View from the Pali, Volume 18: Blues Close out a Solid Homestand

Jacob Tudela's Pali Blues closed out a solid homestand in the regular season of the 2011 W-League with three victories and three draws to show for their efforts.

On Thursday, the Blues defeated the Colorado Force 2-0 at the Stadium by the Sea on the campus of Pacific Palisades High School in Los Angeles, California.

“We played our style, we possessed the ball and we dictated the match for 90 minutes,” Tudela told reporters following the match. “We didn’t let the Force take us out of our element until maybe the last 15 minutes.

"Our defenders responded really well from the away trip where we conceded goals. The awesome stat is that we didn’t allow a shot on target and only allowed two off target. It was a good three points, and a well-deserved win for the girls.”

Christie Shaner opened the scoring thanks to a delivery from Shawna Gordon in the 33rd minute.

“Shawna played a great ball in. There was someone in front of me and I called them off. I made contact with the ball and shot on target. Shooting on target is half the battle and thankfully it went in,” Shaner said on her goal.

Gordon also got on the scoresheet with the second of the match in the 52nd minute of play.

On Saturday, the Blues ended their homestand with a 1-1 draw with the Colorado Rush. After the Rush's Lindsey Horan scored in the 62nd minute, Pali's Molly Kruger equalized in the 64th minute of play.

“I was really confident going into it. Once the whistle blew, I knew that I was the one to take it, and I don’t always have that confidence so it was really exciting," Kruger said on her goal.

Despite the result, Tudela was not pleased with the effort by his team.

“If you look at it statistically, I think we were unfortunate,” said Tudela. “We still have to be much more creative in the final third. We possessed the ball extremely well, but we’re still not creating enough.”

“Obviously we felt we had to get the win especially with it being our last game at home,” Shaner added. “It’s a little bit of a disappointment that we didn’t get the win, but we fought hard and it’s been the story of our season; some ups and a few downs.”

The Blues will look to get back on track when they take on the Los Angeles Strikers at Pasadena City College on Saturday, July 9. Kickoff is scheduled for 7:00 p.m. PT/10:00 p.m. ET.