Pacific Palisades, Calif. (Thursday, July 10, 2008) - Coming into tonight’s home finale for the Pali Blues Soccer Club (11-0-0), head coach Charlie Naimo stressed the importance of maintaining focus and not overlooking a tough Real Colorado Cougars (3-2-3) side. Much to his pleasure, the Blues were ready from the opening whistle of their home finale at the Stadium by the Sea and picked up their sixth straight shutout in W-League action, 6-0.
"As a coach, I was so happy to see so many players have a role in the match," an enthusiastic Naimo stated after the victory. "The girls played a class game from start to finish."
The Blues quickly put up their first score of the game when striker India Trotter set up defender Kara Kabellis in the 16th minute for an early one-goal advantage. In the 25th minute, Austrailian midfielder Collette McCallum was fouled and wasted little time in making the Cougars pay. Off the ensuing free kick, McCallum struck a brilliant whipping ball into the back of the net from about 25 yards deep. The Blues made it 3-0 in the 35th minute on a play that looked very similar to the game-winning goal from a win this past Saturday over the Seattle Sounders. A ball was played to the feet of midfielder Brittany Klein who clipped a spinning ball off the defense to an overlapping McCallum, and the Matilda knocked the ball into the goal. With a pair of first half tallies under her belt, McCallum got onto the other side of the score card in the 43rd minute. She put a nice strike on a corner kick, and former Arizona State Sun Devil Amy LePeilbet headed the ball home to give the home team a 4-0 lead at intermission.
"It was fantastic to come right out and put together a great first half," Naimo commented about the opening 45 minutes of the contest. "We created a lot of chances and put the ball in the net four times, and we followed that momentum right into the second half."
The first notch of the second half came in the 62nd minute. Kabellis drove a ball downfield off a set piece from 50 yards out. When she saw an opening in the Real Colorado defense, she sent a ball to the front of the goal, and UCLA alumna Jill Oakes headed the feed into the back of the net. The final tally of the night came when University of Oregon product Mele French sent a helper to Trotter, who then beat her defender and hit the sixth goal of the match.
Recording the shutout and five saves in net for the Blues was English National Team goalkeeper Karen Bardsley. The offensive Blues out-shot the Cougars 16-5 in the contest, and the 6-0 win also makes the Blues a perfect 6-0 at home this season.
With only a July 18th date against the cross-city rival Los Angeles Legends standing in the way of a perfect regular season, Naimo has his radar set on the next major goal for the Blues.
"Starting tomorrow, every bit of our focus is on next Friday," Naimo, who now has a 64-3 regular season record over the past five seasons, said. "We are one win away from being the first Western Conference team to win the regular season title, and we will do whatever it takes to make that happen."
After winning the Western Conference regular season crown this past Saturday, the Blues have already secured a postseason berth in just their first season. The W-League playoffs will begin almost immediately following the conclusion of the regular season with a midweek divisional playoff round. The three Conference Championship Tournaments will be held from July 25-27, and the regular season W-League champion will automatically receive a berth in the W-League Semifinals. The W-League Championship Tournament will be held July 31 and August 2 in Virginia Beach, hosted by the Hampton Roads Piranhas.
Stay tuned to the team website at www.bluessoccerclub.com for all updates regarding the Blues.
