USL Match Report
Thursday, July 30, 2009
ROCKFORD, IL – United Soccer Leagues fourth annual Super-20 League North American Finals got underway this morning at 10AM CT at Sportscore II in Rockford, Illinois. In the first match of the women’s group play tournament, the Washington Freedom tied the Chicago Red 11, 1-1.
The Freedom went up early in the match on a goal scored by Brooke Chang. On the play, a through ball got in behind the Red 11’s back line just five minutes into the match. The hopeful ball was won by Freedom striker, Julia Bushel, but as she turned in on goal, a Red 11 defender knocked the ball away. Fortunately for the Freedom, the collision knocked the ball to Chang, who shielded off a defender and slid a low pass into the back of the net for a 1-0 lead.
The calm back line of Washington controlled the ball for the middle part of the first half before the Red 11 earned their first scoring opportunity of the day. First, the Red 11 challenged Freedom goalkeeper Karen Blocker from tight range. Blocker may have been beaten to her right, but the gifted net-minder took a goal off the foot of a Red 11 striker while falling away to keep the Freedom’s 1-0 advantage intact.
The two WPS Academy teams traded chances again nearing the conclusion of the first half. The Red 11 won back-to-back corner opportunities and again forced Blocker into a full-extension save. Moments later, Washington’s Tiffany Brown turned a defender and blasted a long shot off the top of the crossbar.
“We came out way too passive,” said Red 11 Head Coach, Tony Anglin at halftime.
Anything but passive, Red 11 forward Rachel Sloan was one of the team’s bright spots in the first half.
“Rachel is one of the girls who played in the W-League with us,” said Anglin. “She has a bright future. She needs to finish her chances.”
The second half began cautiously for both teams. Neither side had any clear scoring opportunities until the 70th minute, when Sloan, playing the part of a target forward got mowed down just outside the area while attempting bring in a lofted ball on her chest.
The subsequent free kick, taken by Red 11 Captain Kelsey Miller, left Blocker with absolutely no chance. The ball was driven straight and hard into the upper-90 to tie the game 1-1 in the 71st minute.
Led by towering center back Krystin Miller and sturdy left back Erin Kehoe, the Red 11 defense seriously limited the Freedom’s opportunities in the second half, only to waiver a bit nearing the final whistle. As both teams pressed for a winner, Blocker came up huge again for the Freedom, winning a one-on-one chance with a Red 11 forward just before a defensive miscue was given up, then taken right back by Krystin Miller.
A second round of chances finished the match as the Red 11 hit nearly the same spot on the crossbar as the Freedom did in the first, just before the Freedom’s Chang barely missed out on her second goal of the day, blasting a close opportunity over the bar to end the match, 1-1.
“Chicago is good in the air,” said Freedom coach Kris Ward. “We were better early on, but in the second half we played to that strength of theirs a bit too much. Things evened out in the middle of the match. Obviously, there was a good amount of quality players on both sides of the field.”
“Playing in the Super-20 League has been a good process for us,” added Ward. “It gives the girls something tangible as far as being part of a complete club. They can go see the first team play. Then, they can come out here and experience the same ideology and play the same formation as the first team.”
“In regards to the home-grown player rule this is great,” said Ward. “It would benefit us a lot since we maintained the club and the academy in the absence of a professional league the past few seasons. We developed current WPS players like Madison Keller, who was with our academy since 2003. We are showing that this model can work in WPS. It is good that Chicago values it as well. It insures that the league will be around for some time.”
