Vancouver Letdown

The Final from Pitch #2 at Starfire:  Sounders 1:3 Vancouver.

A hearty thanks to everyone who came out tonight; it was a long, emotional day for all of us.  From the 4 and 5am wake-ups to beat traffic & make it up to the AC & scream your lungs out for our USMNT during a 91-minute tease that would be crowned with eternal jubilation.  It will be a morning we never forget.  Unfortunately, the evening will be one easy to remove from memory.

The Vancouver side showed its quality early with some beautiful combinations, led by star striker Jodi-Ann Robinson and sure-footed midfielder Sophie Schmidt.  It led to forward Amy Vermeulen netting off a rebound in the 7th minute.

As our backline settled down and the midfield began to gain some form, a free kick from 30yds out was awarded to Vancouver.  Dangerous, certainly, but nothing our girls couldn't handle.  The players in the box jostled for position, Sounder defender Beth Drollinger was held by a Whitecap forward Melissa Tancredi, as Drollinger broke free, the whistle was blown and a PK was awarded to the Whitecaps.  ...Shocking, really, it was simply not deserved; physical play should be expected at this level and a foul was not committed by either side.  It was a sad decision by a referee who clearly did not have his best night tonight.

Vermeulen slotted the PK home for her second tally of the night and our ladies, down 2, had a very large hill to climb.

The pace of the match was mainly dictated by Vancouver, but our ladies mounted increasingly dangerous chances as the final hour progressed.

In the 80th minute, Vancouver closed the door with a beautiful strike from Kara Lang, who entered the game as a sub early in the second half.

Our ladies fought on and created their best chances of the match during the final 10 minutes.  Midfielder Jocelyn Charette found the net when she slammed the ball past Whitecap keeper Siobhan (Shavon) Chamberlain after a mad scramble in front of the net.

The English keeper in green had a good night; saving the desperate and dangerous attacks from our ladies heading toward the final whistle.

All-in-all it was a disappointing affair.  That bogus PK made things incredibly difficult for our ladies against a side with as much quality as Vancouver's.

Friday, our girls do battle with the Pali Blues in search of 3pts and a share of the second spot atop the Western Conference.  Come on out again and bring a friend; ONLY THREE REGULAR SEASON HOME GAMES REMAINING!

See you in the Terraces!