LA Blues News Release - www.bluessoccerclub.com
Thursday, May 15, 2014
LOS ANGELES – On Friday the LA Blues will play their first official W-League game since the merger of the LA Strikers and Pali Blues was announced in November 2013, traveling to Arizona to face the expansion Sedona FC Strikers.
The Strikers and Pali finished as the top two Western Conference teams in 2013. After being defeated twice by the Strikers in regular-season play, Pali came out victorious in the Conference Championship, and went on to knock out the Washington Spirit Reserves in the League semifinals and the Laval Comets in the final.
The new organization brings together the best of the Strikers and Pali with their former head coaches, Tracey Kevins and Charlie Naimo, in charge of the new squad which also consists of many fan favorites from both teams. Blues Manager Naimo spoke about preparing the team to take on a new opponent in the league for the first time.
“Obviously, it has been a very long wait to play an official game since the final and we are excited to get back at it,” he said. “As a staff, we are confident in the group we will have out this weekend. That said, the focus is on our side and being as close to perfect as we can this early on as we learn about our newest conference rival.”
LA will be held to high standards, building off a successful 2013 season that saw the Pali Blues win their third W-League title in six seasons and Kevins turn a struggling Strikers club into a top contender in the Western Conference.
On Friday, a mixture of Strikers and Pali standouts, alongside promising new additions to the team, will begin to work towards the 2014 W-League Championship as they begin a new era for women’s soccer in Southern California. The match is set to kick off at 7 p.m. PT at Sedona Red Rock High School.
The Blues will return home for a two-game, home-opening weekend to play against Sedona FC at Patterson Field on the campus of Occidental College on Friday, May 23 and the Seattle Sounders Women on Sunday, May 25, at the StubHub Center’s Track and Field Stadium. For tickets and more information, fans can visit bluessoccerclub.com.