Seattle Sounders Women News Release -- www.sounderswomen.com
Thursday, July 3, 2014
TUKWILA, Wash. – The Seattle Sounders Women (15pts, 5-2-0) will play their last two home matches of the regular season this week as they host the top two teams in the W-League's Western Conference. On Thursday night, the Sounders will face the LA Blues (27pts, 9-0-0), with a visit from the Bay Area Breeze (19pts, 6-3-1) set for Sunday.
Currently, the LA Blues are ranked first and Bay Area Breeze second in the Western Conference — positions that the Sounders must hold to make the playoffs.
The Blues have played nine matches thus far in the W-League regular season— taking home nine wins, and seven shutouts. The Sounders competed against the LA Blues early in the season on May 25 and fell, 3-0.
Three standout players for the Blues are midfielder Mele French from the University of Oregon, and forward Katherine Stengel from Wake Forest University, who have each scored seven goals. Forward Kandace Love from California State University, Fullerton has scored six goals. The Blues’ last game was against the Santa Clarita Blue Heat (12pts, 4-6-0), where they took a 5-0 victory.
Bay Area is currently in second place, but has played three games more than the Sounders. The match-up between Bay Area and the Sounders will be the first this season. During the 2013 W-League season, Bay Area defeated the Sounders, 2-0.
The Breeze last played against fellow playoff contender the Colorado Pride (19pts, 6-2-1) and lost 2-1 to fall into a tie for second place with the Pride. The leading scorer for Bay Area is forward Anisa Guajardo from Pepperdine University, who has six goals and one assist.
The Sounders were on a four-game winning streak before their last outing on June 27, where they fell 2-1 against the Colorado Rush. Leading the Sounders in scoring is forward Kennya Cordner from Young Harris College with five goals.
Currently, the Sounders have played two less matches than the conference-leading Blues and third-placed Pride, and three less matches than the second-placed Breeze in the Western Conference. Based on points per game, the Sounders rank second in the West with 2.14 ppg, but they will need to take advantage of their games in hand as they sit four points behind both the Breeze and the Pride as the season comes toward its conclusion.
For the W-League Playoffs, the first- and second-ranked seeds will compete against each other in the Western Conference Championship, following which the winner will advance to the W-League Championships in Bradenton, Florida at IMG Academy.
Following the weekend, the Sounders Women will finish up their 2014 W-League season with three games in Colorado. The Sounders will face the Colorado Rush (11pts, 3-3-2) on July 9, Colorado Pride (19pts, 6-2-1) on July 11, and finish with Colorado Storm (0pts, 0-9-0) on July 13. For match coverage and details, see SoundersWomen.com.