Sunday, June 22, 2008

VANCOUVER, BC -- Vancouver Whitecaps women fell 3-0 to the powerful Pali Blues Sunday night as the expansion side from Los Angeles showed why they are a force to be reckoned with in the W-League.

The Whitecaps' patchwork line-up, still missing 20 players to international duty, contained the visitors in the first half. However, a goal three minutes after the break by American international India Trotter changed the game's complexion, with the Blues going on to add two more. This was first time in team history that the Whitecaps have been shut out at home, breaking a run of 56 games over eight seasons.

Whitecaps interim head coach Marc Rizzardo made two changes from the starting eleven that lost 4-0 away to Pali last Sunday, with Selenia Iacchelli returning to midfield while 19-year-old forward Mallory Outerbridge was given her first start.

Pali fashioned a couple of good chances in the opening minutes, as top-scorer Danesha Adams twice got the ball in close to the right of goal, and twice tried to blast it past Sian Bagshawe on the short side, but the veteran keeper stood her ground and blocked the shots.

On minute 23, India Trotter got behind the Vancouver defence and was in alone, but Bagshawe came out quickly and smothered the ball when the striker pushed it too far ahead.

Two minutes later, Vancouver defender Katrin Schmidt had the home side's best chance of the half as she broke in just to the left of goal, but was in too tight and Pali goalkeeper Valerie Henderson made the stop.

Back the other way, and Trotter pushed over Whitecaps defender Eden Hingwing in the box to gain possession, and with the crowd screaming for a foul, sent her shot screaming over the bar.

Another dangerous moment came on minute 38, as the Blues' Katy Cross broke in on the left, and while Hingwing got a toe to the ball to push it away, she pushed it towards the Vancouver goal, with the ball going wide of Bagshawe before hitting the far post. Two minutes later, Trotter fired a hard shot from just inside the box, which Bagshawe stopped with difficulty.

Though the Blues continued to press to the half-time whistle, it remained scoreless at the break. Pali coach Charlie Naimo admitted afterwards that Vancouver was giving them a game. "I thought their game plan was very solid and they made it very difficult for us to create quality chances, and the few that we did get, we didn't finish."

Three minutes after the restart, that changed. India Trotter and Danesha Adams broke in at pace on the counter-attack, with Trotter playing it for Adams to her right, getting the return ball in the box, then turning past defender Rachael Pelat before blasting it in.

"Their strikers are very quick and play very well off each other", said Bagshawe afterwards. "They're very good on the ball, very technical, and they know where each other are going to be."

The 23-year-old Trotter had only been signed days earlier, and really enjoyed her first taste of the W-League. "In the first half we had our chances, and I had a couple chances I probably should have put away. They were good at containing us. I think we were hungry, and we came back in the second half and really finished our chances and that was the big difference in the game." The Whitecaps applied good pressure looking for the equalizer, with Outerbridge testing the keeper at the hour-mark with a shot from the top of the area. Then on minute 66, Caitlin Davie played a good ball to Amy Vermeulen in the box, and she did well to fend off her marker and get a shot away, but sent it high.

Pali then hit for two quick goals to put the game out of reach. On minute 71, defender Kendell Fletcher fired a long ball to Katy Cross, who got behind the Vancouver defence on the right, and blasted it home.

Cross caught the Whitecaps flat-footed again moments later as she charged up the middle, but this time Bagshawe was charging on a collision course the other way, and after the collision was charged with a foul and shown the yellow card. The Blues made good on the free kick, with Rosie Tantillo curling a wicked shot from 25 yards beyond Bagshawe's grasp on minute 78.

The Whitecaps continued to battle, with Tiffeny Milbrett sending a diving header wide, then moments later setting up Amy Vermeulen who also missed the target.

At the other end, Bagshawe did superbly to stop a 10-yard blast from Adams in the closing minutes, and then got some help from Katrin Schmidt, who headed the ball off the line after former Whitecaps defender Sasha Andrews almost nodded one in from a corner kick.


NINETY FULL MINUTES


The Whitecaps second-half lapse was something that coach Marc Rizzardo had been concerned about. "The exact same thing happened in LA. We talked about it at half-time not to come out and be flat. Unfortunately they got a quick goal on a mistake." Rizzardo felt his team had done well, despite the scoreline. "We changed our shape today and I thought it was pretty effective, but unfortunately we didn't come up with a result. They're fast, big, strong, and very skillful. When you give them a break like that, they'll take advantage of it."

Naimo, who formerly coached the powerful New Jersey Wildcats, was delighted with the outcome, and happy to have finally had the chance to experience a game at Swangard. "It's fantastic to play in such a wonderful environment here," he said, "I've always wanted to see the show that they put on, and it's first-class. It's a great feeling to come here and get such a result."

The 3-0 scoreline was the worst home defeat in Vancouver team history, and this was also the first time the Whitecaps have been shut out in back-to-back games.

With just three matches left in their regular season schedule the Whitecaps know they need to put some points on the board, a sentiment echoed by defender Eden Hingwing. "We'll need to get results. These are two games that are over and done with and we need to move on and focus on fixing the errors that we made today."

The Whitecaps drop to 5-2-2 on the season, and remain in second place in the Western Conference. Pali continue to steamroll over everyone, and are now 7-0-0 with hopes of a first-place overall finish in the league. That would give them automatic passage to the W-League Championship Tournament, and conveniently for everyone else, take them right out of the picture in the Western Conference playoff race.

"Pali Blues may very well win the league the way they are going right now," said Rizzardo. "But we still have a shot at the playoffs, and that's our goal."

Next up for Vancouver is another big match, as the Caps play away to the Seattle Sounders on Monday, June 30 in Tukwila, WA.
(Courtesy USL)

Friday, June 13, 2008
By: Graham Hays | Special to womensprosoccer.com