US Club Nationals - Day 1 Results

The lady warriors took the field this morning against the Nations #1 ranked team, Arsenal FC, as the opening day of the US Club Nationals commenced.
Sodium knew they would be in for a battle as the scouting was deadly accurate; speed and physical play will rule the day.
The hot wind blew off the Atlantic as play got underway. At the beginning you could tell Sodium might have been a little intimidated but that quickly vanished as soon as the first body check was given, the firast elbow thrown. Back & forth the battle raged. Taylor Luty would earn her keep today even though the Arsenal shots were few they were laser percise. Ground pounding action all half long as their was no real team that dominated. They were very evenly matched.
The second started off as the first has ended, very hard fought, smash-mouth play from both squads. Then, as we approached the midway mark, an arsenal forward penetrated down the right side and crossed a pass to the far post where it was walked in. Backside help has been the Achilles Heel for Sodium all year and it proved their downfall once again. Within 2 minutes Arsenal lined up a corner kick from the left side. High it flew to the net as Taylor skied but the ball was just out of reach. Again, no backside help as the Arsenal forward was standing there to walk the ball into the net.
Not to be taken lightly the lady warriors stood at mid-field, ready for battle. They pushed and pushed but were unable to break the plane. On one occasion Lexi Frey had a break-a-way, was leading into the 18-yard box when the defender tackled her from behind sending head-over-heels to the turf. No call. These ref's aren't as bad as in Washington but both the Sodium fans and the Arsenal fans had a few chuckles over todays effort. The whistle blew and the Sodium squad was handed a 2-0 defeat.

Don't hang your heads ladies, this is a great team you just played. You hung with them 65 of the 70 minutes. You played hard. Sodium needs to really focus on helping their teammates out. Backside help NEEDS to be a priority of future discussions. You'can't leave your team hanging out like that.

Up Next:

Century United FC Pittsburgh @ 9:00 AM
[Century was beat by Sunday's opponent 3-0]

Soaking in suntan lotion we yell: GO SODIUM!!