NPFC Blaze would like to thank the Bremerton Soccer Club women for traveling to Sequim for a scrimmage. Bremerton brought talent and fire, and it is great to see another women’s rec team willing to travel to play 11v11 women’s soccer.
Bremerton dominated the first 10-15 minutes of the game, with skillful ball handlers weaving their way through our middle and putting pressure on our defensive line, though Sammy Gonzalez and Christina Dalton made several key blocks. An extra fortunate Blaze cross-turn goal changed the tide, in the 15th minute! Blaze’s Piper Williams received a ball up the right sideline from Taryn Asmus. Piper carried it fast and from deep in the right corner, made what we all thought was to be a beautiful cross, but it went in for the score!
Our midfielders began clicking, and we continued to capitalize on the space on the sidelines. A ball was centered to the middle, and with numbers up top and several options, Christine Loewe found the opening between the center backs and Jess Haugen finished it to bring the game to 2-0. Several minutes later, same scenario, Christine was open in front of the goal, received a short pass, and with a quick lateral maneuver, she got a clear shot to bring the game to 3-0. Blaze got a 4th goal right before the close of the 1st half. Aliina Latti who took advantage of a defender off their feet and then calmly dished a quick pass to the side of the net.
“Blaze did a good job absorbing the pressure and making them work for every ball. The team limited their chances and neutralized the ones they did create really well, especially in the 2nd half. Overall, it was a solid 80 minutes. We were able to get everyone in with the level of play staying fairly good.”
Coach Juan Carlos
The game got a little heated and the intensity was high. Vianey Cadenas was cut off by a defender rounding the corner to the goal box and went down with a knee injury. Bremerton took advantage of the stoppage of play and some Blaze miscommunications and got 2 goals in.
Blaze center back, Christina Dalton was credited for a fantastic defensive game: “There were a lot of times she was solo chasing strikers down after they broke through and prevented them from advancing/scoring.” And likewise, Dalton gives kudos to Mel Messino in the box, noticing her “awesome communication and amazing saves back there.”
Tayrn Asmus – Blaze team mate
Final score 4-2 was celebrated by veteran Christine Loewe; “I think our overall fitness has improved. We have increased our awareness of the players around us and how they operate. This allows for a more fluid game through better positioning and consistency of passing.”