Colorado Pride Advances To Finals As They Prepare To Face Washington Spirit Reserves
Colorado Pride 4, Laval Comets 0
Soccer News: The Colorado Pride’s high-powered offense was too much for the host Laval Comets Friday night, as the Pride took a 4-0 victory to advance to their first W-League Championship final in only their second season. League MVP finalist Tara Andrews was one of the game’s scorers, while Darcy Jerman and Ally Watt also found the net for Colorado.
The Pride advance to face the No. 1 Washington Spirit Reserves in Sunday’s final.
For Colorado, the road to the title match has gone through the top team in the Western Conference (Seattle) and the top team in the Northeastern Conference (Laval), with the Southeastern Conference champions awaiting on Sunday.
“To win a championship of this magnitude you have to beat a lot of very good teams,” Colorado Head Coach Sian Hudson said. “We are playing with a ton of confidence right now and we are scoring a lot of goals, and I think the team is ready.
“We got the chance to look at Washington earlier and they are a very good team with very good players. I think for us we just need to keep our performance and consistency high.”
The Pride came out flying from the start, with Andrews finding Jerman on a perfect flick in the second minute, but Laval’s All-Northeastern Conference goalkeeper Rachelle Beanlands was equal to the task. Beanlands was called upon again in the 17th minute, this time taking a sure goal off Andrews’ foot after a Colorado set piece.
The Pride took the lead in the 32nd minute off the foot Jerman, who beat a defender and curled a shot inside the left post after a feed from Kaitlyn Johnson. Andrews nearly doubled the lead with a free kick that hit the crossbar three minutes later.
Watt made it 2-0 in the 42nd minute off an assist from Katy Oehring, and Laval had its best chance to get back in the match off the ensuing kickoff, but All-League goalkeeper Britt Eckerstrom made a diving save on Valerie Sanderson’s chance from in close.
Andrews finally found the net in first-half stoppage time when she was brought down in the box, and scored on the rebound after Beanlands made the initial save.
The score stretched to 4-0 on an own-goal in the 57th minute as a back pass bounced over the foot of Beanlands, who was Laval’s strongest player for much of the match
Washington Spirit Reserves 1, Quebec Dynamo ARSQ 0
Top-seeded Washington used a first-half goal from Yanara Aedo Munoz to hold off the No. 4 Dynamo in the evening’s first semifinal. Washington advanced to its second consecutive W-League Championship final after falling in 2014.
The Dynamo, who reached the final four as the Northeastern Conference Champions, will meet rival Laval in Sunday’s consolation match.
Quebec had a golden opportunity to take the lead in the 19th minute as Marie-Mychele Metivier did well to get around the outside of a defender and slid a low ball to Joelle Gosselin at the top of the six-yard box. Gosselin hit her one-time shot well, but Washington keeper Caroline Casey was in position and the shot hit her in the legs and was cleared.
Washington appeared primed to open the scoring two minutes later when Rookie of the Year finalist Imani Dorsey got free down the middle, but Quebec keeper Gabrielle Lambert came out to block the attempt. Lambert was unfortunate to suffer an injury three minutes later, and was replaced by Joelle-Marie Vandal in the Dynamo net.
Washington found its breakthrough in the 38th minute when Dorsey once again caused havoc in the Quebec defense, and Amber Stobbs was able to poke a loose ball to a charging Munoz, who was able to dribble around Vandal and score into the open net.
Dorsey had a chance to double the lead in first-half stoppage time, but flubbed her attempt after getting behind the defense down the right side.
The Dynamo came out strong to start the second half, with Melissande Guy coming close on a pair of chances in the first 10 minutes.
Washington took the momentum back with the addition of forward Margaret Purce into the game, as the Harvard star paired with her U.S. U-20 Women’s National Team teammate Dorsey to repeatedly stretch the Quebec defense. With All-League midfielder Megan Dougherty-Howard providing the service, the pair came close to adding to the advantage on multiple occasions.
Quebec’s comeback hopes took a blow in the 76th minute as Purce got behind the defense, and Vandal was forced to handle the ball out of her penalty area to stop the sure goal. The resulting red card reduced the Dynamo to 10 players, with midfielder Arielle Roy-Petitclerc forced into goal.
The Dynamo’s final chance at the equalizer came in the 82nd minute as Marie-Christine Gauthier’s free kick sailed high, and the Spirit Reserves claimed the 1-0 victory.
2015 W-League Championship presented by Nike
Consolation
No. 4 Quebec Dynamo ARSQ vs. No. 3 Laval Comets
Sunday, July 26, 12 p.m. ET, Desjardins Stadium
Championship
No. 2 Colorado Pride vs. No. 1 Washington Spirit Reserves
Sunday, July 26, 2:30 p.m. ET, Desjardins Stadium
