Santa Clarita Blue Heat News Release - www.scblueheat.com
Sunday, July 24, 2011
SANTA CLARITA, Calif. – Battling until the bitter end, the Santa Clarita Blue Heat’s Cinderella season came to an end on Sunday evening with a 4-3 loss to Vancouver, their first of the season to the Whitecaps and only their second loss of the entire season. The win gives the Whitecaps a spot in the National Championship semi-final round next Friday in Seattle.
Starting the game without several injured starters, including Portugese National Edite Fernandes, the Blue Heat was nonetheless able to score first with a Liz Franco goal in the 18th minute. Unfortunately, Franco was taken off the field with a knee injury in the 37th minute, unable to return to the game. The Whitecaps followed with unassisted goals by Sydney Leroux and Martina Franko for a halftime score of 2-1, Vancouver.
Only two minutes into the second half, Vancouver’s newly acquired Kaylyn Kyle from the Canadian National Team, joined forces with Sydney Leroux to score again on the Blue Heat. Down 3-1, Santa Clarita drove back down the field with Hannah Beard hitting the net off of a Laura Dodd assist in the 53rd minute. Three minutes later, Blue Heat’s Shasta Fisher scored off of Sydney Vermillion’s pass to even the score, 3-3. The match escalated in intensity for the next 37 minutes with several missed shots by both teams. In the 81st minute, Whitecaps Defender Alexandra Marton was shown two consecutive yellow cards, leaving Vancouver a player down for the remainder of the match. In minute 87, the Kaylyn Kyle scored her second goal off of a corner kick, ultimately giving the Whitecaps the win.
“I was so proud to see our players dig deep and fight back to tie this game up,” said Coach Fabian Sandoval. “We have been plagued by so many injuries during the last weeks of the season but the players have continued to play with tremendous motivation for each other. We are gratified to know that we were the only team to beat Vancouver during the regular season, giving us the Western Conference first place finish. We congratulate the Whitecaps on their win today and wish them the best in the playoffs.”