Match Reports Spring 2008

Sat. May 31: Explosion Blue 3  Loudoun 94 Red 0
The Blues come into the final 3 games of the season needing points from each game to be promoted. Early pressure and a rock-hard playing surface resulted in an early goal for Arlington when a harmless ball into the area from Corrie bounced high in front of the Loudoun keeper and floated into the net. From there the Blues took control with Angie adding a half-field breakaway goal early in the second half and Anna M. adding the third near the end of the game. Loudoun tested the Arlington keeper a few times but were not able to get back into the match. Next weekend will prove absolutely crucial for the Blues; the season ends with 2 games against the top 2 teams.

Memorial Day Weekend: The Virginian tournament
Last year the girls made a surprising run to the final in their group, so expectations ran high for the 2008 edition. The first day started promisingly, with wins over a Wyckoff NJ team and the SYC hosts clinching a semifinal berth on Sunday. The Blues faced a very solid CSC Heat squad on Sunday morning and kept things close most of the way but a perfectly-placed free kick by CSC sealed the win 1-0. The loss meant that the Blues would square off against the 1st place team from the other side of the bracket, the PWSI Courage, who also happen to be ODSL division rivals. The match was played at a frantic pace and both teams gave it 100%. In the end an early second half goal from PWSI was the difference, and they went through to the final. The Blues then had Monday off, which in the long run might have been a good thing as they still face 3 tough division games, including a rematch with PWSI.

Sun. May 18: Explosion Blue 2  BAC Storm 1
Unbelievably a second straight day without rain. However, gray skies and the forecast of thunderstorms did not bode well. Arlington again started off quickly with Angie scoring first, creating a nice goal out of nothing. The Blues had many opportunities in the first half but could not find the net for the all-important second goal. BAC equalized near halftime following a sloppy goalmouth scramble. The second half was an even, tense affair, with both sides moving the ball well but not able to penetrate the other team’s back line. Then lightning struck (figuratively anyway) as Anna put in a fine strike from 25 yards out. The final 7 minutes saw BAC push everyone forward to try and claim the equalizer but it didn’t come. The end couldn’t come quickly enough for the Blues, who needed to end the day with a win, and also because the inevitable rain had begun to come down...

Sat. May 17: Explosion Blue 1  Frederick Royals 3
Finally, a bright sunny game day! The Blue started out fast and netted an early goal when Angie broke through the Frederick defense and put a shot past the keeper. Anna nearly doubled the early lead moments later on a long shot but the Royals goalie was able to pluck it out of the air. That save woke up the Frederick side, and from there they began to take control of the game. The equalizer came just before halftime, then just after the restart they went ahead. The pace of the Frederick wings kept Arlington on their heels the rest of the game. A late 3rd goal sealed the outcome for the visitors, though the Blues never really looked like they would be able to level the match.

Sun. May 11: Rained out. Again.
That makes the score 4-3 in favor of rainouts. It will be a busy May and June with doubleheader weekends the rest of the season, in addition to the Memorial Day weekend tournament.

Sun. May 4: Explosion Blue 2  BRYC Blue Angels 0
The Blues picked up right where they left off against Annandale, taking control of the match early with good ball movement on the outside. The first goal finally came near the halfway mark when Anna’s cross from deep in the corner landed right at Bridget’s feet and was calmly tucked into the back of the net. There was no second-half letup from the Blues; after surviving a potentially dangerous goal mouth scramble, they quickly counterattacked down the right side, where Anna found Angie at the near post following a nice cutback move. Angie buried the shot and put the game away. After 3 games the girls are undefeated but face a real test in their next match: the high-flying PWSI Courage White, who won last season’s matchup by the convincing score of 3-0. If the Courage win, they would go to 5-0 on the season and have the inside track to 1st place; a win by the Blues would make the title run very interesting indeed.

Sat. April 26: Explosion Blue 4  Annandale Xpress 1
The girls were highly motivated to do well against  Rachel’s former team, and they put the pressure on right from the start. Several shots went high or wide until Anna placed one high in the corner of the net to get the Blues rolling. They added 3 more in quick succession by Logan, Veronica, and Angie to kill the game off before the halftime whistle. Annandale kept fighting despite the long odds and produced a nice goal on a breakaway midway through the second half, but it was not enough.

Sun. April 13: Explosion Blue 1  SYC Spirit 1
A new league for both teams this season who played to a scoreless draw in last season’s matchup in WAGS. Would a fresh start in ODSL produce similar results? In a word, yes. The Explosion started fast, with forwards Angie and Julia getting free right up the center of the SYC defense, but excellent goalkeeping by SYC kept the game scoreless early. Then, with perhaps the goal of the season, Angie expertly nodded in Anna’s corner kick from the near post. Not to be outdone, the Spirit put the pressure on and evened the score just at the stroke of halftime on their own corner kick, this one to the far post. The second half was not nearly as frantic as the first, each team settled in and held the ball a little better. Both goalies were tested but not beaten, and a 1-1 draw was the result.

Match Reports (fall 2007)

Sun. Nov. 5: Explosion Blue 1   FPYC Roadrunners 4
The girls had hoped to end the season on a high note, and indeed scored their nicest goal of the season on a great run by Tori, who passed to Veronica, who then found Julia at the top of the 18, where she turned and fired high into the corner for her second goal of the season. Unfortunately this did not happen until after FPYC had built a 3-0 cushion in impressive style. The Blues then gave up a 4th near the end, which couldn’t come fast enough. It’s been a long grind--9 regular season games, 4 tournament games, practicing since July--so several weeks off are definitely in order to get both legs and heads rested up.

Sun. Oct 28: Explosion Blue 0   PWSI Courage ’94 White  3
One of the two teams involved in this game appeared extremely motivated to get the win and thus stay clear of last place in the division. Unfortunately it wasn’t the Blues. PWSI controlled play from the start and were rewarded with an early goal from a corner kick. Explosion Blue picked up the pressure a bit but were unable to get the equalizer before halftime. The second half was more of the same; the Blues could not find a way to get the ball in the goal. Meanwhile, PWSI picked up a second goal on a breakaway and a fairly lucky bounce; that seemed to kill off any notion the Blues had of equalizing. PWSI picked up a third goal late, taking advantage of the tired Blues defense.

Sun. Oct 21: Explosion Blue 1  Stafford Everton 1
Three games to go in the season, and the Blues need points from all 3 games just to stay afloat in Div.5. Everton desperately needed a win to move from 3rd to 2nd, so as to guarantee a trip to Div.4 next season. Anna nearly put the Blues ahead after only 2 minutes, her free kick from the top of the penalty area went just to the wrong side of the post. The match was pretty frantic from then on, both teams putting it all on the line to get the much-needed goal. Everton’s efforts paid off early in the second half with a breakaway goal. But it was the Explosion Blue who picked up the intensity afterwards, and after several chances from close range, Logan got on the end of another free kick by Anna to tie the score with just 3 minutes remaining. So neither team was able to grab the maximum points but in the end it was a well-deserved and hard-fought draw.

Sun. Oct. 14: Explosion Blue 0    VSA Heat Gold 3
The Blues had hoped to carry some momentum from the previous day’s dramatic tie into the match with the high-flying Heat. Unfortunately the Heat had other ideas, and 3 first-half goals secured the victory pretty quickly. The Blues were unable to mount much of an attack against the strong defense of the visiting team, who played with a lot of pace and skill. No doubt they are going to move up to division 4 and beyond. The loss unfortunately puts the Blues at the bottom of the division with 3 games to play, though only 2 points separate 5th place from 9th. It will be a dramatic stretch run, with every game crucial!

Sat. Oct. 13: Explosion Blue 1  TSC Thunder United 1
This looked to be a must-win game for both teams to try and move up a few places in the division standings. TSC came out the sharper side and scored on a high, tight-angle shot about midway through the first half. The goal seemed to wake up the Explosion Blue, who came out in the second half with a look of determination. The Blues controlled the second half play but were unable to get past TSC’s impressive keeper until Julia netted a dramatic equalizer in the dying minutes. In the end, neither team got the win hoped for, but a draw seemed the fair result.

Sat. Sept. 29: DC United 4   Toronto 1
No game this weekend or next, so we went to see the pros play. Great game, DC was down 1-0 at the half but roared back with 4 second half goals. The girls had a great time, it was the first pro game for many of them.

Sun. Sept 23: Explosion Blue 0  SYC Spirit 0
Funny how a field relatively close to home can be so hard to find. Eventually everyone arrived and the game got off to a fast start with both teams putting pressure on the opposition’s goal. The game was a pretty even contest; both teams moved the ball around well but couldn’t find the finishing touch in front of goal. Christina made several brave saves, diving into mad goal mouth scrambles and coming up with the ball. Tori came close to scoring near the end with a nice shot from 20 yards out, but it went just wide unfortunately. In the end, a well-deserved draw. The girls have 2 weekends off to prepare for the second half of the season, which starts back up October 13 and 14 with back-to-back games.

Sat. Sept. 15: Explosion Blue 0   SYC Hurricanes 3
Finally, a home game! We looked forward to a rematch of the final from May’s Virginian tournament, when we lost a hard-fought match 1-0. Unfotunately, things went south right from the start. Christina injured herself in a collision with an SYC player and had to leave the game. Brogan once again filled in more than capably but her presence was missed in the field. The Hurricanes looked faster to the ball and put the Explosion under a lot of pressure early on. It paid off with a goal late in the first half and then again right after the second half kickoff. The Explosion tried to rally with some nice counterattacks but couldn’t sustain the pressure on the SYC net. To make matters worse, Tess went down late with a knee injury and is on crutches for a little while! So not only did we lose the match, we lost 2 of our girls, quite a costly game indeed.

Sun. Sept 9: Hagerstown Freedom ’94  0  Explosion Blue 0
Sunday we went on the road again, all the way out to Hagerstown to take on the Freedom, who were a Div. 4 team last season, and who beat us in the Fall ’06 season opener. The Freedom pounced early and put the ball in after  5 minutes, only to have it called back for offsides. Little did they know that was to be the only ball they would put in the net all afternoon... The Freedom were clearly the better side, they have size, speed, and some strong legs. The Explosion Blue worked hard to disrupt their rhythm, and managed a few shots on the counterattack. But the Freedom dominated possession and put many shots in on goal; Brogan and Christina rose to the challenge and kept them out of the net. The final whistle was quite a relief, the girls looked quite pleased to be done with that one. Soccer can be a funny game, the best team isn’t always guaranteed a win. We’re happy with the draw, and hope to build on it next week.

Sat. Sept. 8: TSC Thunder Utd 2 Explosion Blue 1
Saturday we traveled to Western Regional Park to take on Thunder United, who finished 6-2 last season and were the runners-up in last weekend’s Patriot Cup. Despite the heat, the girls played hard throughout this very even contest. Both teams created chances on the offensive end, and Thunder went ahead near the end of the first half after a well-placed corner kick. The Explosion took the kickoff to start the 2nd half, marched down the field, and scored within the first minute. Game on! The final 34 minutes were fast and furious, both teams working well, putting passes together, and taking a lot of shots. The Thunder took advantage of a breakaway down the right side, and their winger made a nice shot to the far post to put them ahead 2-1 with 10 minutes to play. The Explosion Blue fought hard for the equalizer but couldn’t quite pull it out.

Patriot Cup Tournament, September 1-2, 2007
The girls had a decent run in the Labor Day Patriot Cup tournament, winning 2 games and losing 2 games. They are looking forward to starting their WAGS season.