Colorado Force News Release - www.forcesoccer.com
Sunday, July 12, 2009
VENTURA, CA -- Rebounding from a difficult loss Friday night, the Colorado Force changed the course of its Southern California road trip with a 2-1 victory over the Ventura County Fusion Sunday.
With the win the Force, 2-2-6, jumped to 12 points in the W-League’s Western Conference, pulling into a fourth-place tie with its Front Range rivals the Real Colorado Cougars. If Colorado wins again on Tuesday – when it wraps up the road trip against the L.A. Legends – the Force could jump into a second place tie with Seattle, which has 15 points. Seattle, 3-0-6, is idle until Wednesday when it starts its own three-game California road trip against Ventura County.
Sunday’s match saw the Force dominate early, but it took until the 30th minute before Lisa Franke could find the back of the net with the first goal. Franke scored from about 15 yards out after she was on the receiving end of a Nikki Marshall pass just inside the penalty area.
Colorado scored again in the 43rd minute off of a Force corner kick. A short corner was delivered to Shay Powell, who crossed the ball to Carly Peetz at the six-yard line. Peetz took two quick touches and slipped the ball past the Ventura keeper for a 2-0 Force advantage.
Ventura retaliated moments later when Rebecca Klamser scored, also in the 43rd minute.
The 2-1 score at halftime was deceiving, according to Force Coach Craig Deacon.
“We should have been up six or seven to nothing,” Deacon said.
Four shots just missed wide in the first half, and two more hit the crossbar. Overall, the Force outshot the Fusion 18-4 in the match, and had five corner kicks to just one for Ventura County.
Colorado continued to generate chances in the second half and continued to control play. Deacon picked out midfielder Lisa Kosena has the defensive MVP for the match, and he also praised the play of Sara Campbell.
“It was a good win – it was a good response from the Pali game,” Deacon said, referring to the 3-0 loss to the defending W-League champions on Friday. “It was a very good collective performance. We showed character.”
After the L.A. Legends match, the Force returns to Loveland Sports Park for its regular-season finale against the Vancouver Whitecaps. Vancouver, 3-2-5, is currently in third place with 14 points. When the two sides met June 28 in Vancouver, the teams tied 1-1.
