Blues could still make it, even so, but it would require that the Whitecaps win the regular season championship, which would only happen if the Futures, Fury, and Lady Blues all lost or tied at least two of their remaining matches and the Whitecaps came out ahead on the tiebreakers.)
Erik Bushey, Colorado Rush coach, has how many national titles????? I have heard him scream at them in practice that anything less than a national title is failure. Abdullah playing marvelous. Foxhoven, always a pleasure to watch. Goalkeeping a bit inconsistent or defense a bit out of sync when the going gets tough. More leadership there and they will be hard to beat. Interesting the article on the W league website about the homeward stretch only mentioned Whitecaps and Blues...I will put my money on Rush to advance instead of Blues.
Did the Pali Blues really lose to the (previously) 1-4-1 Santa Clarita Blue Heat last night? Have they just stopped trying since it's almost impossible for them to make the playoffs at this point?