Fredericksburg Impact News Release - fasaimpact.com
Friday, May 17, 2013
FREDERICKSBURG, Va. - The Fredericksburg Impact will complete a three-game road trip to start their W-League season this weekend when they travel to New York to take on the Long Island Rough Riders Saturday and the New York Magic Sunday.
Fredericksburg opened the season last Saturday in Virginia Beach, Va., falling 2-1 to the Piranhas. Kara Blosser got on the end of a corner kick by Kimmy Cummings early in the contest before the hosts rallied for the win. Blosser, a central midfielder, was named to the W-League Team of the Week for her efforts.
The Impact started a young team in the match, with high school junior Halle Parker playing the entire game at sweeper against Virginia Beach’s high-octane offense. Fellow high school teammate Sydney Wallace, a sophomore, also saw action late in the match as Fredericksburg searched for a game-tying score.
Fredericksburg created many chances throughout the game, but were unable to put them away, which is something Coach Rich Stoneman said the team will need to improve on going forward.
“I think our conference in the W-League is probably the hardest, and our girls got a taste what they did, can and will be able to do moving forward,” he said. “I think they are hungry to be able to travel this weekend and put together a full 90 minutes [in both games].”
Saturday’s game will be the season opener for Long Island, which finished the 2012 season with a 9-4-0 record. The Rough Riders reached the Eastern Conference semifinals last year as the Northeast Division champion, but fell 4-0 to the Charlotte Eagles.
Long Island will be led by Grace Hawkins and Sue Weber. Hawkins was named W-League MVP in 2012 and has a knack for finding the goal after leading the league in both points with 38 and goals scored with 17. Weber is a two-time W-League Defender of the Year winner, who returns to the team after taking off the 2012 season for maternity leave.
Coming off a tough 2012 campaign where they finished with a 3-7-2 record, the Magic (1-0-0) opened their season last Saturday with a 2-1 upset victory against the Washington Spirit Reserves at the Maryland SportsPlex.
In the contest, Brittany Pfaff set up Lorena Maggio for the game-tying goal, before scoring the game-winner in the 86th minute as New York tallied twice in the final 15 minutes for the victory. Pfaff was named the W-League Player of the Week for her performance, while teammates Maggio and defender Kelsey Hegg earned Team of the Week honors.
“We expect both teams to be solid,” Stoneman said. “The New York Magic upset the Washington Spirit, which won last year’s Atlantic Division. It’s going to be like a fight in these two matches, and after 90 minutes, we’ll see who’s left standing.”
After the opening loss, and heading into their first home game at Fredericksburg Field House on May 27, Fredericksburg’s players obviously would like to bring home a couple of wins, and hope another week of practice under their belt will be the difference.
“These practices we had this week have set us up going forward,” said midfielder Kimmy Cummings, who returned to the Impact this year after playing with the team in their inaugural season in 2011. “Last weekend we played, we were a little rusty but it wasn’t that bad at all. We’ve got some experience on our team, and we are looking for those girls to step up and make this weekend successful.”