2003 Jun 15

Fort Collins Force  1 - 3  Seattle Sounders Women
Force Field, Fort Collins, CO

Goals:
25' SEA - Gamble (Bennett)
47' SEA - Bennett
65' FC - Beamer (Kehl)
77' SEA - Brownfield

Fort Collins: Lindsay Smith; Wendy Dunn (Jenna Wetzel 83'), Brianna McCarty, Karen Sandrik; Kerry Greer (Katie Jardine 68'); Jennifer Kehl, Jill Knotteck (Kelley Bond 54'), Allison McClelland, Cayla Meyer; Kristen Geyer (Jayme Beamer 42'), Tara Kidwell. Substitutes not used: Christa Howie, Katherine Leung, Diana Poovey.

Seattle: Lisa Brookens; Shannon Forslund, Dana Kimble, Nikki Gamble (Hayley McNallan 67'), Wynne McIntosh; Rachel Rodrick (Sophie Spickard 83'), Alicia Milyak, Haley VanBlommestein, Melissa Bennett; Brenda Mueller (Shelby Brownfield 59'), Janelle Munnis (Tammy Hartung 75'). Substitute not used: Meghan Miller.


Match report from the Sounders Women:

The Sounders women played the undefeated Fort Collins Force today for sole possession of first place. Seattle got on the scoreboard first with a goal in the 25th minute from Nikki Gamble, her fourth of the season. Melissa Bennett hit the crossbar twice in the first half with shots from around 25 yards out. "We had many good opportunities in the first half to put this game away, if we were a little sharper it could have been 4-0 at halftime." Said coach Dick McCormick. In the second half the Sounders struck early, this time Bennett not hitting the post but instead the back of the net. Bennett absolutely buried the shot with her left foot from about 20 yards out; it was Melissa's first goal as a Sounder. The Sounders kept up the pressure, but gave up a goal in the 65th minute. 12 minutes later substitute Shelby Brownfield did fantastic to bury a 20-yard shot that bent into the top left corner. The Sounders cruised from there to finish off the match 3-1. The Sounders now have a record of 4-2 and take on the Mile High Mustangs on Tuesday night in Denver.


And from the Force:

The first place Seattle Sounders Select Women's team came to town today to challenge the undefeated Fort Collins Force. There was a great crowd for this Father's Day game and the weather was wonderful.

The Force took the initiative early and dominated the early play but could not penetrate the very quick Seattle defense. Then at the 25th minute of the game, Seattle's Nicki Gamble broke free on the left side, took a beautiful pass from teammate Melissa Benett, and drilled it past a diving Lindsay Smith for the initial goal. The goal seemed to switch the momentum and Seattle went on to outshoot the Force 13-9 in the half. Only the great goalkieeping of Lindsay Smith and stalwart defensive work of Wendy Dunn, Briana McCarty and Karen Sandrick kept the score at 1-0 at halftime.

Some fans had not yet taken their seats in the second half when Melissa Benett sent an unassisted shot into the Force net for a 2-0 lead. The teams played evenly after that and finally Jayme Beamer was able to fire a shot into the corner of the Seattle net 20 minutes into the second half and put life into her team and hope in the minds of the fans. The coach put in some fresh legs in Kelley Bond, Katie Jardine, Diana Poovey and Jenna Wetzel but the defense of Seattle was very quick and kept breaking up the offensive schemes before they could really get started, while Lindsay Smith was making acrobatic saves in the Force goal. Then suddenly in the 77th minute of the game, Seattle's Shelby Brownfield found the back of the Force net with a shot and sealed the victory. The division no longer had an undefeated team and the Seattle Sounders secured their hold on first place all alone with 12 points.

Statistics:
       Ft Collins  Seattle
Shots:      17       22
Saves:      18       14
Corners:     1        2
Fouls:       2        3
Offsides:    1        4

Misconduct:
none

Referees: Matt Grove; Thomas Millar, Al Minatta
Attendance: