Seattle Sounders Women News Release -- www.sounderswomen.com
Thursday, July 3, 2014
TUKWILA, Wash. – The LA Blues (10-0-0, 30pts) clinched the Western Conference's regular season championship, and the right to host the Western Conference Championship Game, as a late goal earned a 2-1 victory against the Seattle Sounders Women (15pts, 5-3-0) on a beautiful night at Starfire Stadium. The Blues opened the scoring before the Sounders equalized before the end of the first half, but LA remained perfect as Shawna Gordon scored in the final 10 minutes to give her side victory.
After a shaky start, the Sounders had their first chance of the night to get on the scoreboard in the 13th minute when Taylor Comeau sent a through-ball straight to Lyndsey Patterson in the 18-yard box. Patterson beat Blues goalkeeper Samantha Prudhomme with her drilled shot, but it came back off the post and away to safety.
The Blues opened the scoring three minutes later as Elizabeth Eddy brought the ball into the penalty area and tapped a ball to Katherine Stengel, who launched a shot into the top-left corner of the net, just out of Sounders goalkeeper Anna Picarelli’s reach.
Until the 13th minute, Seattle seemed a bit flustered and was unable to keep possession of the ball. Following the Sounders' first opportunity to score, the game evened out, and Seattle created chances to find an equalizer. They found the tying goal in in the 33rd minute after being awarded a free kick in the Blues' territory as Sharis Lachappelle bent a delivery to the far post where Jaclyn Softli headed home to leave the game level at the break.
The Blues came close to regaining the lead in the 59th minute, but Picarelli made a fantastic save when LA's Kandace Love drilled a shot from inside the penalty area. Seattle also went close six minutes later when substitute Ifeoma Onomunu went one-on-one with Prudhomme, and sent a chip over the goalkeeper's head only for the effort to come back off the crossbar, with no one on hand to put away the rebound.
The Blues grabbed victory in the 83rd minute when Mele French poked a pass into a cluster of players inside the penalty area. Gordon managed to get a foot on the ball for a 2-1 lead, and that would prove enough to earn victory as the Blues withstood the Sounders' late efforts to earn a draw.
The loss kept the Sounders in fourth place in the W-League's Western Conference, having played two games fewer than fellow playoff contenders the Colorado Pride (22pts, 7-2-1), and Bay Area Breeze (19pts, 6-3-1). The top two seeds in the conference advance to the Western Conference Championship Game, which makes Seattle's last home match of the season against the Bay Area Breeze at 4 p.m. on Sunday at Starfire Stadium a crucial one in the playoff race. For tickets and details, see SoundersWomen.com.