WPSL Playoffs [R]

Re: WPSL Playoffs

I am not sure what to make of that annoucement on the WPSL web site. It seems behind the weekend. The standings show Ajax in first and given that San Diego will play the Diamonds, it appears they have accepted second place.

Hopefully, more information will be forthcoming that straightens every thing out.

In the meantime, here is where to get tickets if you're coming to Salt Lake City for the games: http://www.wpslfinalfour.com

I am excited because I live in Salt Lake City and will do my best to report on the games for everyone. I know someone here who can take awesome photos, too. So we'll try to do a little coverage for our BigSoccer.com friends.

 

Re: WPSL Playoffs

Thanks for your offer pacmaam. We'll look forward to reading your reports.

I'm a little surprised though to find out that you live in SLC. With all of the inside info you keep getting about Ajax I thought you probably lived in the heart of "Little Norway" somewhere near Nansen Field.

 

Re: WPSL Playoffs

It's not as good as Tsunami's writeup, but here's the latest Web-Post from the SeaLions' site:

"SEALIONS BEAT DENVER, HEADED TO FINAL FOUR!
SAN DIEGO -- Ronnie Fair calmly drilled a penalty kick into the netting in the 91st minute Saturday night, giving San Diego a 1-0 win over the Denver Diamonds and sending the SeaLions to the WPSL Final Four in Salt Lake City next weekend. It was the first post-season women's soccer match played in San Diego since the WUSA Founder's Cup III match in August, 2003."

 

Re: WPSL Playoffs

According to the SDWFC website, the SeaLions' semifinal opponent in the Final Four will be the Long Island Fury (8-2-2) which won the WPSL East Division playoff, Friday July 29, at 6:00 p.m. Mountain time. Ajax and River Cities FC will play Friday at 8, with the winners meeting Saturday at 8.

 

Re: WPSL Playoffs

Congrats to the Sea Lions on advancing and good luck in Salt Lake.

 

Re: WPSL Playoffs

Here is the link to an article about the Final Four that was posted yesterday at the WPSL site:

http://www.wpsl.info/news/index.php/?cat=1&id=72

Interesting to note too that six former WUSA players started in the San Diego - Denver playoff match while only five started in USWNT - Ireland match.

 

Long Island Fury

All I know about the Long Island Fury is what I have been able to find on the WPSL website:

http://www.wpsl.info/fury/

Has anyone who posts here seen them play this season? Wasn't there a player on the Irish National Team this past Sunday who had the Long Island Fury listed as her club team?

 

Re: Long Island Fury

The backup GK for Ireland (Sarah Peters), who came in late, is listed as playing with the WPSL's Michagan Phoenix.

 

Re: Long Island Fury

Thanks El Gato. I recall seeing her on the Ireland roster that Tsunami had, but I also recall seeing another player that had Long Island listed as her club team.

Just thought I would mention too that Sarah Halpenny, one of our San Diego WFC SeaLions, was wearing #17 and sitting on the bench for Ireland. According to one of the Irish Assistant Coaches who was at Manchester Stadium for the WPSL playoff match, Sarah had been training several times with Ireland prior to the match at Torero on Sunday.

 

Re: WPSL Playoffs

Thanks pacmaam, there is a group of us here trying to figure out how the hell we are going to follow the games, the RCFC sight doesn't usually post results for a few days.

 

The SeaLions / Long Island Fury match looks like it could be a fantastic affair! Here's the "teaser" for the SeaLions' pre-game release (www.sealionsoccer.com):

"TALE OF 2 DEFENSES -- SAN DIEGO WFC SEALIONS v. LONG ISLAND FURY

SALT LAKE CITY – Friday's WPSL Final Four semifinal game between San Diego and Long Island looks to be a good match. Both teams feature stingy defenses -- the SeaLions and Fury have combined for 16 shutouts this season -- and players whose passion for the game runs hotter and deeper even than the searing Utah desert heat."

 

Re: WPSL Playoffs

It would be very cool if pacmaam or someone else with a mobile phone who will be attending the Final Four could send out an occasional SMS update to someone here who could then post it for the benefit of the rest of us.

 

Thanks for posting these links Tsunami.

I was looking for some info about the team's coaching staff and just discovered that the Fury does have a website:

http://www.lifurysoccer.com

The River Cities FC site even has a "Countdown to Game Day" clock. I wonder if any updates from the second match will be posted at there site? So far I haven't see anything posted anywhere about the SeaLions - Fury match.

 

Still No Updates.....

Okay the suspense is really getting to me now. The SeaLions are now likely deep into the second half of their semifinal match with the Fury and I still have no idea what the score is.

I promise to never complain again about those Norwegian "Toppserien" matchtrackers that sometimes leave you hanging for 20 minutes at the end of a match before letting you know that score is in fact a final.

 

Quick scoreboard, both scores final:

Long Island Fury 2 : 0 San Diego WFC Sea Lions
River Cities Futbol Club 2 : 1 Ajax American Women

I'll post a more in-depth synopsis in a minute.

 

So I just got back from the first night of the WPSL Final Four...great, great fun. First of all, just let me say this: the ticket was 10 bucks, and it's for all four games today and tomorrow. Heck yeah! Also, Juan Diego's stadium is situated so that the southeast corner lines up with the southeast corner of the valley...this place is beautiful, doubly so for a high school venue, and the way it's framed by the mountains is gorgeous. Anyway. Keep in mind with my comments that this is the first time I've ever seen any of these teams play.

Game 1

Long Island 2 : 0 San Diego

This...this wasn't that much of a game, to be honest. San Diego looked lost and without much of a plan. They had a couple of terrific chances but their finishing completely failed them. Nothing much happened their way the entire second half. Jennifer Lalor-Nielsen (8) and Lizzy Coghill (11) were the only ones out there who knew what they were doing for the Sea Lions. Everyone else just kind of puttered around and waited for the two of them to make something happen. I realize that the WPSL is an amateur league, but San Diego fully looked the part tonight. Comparing them to the other three teams only drove that point home all the more. They looked like a couple of women who'd played soccer a lot and a bunch of their friends and college roommates. Some of them flat-out didn't look fit.

Long Island looked fit and ready. Their backline was hardly tested at all. Their midfield owned the middle 1/3rd of the field, especially with Kelly Henderson (22) ripping up any forward momentum that came anywhere near her. Their offense, however...there was a real lack of cohesion. Panicky forward passes and poor service in general gave off the distinct impression that this could be one of those games where the outplayed team sneaks in a late goal to steal the win. There was one tremendous pass forward in the first half, however, and Katelynn Donovan (21) expertly tucked in from the right to the far post. That was about it until the second half, though. What was maybe the most frustrating part was that San Diego's defense wasn't really that good--it's just that Long Island simply couldn't place the ball in a proper passing lane but once. In the second half a free kick was converted from 25 yards out by Shannon Donovan (19) into the upper-left corner for the Fury. Beautiful work.

Long Island:
Offense - Poor. Passes were sloppy and the midfielders couldn't decide when they wanted to press forward. That free kick was awesome, though.
Midfield - Great, although I'm not sure how much of it was Long Island being good and how much was San Diego being bad. What I do know was that Henderson was fighting and scrapping for everything she could all game long.
Defense - Untested. Really, Lalor-Nielsen pulled a couple chances out of the hat and that's about it. The midfield kept San Diego out of the defensive 1/3rd for most of the game.
Overall - They're going to need better offensive cohesion and communication, but a wealth of possession granted by their solid midfield pulled them through the day.
Team MVP - Kelly Henderson (22). Seriously, she was all over the place, always running, always working.

San Diego:
Offense - Scarce, and with horrendous finishing with what little opportunity they had.
Midfield - Pushed around, outhustled, outdone.
Defense - Not bad. They got beat on a clinical strike and a wicked free kick. I mean, they still lost, but it could've and probably should've been much worse.
Overall - Yeesh. Two good players and nine sleepwalkers. It's really too bad to put in a showing like this after reaching the event.
Team MVP - Jennifer Lalor-Nielsen (8). Without her they had nothing.

River Cities 2 : 1 Ajax Women

This was a much better game. Ajax had good offense and good offensive pressure but got stretched in the second half and gave away the midfield too freely. Neither defense looked terribly sharp as both offenses were really clicking at times. Everything Ajax did involved pushing forward. There was no backwards movement unless it was to create a better angle around the box. They wanted a brisk pace and at times they really got it. The problem is that while they created numerous chances they botched almost all of them and forfeiting the midfield is what undid them. Early on Nicole Bucciarelli-Jacobsen (15) got the ball on the left side of the field and hit a glorious chip that landed in the far upper-90...and the rest of the game for Ajax involved missed sitters and barely mistimed would've-been-a-sure goals. It was almost mind-boggling. Not that I'm saying they should've won--they shouldn't have, in my opinion--but I'm just a little surprised that they started so well and converted such a wonderstrike only to fail at the little things.

River Cities was much more fundamentally sound. The midfield was a real pitched battle at times, but as the game wore on and Ajax kept trying to run, River Cities took control of the middle 1/3rd. Jennifer Nobis (9) was flying up the flanks all game long and was almost whipping past the wingbacks at will. She scored the equalizer in the first half on such a move and could've had a few more. Ashlee Pistorius (15) had a solid game as well, collecting the game winner in the second half as a corner kick fell to her at the far post and she calmly slotted it home. Ajax had tried to--and for a good chunk of the first half, succeeded in--outpacing River Cities on the attack. River Cities, however, wound up being better at it than Ajax by the end of the game.

River Cities:
Offense - It could've been 6-1. Really. Two shots were cleared off the line by defenders and the Ajax keeper made a couple of great saves on breakaways.
Midfield - Good, and got better as the game went on. The team overall adapted well to the flow of the game, and the midfield play showed this adaptation well.
Defense - A little bit of skill and a little bit of luck. Some of those Ajax chances were close but went unconverted. The keeper, after getting chipped on, was solid.
Overall - Very complete and very dangerous on the wing with Nobis; they look like a team that's been focusing on all aspects of their game.
Team MVP - Jennifer Nobis (9). She ran all game long and kept stretching the Ajax defense.

Ajax Women:
Offense - Great at pressuring the defense, great at holding the ball in the offensive 1/3rd, couldn't buy their way into the net after the first goal.
Midfield - Midfields are for teams that aren't already running straight for their opponent's goal.
Defense - Porous at times. The wingbacks were abused all night. Everything was forward, forward, forward, and so they were caught flatfooted on multiple counters.
Overall - A lot of flash but ultimately little bang.
Team MVP - Nicole Bucciarelli-Jacobsen (15). Great goal. Not much else went right for Ajax after that.

Next games:

Consolation match - After the way they both played tonight, I'll be surprised if Ajax doesn't win.

Championship - Ooh...I'm not so sure about this. River Cities looks more complete, but Long Island's midfield was stellar. Nobis' wing play and Henderson's midfield control will be each team's deciding factor.

 

Thank you, NoodlesMacintosh! Great report, and it came before the result was listed on either the WPSL or RCFC website. Hopefully tomorrow you'll post news of a River Cities Championship!

 

NoodlesMacIntosh did an excellent job of describing the two playoff games. I would have given the same description. I was surprised by San Diego's flat game and Ajax really lacked a midfield.

The two teams in the final seems evenly matched. If I had to give an edge it would be to River Cities.

There has been pretty good press coverage here. I will post a link to the local newspaper stories in a minute.

 

Here is the story from The Salt Lake Tribune:

http://www.sltrib.com/sports/ci_4111120

 

And here's another:

http://deseretnews.com/dn/view/0,1249,640198514,00.html

 

Quick notes:

Ajax American Women 3 : 3 San Diego WFC Sea Lions
Ajax American Women win on PKs 4-3

Long Island Fury 1 : 0 River Cities Futbol Club

Tournament MVP: Kelly Henderson (22), Long Island Fury

More in-depth post to come in a minute.