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Kelley O’Hara & Rachel Buehler, How Well Do They Know Each Other? October 6, 2010

Posted by Julie Logan in 2010 WPS Championship Game, FC Gold Pride, Kelley O'Hara, USWNT, Video, WPS.
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They have a lot in common. They both get a regular call from Pia, asking them to step up and represent their country on the USWNT. They are trophy-toting 2010 Champions with their WPS team, FC Gold Pride. And they both graced the Palo Alto area with their freckles and feet for four years at Stanford.

But how well do they REALLY know each other?

Kelley O'Hara & Rachel Buehler, How Well Do They Know Each Other? October 6, 2010

Posted by Julie Logan in 2010 WPS Championship Game, FC Gold Pride, Kelley O'Hara, USWNT, Video, WPS.
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They have a lot in common. They both get a regular call from Pia, asking them to step up and represent their country on the USWNT. They are trophy-toting 2010 Champions with their WPS team, FC Gold Pride. And they both graced the Palo Alto area with their freckles and feet for four years at Stanford.

But how well do they REALLY know each other?

Before the WPS Championship, a Kiwi took on a Maple Leaf (VIDEO 2) September 30, 2010

Posted by Julie Logan in 2010 WPS Championship Game, FC Gold Pride, Video.
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Don’t you just love random trivia games?

Before the WPS Championship, a Kiwi took on a Maple Leaf (VIDEO 1) September 30, 2010

Posted by Julie Logan in 2010 WPS Championship Game, FC Gold Pride, Video.
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Guess who won? (hint, it’s option #3)

Photo Essay of the 2010 WPS Championship Game September 28, 2010

Posted by Julie Logan in 2010 WPS Championship Game, FC Gold Pride, Philadelphia Independence, Women's soccer rules.
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Click the link below for the full Photo Essay.

Photo Essay | 2010 WPS Championship

I woke up this morning with slightly blackened knees and grey shins. Three  bags littered my bedroom floor with gear half-strewn around them. My favorite Coachella hat was resting on my airplane sized Pelican case with a crumpled FC Gold Pride press pass nestled in the dimple of the fedora. I woke up this morning, and all was right with my world.

Let’s go back a day. I was up out the door by 9:15am, scooting straight to the absolute best corner store/deli to grab the key ingredients for the morning: OJ and cheap Champagne. This was not just any day, this was WPS Championship Day. Tailgating was a must. Shooting out a few tweets then I was on the road, my red Prius scooting through a California marsh towards the better-smelling-greener-grass other side; Hayward.

Tailgating with some Twitter buddies, I grabbed my press pass and set up on the field to the right of what soon would be Val Henderson’s goal. This placement was key, as it kept me out of the incredibly unflattering view of the FSC cameras.

The beating Cali sun kept the sweet turf field rather toasty. So a short period of kneeling down quickly gave way to me perching on my Pelican case. Perfect. Great day, great atmosphere and a great behind-the-scenes coordination by the FC Gold Pride crew. Was a fun shindig all around.

Rather than cut down the hundreds of shots into just a few beauties to share with you all, Jenna let me have some fun. I love enablers.

Click the link above to browse my Photo Essay, and enjoy!

Are FC Gold Pride Simply Unplayable? September 26, 2010

Posted by Jenna Pel in FC Gold Pride.
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Albertin Montoya’s FC Gold Pride has been the class of WPS this season. They have bamboozled the competition with fluency, offensive potency and a stout defense. The team now has a regular season title and WPS Championship trophy to show for it.

As was mentioned in a previous post, some have wondered if this is the best women’s club team ever assembled. That’s an impossible question to answer but perhaps it’s fair to say in terms of efficiency, balance and team cohesion, FC Gold Pride are unrivalled.

Today’s match proved that beyond a shadow of a doubt. The team put forth a perfect performance. Yes, Philadelphia’s chances were probably impeded by WPS’ playoff system (interestingly, the postseason format caught flak last year for producing the exact opposite effect – Los Angeles were clearly the better side and some people questioned the competitive merit of having the Sol take off three weeks before the final).

But regardless, FC Gold Pride were unstoppable today. The team have been brilliant all season. It looked as if the team had climaxed after the All-Star Game then underwent a denouement with those three scoreless draws in August. As it turns out, that wasn’t what happened at all. Today’s game was the pinnacle of the entire season. The team began scaling such heights after that three game drought before reaching the summit this afternoon. Again, it was a perfect performance.

 

Here’s what FC Gold Pride got right:

 

The midfield.

How could a midfield composed of just three players utterly decimate a midfield of five? Because FCGP’s midfield isn’t an ordinary midfield. For most soccer teams, creativity is produced from the middle of the field. That’s where possession is won and first passes are initiated. But not for this team. Not really at least. FCGP derived its creativity from the back with marauding overlapping runs from Ali Riley and Kandace Wilson and pin-point long balls from central defender Rachel Buehler (but more on this in a bit). The team also found its offensive spark when its three forwards dropped back a bit to start forward runs. The midfield was really just a defensive buffer. Shannon Boxx and Becky Edwards were true holding midfielders, stepping in at opportune times to maintain possession and dishing out square, short passes while the offense reset up top. Neither Boxx, Edwards nor Camille Abily ventured forward too frequently, which is another rarity for midfielders. Abily threaded through a few passes and threatened with a few shots from outside the box but other than that, the midfield set the tempo for the rest of the team to jive to.

 

Ali Riley and Kandace Wilson.

It’s dangerous business being an outside back. Bomb forward at the wrong moment and your team can get caught out defensively. Sometimes having attacking full-backs can be downright reckless. An outside back who lacks a soccer IQ could throw their team’s shape off balance, making them susceptible to a quick counterattack. That’s what makes Ali Riley and Kandace Wilson so special. Having one full-back who makes continuously effective runs is one thing but having two is pretty exceptional. That speaks to the perfect balance of this FC Gold Pride. Ali Riley had Independence right back Estelle Johnson beat, particularly in the second half. Riley looked more like a winger, sending in crosses in her own final third than a defender. But she also got it done defensively, shutting down Caroline Seger and Lianne Sanderson. Kandace Wilson had a truly excellent game. Her hard work and intelligent play was rewarded in her cracking goal when she burned Allison Falk with her pace and then caught her on the wrong foot.

The outside backs were actually the game’s creative spark. Riley and Wilson got in crosses and short diagonal passes across midfield to one of FCGP’s three forwards up top. The pair took advantage of Philadelphia’s exhaustion and the Independence were unable to control the flanks as they had done against Washington and Boston.

 

The three-headed monster up top.

Tiffeny Milbrett stepped up admirably in Kelley O’Hara’s absence. Christine Sinclair was left inexplicably unmarked by the Philadelphia defense. Being the target woman she is, she made the Independence pay. And then there’s Marta…the ever-energetic, ever-elusive Marta. It isn’t just her ball skills or blazing pace that makes the world’s best (and she is the world’s best), it’s also her vision and work ethic. She had two assists today and probably would have been happy if that was how the game finished. Her goal was just an added bonus. She contributed to three of FCGP’s four goals but she also could have probably scored more on her own if she was a more selfish player. She had two sequences on the ball in which she hesitated for about a second too long while waiting for a teammate to link up with her. Val Henderson pounced on the ball instead.

Again, it came down to having the perfect balance. The three forwards knew they didn’t really need to drop back and retrieve the ball (although Marta did occasionally because she could). Their teammates would provide the service instead.

 

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Philadelphia Independence the Victims of FC Gold Pride Master Class September 26, 2010

Posted by Jenna Pel in 2010 WPS Championship Game, FC Gold Pride, Philadelphia Independence.
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As a tuckered out Philadelphia Independence team trudged to the locker room at halftime you got the sense that the team’s fate had already been decided. Regardless of how stirring manager Paul Riley’s team talk was, how were they possibly going to compete with this FC Gold Pride side? After 45 minutes they had been strategically out-matched, thoroughly out-played and positively worn out. The Independence returned from half time with no new ideas and no illusions (or delusions?) that they were capable of beating the foreboding Bay Area side.  

With today’s rousing 4-0 defeat of the Independence in the 2010 WPS Championship, FC Gold Pride have proven that they are peerless. Some commentators have asked whether this is the best women’s club soccer team in history. It’s a pretty unanswerable question but after today’s performance it isn’t an unreasonable one. From top to bottom, this FC Gold Pride side is faultless. Even if the Philadelphia Independence could have offered up a fully fit squad, it’s difficult to imagine the end result would have been much different. Paul Riley’s side would have perhaps been less bloodied but would still be well-beaten.

FC Gold Pride dominated the match from the outset and never looked back. The team was absolutely spell-binding in the first half with its multi-pronged attack and constant possession. The Independence outnumbered FC Gold Pride’s midfield with five players to three but it made no difference. Philadelphia was unable to unsettle Gold Pride’s crisp passing game, just as its defense was also powerless to stopping their opponent’s long balls.

FC Gold Pride’s varied attack was constantly threatening. The precision and pragmatism of FC Gold Pride’s aerial game (particularly from captain Rachel Buehler) was particularly astounding. You would think a team outfitted with players with the dynamism of Marta, Christine Sinclair, Camille Abily, Tiffeny Milbrett and Shannon Boxx wouldn’t need to rely on crosses or hopeful long balls. But they did and it worked to devastating effect.

The first goal came as a result of one of those crosses.  In the 17’, Shannon Boxx served a ball into the box. Val Henderson made two huge saves on Marta before the ball found the foot of Tiffeny Milbrett who served it to an open Christine Sinclair for the goal.

Then in the 29’ Kandace Wilson hoodwinked Independence center-back Allison Falk with a quick and deceptive run. The speedy left-back found an open look and blasted a shot to make it 2-0.

The Independence’s vivacity was continuing to fade as the team was made to chase FC Gold Pride all over the park. As the match wore on, the exhausted side continued to lose its sharpness. If it wasn’t for some heroic stops by Henderson, the score line could have reached bombastic proportions before half time. But the Independence goalkeeper did well to prevent any more humiliation, or at least delay it.

The second half picked up right where the first half had left off as FC Gold Pride continued to operate at a fevered pitch. In the 53’, Marta blew by three Independence defenders and laid off the simplest of crosses to an unmarked Sinclair for FC Gold Pride’s third goal.

Sensing victory, Gold Pride scaled back the intensity for the rest of the match. Philadelphia could do little to shift the scales, however, as a tired and overrun midfield provided zero link-up play for striker Amy Rodriguez. The frustrated forward remained anonymous for the rest of the match, due to little fault of her own.

In the 60’, Lianne Sanderson had what would be the Independence’s best opportunity when she managed to get behind the imperious FC Gold Pride defense. But right-back Ali Riley proved to be as handy in defense as she was in the attack as she cleared the cross off the line.

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2010 WPS Championship Game Preview September 25, 2010

Posted by Jenna Pel in FC Gold Pride, Philadelphia Independence, WPS.
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After five months of regular season action and two lengthy playoff matches, the culmination of the 2010 WPS season will occur on Sunday at 2:30 P.M. ET.

The bill could potentially produce a classic as the scrappy underdogs of the Philadelphia Independence travel to tussle with the machine, the myth and the majesty of regular season champions FC Gold Pride. Will yet another WPS giant-killing be on hand?

Here again is a ‘to-do list’ for each team served up with a healthy portion of unbridled anticipation.

 

For the Philadelphia Independence:

 Keep drinking the kool-aide.

Fact: the Philadelphia Independence should not win this game. They undoubtedly know this. But as Danesha Adam’s apparent handball and Amy Rodriguez’s last-gasp 120’ goal proved, the Independence can get it done by hook or by crook. WPS Coach of the Year Paul Riley has breathed life into his team all season. The Independence hit the ground running, despite having a new cast of characters, most of whom had yet to prove themselves at the professional level. That speaks volumes to Riley’s man management skills. Riley has shown immense trust and affection for his players. They’ll be looking to repay the good will on Sunday.

 

*If things go haywire early on and the Independence go into halftime with a 3-0 deficit or something, expect Riley’s halftime team talk to sound a little something like this:

 

Remember what got you here.

Gritty midfield play, unflappable self-belief, trust in the sum of its parts, dogged persistence and a little bit of luck. The Philadelphia Independence don’t play the most thrilling brand of soccer but that hasn’t prevented the team from finishing third and winning both its playoff games. The Independence love to create goal-scoring chances but they also love to destroy them at the other end of the field. They’ll have to do a lot of that against a team as dangerous as FC Gold Pride. Expect the same game plan used in the previous playoff games: play a shallow defensive line, stifle passing movement and possession in midfield and capitalize on rare chances in front of goal.

 

Stay disciplined defensively.

In other words, don’t let Frida Magnusdottir run wild. The Icelandic international ventured forward frequently early on in the Boston game but stayed put defensively as the game wore on. Philly will need all the help it can get defensively against this FC Gold Pride team. That means use overlapping runs from full-backs sparingly.

 

Force FCGP to stay compact.

Good luck with this one but give it a shot. FCGP love to spread the ball around every corner of the field and they use it to devastating effect. Not having Kelley O’Hara will hurt a little but FCGP will still try to burn the flanks with the likes of Ali Riley, Kandace Wilson and Marta bombing forward. It’s no secret that Philadelphia neutralized both Washington and Boston by eliminating the wide game and trapping possession in central midfield. The team was then able to control possession and keep the ball out of their opponent’s half. Philadelphia will have their work cut out for them tomorrow. Val Henderson has been Riley’s preferred choice as of late as Karina LeBlanc has never returned to the form she had in 2009. Henderson is certainly a quality goalkeeper but probably isn’t in WPS’ upper echelon (or is she?). By the way, Philadelphia has the second-worst defensive record in the league next to Atlanta.

 

Make sure Nikki Krzysik and Allison Falk get their vitamins in the morning.

Another factor in Philadelphia’s success in the playoff matches has been the pairing of Krzysik and Falk in central defense. Sara Larrson has seemingly been dropped in favor of Krzysik and it has worked wonders. The converted outside back has exhibited a good deal of tactical awareness, covering the passing channels that lead to Val Henderson. Falk remains the most aerially dominant center-back in WPS. The 6’0 defender will be forced to contend with old buddies Marta, Shannon Boxx and Camille Abily. Hopefully she can remember what she learnedwhile scrimmaging against them last season.

 

Pay no mind to the detracting statistics.

Again, the Philadelphia Independence shouldn’t win this game. But the Independence will surely think of this as yet another opportunity to prove people wrong.

Philadelphia will have to ignore these facts:The team did just have to fly cross-country after logging 240 minutes of competitive soccer in one week. FC Gold Pride are on a record 13-game unbeaten run and finished the regular season with a 4-1 win over this very Independence team. The last time FCGP lost was back on June 27 to Karen Bardsley’s Sky Blue FC. That was also FCGP’s only home loss of the season. Only two WPS teams have worst away records than Philadelphia has. Philadelphia has never led against FC Gold Pride. Philadelphia has conceded nine goals against FCGP, which is nearly one-quarter of Philly’s total goals against record this season. FC Gold Pride has conceded almost exactly half of the goals Philly has with 19 goals against to 36.

 

For FC Gold Pride:

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The One In Which FCGP Score Six and the Beat Concede Just As Many August 29, 2010

Posted by Jenna Pel in Atlanta Beat, FC Gold Pride, Hope Solo.
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FC Gold Pride are making up for lost time. The team’s six goal output was a compensatory move for those three goalless draws earlier this month. With regular season title in tow, the Pride are now reminding everyone exactly why they deserve it. It took 43 minutes before Tiffeny Milbrett’s shot snuck past Hope Solo. Camille Abily doubled FCGP’s lead just eight minutes later before Eniola Aluko (or was it Angie Kerr?) cut the visiting side’s lead in half in the 65’.

If the match had ended here the result would have been characterized as yet another hard-fought performance in a losing effort by the Beat. According to reports from attendees, the Beat went out and gave FCGP a real go. Head coach James Galanis attempted to fight fire with fire, hoping to score more goals on FCGP #2 Brittany Cameron than Hope Solo would concede. It seemed like the Beat were throwing caution at the wind, like they had done in Boston a week prior. They had nothing to lose, after all. Why not entertain the multitudes in attendance? (The Beat had its best home gate since opening day with 4,289 in attendance last night.)

Perhaps the multitude were indeed entertained, but surely not by their home team. After Aluko’s (or was it Kerr’s?) goal, FC Gold Pride went on to hit four more within a period of 20 minutes. Marta would tally her 16th and 17th goal of the season in quick succession, Kelley O’Hara earned her fourth of her rookie campaign and then Christine Sinclair gave the dagger a final twist in the 88′.

It was the first time a WPS team had ever scored six goals and indeed, the first time a WPS team had ever conceded six goals. This result may permanently stain Hope Solo’s reputation as being “the world’s best goalkeeper 1a”.  (If it’s any consolation, “the world’s best goalkeeper 1b” Nadine Angerer conceded two late goals to hand Frankfurt a 2-1 loss against rivals Turbine Potsdam this morning.)

But it would be unfair to assign all of the blame on Solo. Her defense was also complicit in this mess (McCall Zerboni started at right-back) and should shoulder some responsibility. Eyewitness accounts state that the score line would have reached double figures had it not been for Solo’s efforts. Few goalkeepers would be imperious to the all-out barrage FC Gold Pride treated the Beat’s defense to.

Blowout results can never be attributed to a single culprit. The 6-1 was a result of FCGP’s reinvigorated spirit, Galanis’ naïve tactics and the Beat’s woeful defending. Take your pick.

If there’s one thing the Beat can be thankful for it’s that they’ll never have to face the regular season champions again this season. 12 of the 32 goals Solo has conceded this year have been against FC Gold Pride.

FC Gold Pride Clinch Regular Season Title, Chicago Red Stars Don't August 22, 2010

Posted by Jenna Pel in FC Gold Pride, WPS.
4 comments

FC Gold Pride have clinched the 2010 regular season title after defeating the Chicago Red Stars 3-2. The Red Stars put up a valiant effort but a costly Marian Dalmy handball in the box gave FCGP a penalty kick in the 78′. Marta found the back of the net (just like she had times 14 times previously this season) and gifted her team with the right to host the 2010 WPS Championship on Sunday, September 26.

The result was perhaps fitting for both teams. FC Gold Pride has been the class of the league since week two (they actually lost 2-0 to the Saint Louis Athletica in week one) when they dispatched Sky Blue FC 3-1. They have since amassed an impressive 13-3-4 record, with three of those four draws occurring in the last three weeks due to back-to-back-to back goalless draws.

But the team returned to its swashbuckling ways tonight, although the Red Stars didn’t take it lying down. Marta snapped her team’s 271-minute scoreless run with an easy finish off a lovely cross from Ali Riley in the 8′. 10 minutes later, the invaluable Formiga won the ball in midfield and found Cristiane bombing down the flank. Cristiane then picked out Ella Masar who cleaned up a mess left by the FC Gold Pride defense.

Then in the 33′ Tiffeny Milbrett sent a corner kick into the area and centerback Rachel Buehler somehow managed to get a head on it for her second-ever WPS goal. The Red Stars were holding up possession well (particularly in midfield) but weren’t cashing in on positive opportunities. That changed when Formiga again won the ball in midfield, found Marian Dalmy who served up a perfectly-timed cross into the feet of a cascading Ella Masar. It was Masar’s eighth goal of the season.

But then the Red Stars hearts were broken before 6,089 of their fans. Natalie Spilger’s arm  (sorry Marian!) made contact with the ball in the area with just 12 minutes left to play in the match. Marta stepped up and calmly sent the ball in Jillian Loyden’s opposite direction. FC Gold Pride were up 3-2 and Marta, Shannon Boxx and Camille Abily (who did not appear in the game) were all on their way to their second WPS regular season title.

The Red Stars continued to pressure the ball in midfield and Whitney Engen continued to do some tidy work at the back but it was too late.

It was a signature end for each team. Like champions, FC Gold Pride were able to somehow find the win. And the Red Stars were again met with the cruelest of fates. Despite a wonderful turn from comeback kid Ella Masar, the front line was unable to match the stellar play of its midfield or defense.

To keep their postseason dreams alive, the Red Stars must now take all 6 points from its remaining 2 games and hope that Washington, Sky Blue FC (who got a gutsy win tonight against Philadelphia) and Atlanta all conspire to lose their remaining fixtures.

Despite the premature siesta, FC Gold Pride wholly deserve the title. Marta leads the league in scoring with 15, Christine Sinclair has the second-most assists with 7 and Nicole Barnhart is mathematically the most sound goalkeeper in WPS. The team also statistically has the best defense and the second-best offense in the league.

FC Gold Pride will need to avoid following in the footsteps of last year’s regular season champions the Los Angeles Sol. After running away with the title early, the Sol went into remission in the final quarter of the season. They were then treated to a rude awakening by upstarts Sky Blue FC in the Championship.

Perhaps FC Gold Pride have gotten it out of their system already. The team knew that the title was up for grabs if both Boston and Philadelphia lost. The stars were obviously aligned for the Bay Area side as each team was defeated this weekend.

FCGP have Atlanta, Sky Blue FC, Boston and Philadelphia left on the docket this season. The first two teams will tussle for fourth place while the latter two will likely duke it out for second. Their results against FC Gold Pride will undoubtedly matter.

It would thus be beneficial if FC Gold Pride remains competitive in these last few weeks, both for the league and for their own good.