YSC Reporter: Lance Pruett – DC Furies vs Berkeley All Blues Match Report & VIDEO [WPL]

View the 2011 WPL Schedule and Results here.

Match Video

2nd Half

by Lance Pruett:

DC Furies vs Berkeley All Blues

The Berkeley All-Blues made a statement in the opening weekend of WPL matches. The All-Blues, having made the transcontinental journey to Washington, DC, returned home 52-12 victors, serving notice to the rest of the Women’s Premier League that they are ready to play.

The tumultuous weather in the DC region certainly affected the match, as heavy rains the previous week forced a venue change to an artificial turf field and undoubtedly disrupted the Furies ability to prepare for the match. Although game-time temperatures were in the low 80’s, the humidity and harsh sun made the field feel much hotter than that.

The Furies came into the match hoping to use a high pressure defense to disrupt the All-Blues attack, and found much success early in the match. The Furies defensive pressure forced early mistakes and turnovers by the All-Blues, allowing the Furies to dominate possession for the early minutes of the match. It was the All-Blues who scored first, however.

All-Blues wing Kelly Griffin broke the Furies line and drove deep into Furies territory until she was driven into touch by the defense. Off the resulting line-out, the Furies clearing kick failed to find touch and the All-Blues took advantage of the counterattack with inside-center Jill Whitfield touching down and converting her own try to open the scoring in the 9th minute.

The following kick-off was knocked-on by the All-Blues, giving the Furies a right-side scrum in the attacking half. On first phase ball, a beautiful inside line by Furies center Elizabeth Noto saw her through a gap and over the try line. Furies flyhalf Jessica Shipley was unable to even the score with her conversion attempt, Furies-5, All Blues-7.

Only three minutes later a midfield scrum saw the ball take an unusual exit from the scrum. It was collected by All-Blues scrumhalf Tisha Waki, who released Ashley English on the right side. English recognized the overload and moved the ball to wing Kelly Griffin, who touched down the opening try of her hat-trick.

The Furies continued to battle for possession in the break-downs, showing relentless determination to both maintain their own possession and disrupt that of their opponents. Despite an attacking strategy designed to maintain possession, they used the wide ball to good effect and put pressure on the All-Blues defense repeatedly.

All-Blues head coach Kathy Flores stated that their intention in the first half was to attack through their powerful center tandem of Jill Whitfield and Lucy Croy. In the 30th minute the strategy paid dividends as Jill Whitfield off-loaded in contact to flanker Phoebe Boone, who in turn off-loaded back to Whitfield for the try. Whitfield again converted her own try to make the score 21-5 to the visitors.

The Furies kicked deep into All-Blues territory and were in great position to collect the ball when the All-Blues were penalized for an early tackle, only five yards from the try-line. The Furies knocked on after a quick tap, but used their defensive pressure to earn a scrum five yards from the All-Blues try line. Having won the resulting scrum, outside center Elizabeth Noto got within inches of the try line, but unable to touch-down. After a few pick & go’s, flanker Julie Hogan crashed through the defense and scored under the posts to narrow the score to 21-12.

That would be as close as the Furies would come, however, as the 2nd half was decidedly in favor of the visitors. Starting the 2nd half one player short, do a yellow card to flanker Phoebe Boone for a dangerous, “dump” tackle, the All-Blues took control of the match. Coach Flores made some strategic substitutions to create more of an outside threat, despite being short a player.

It wouldn’t take long for the changes to take effect, as a 45th minute counterattack saw wing Kelly Griffin pick up her 2nd try of the match, extending the score to 26-12 while still shorthanded.

The heat seemingly sapped the energy from the Furies defense in the second half, and the visitors from California took advantage with further tries by Phoebe Boone (‘55), Hillary Hegener (’68), and Kelly Griffin (‘80+) completing the hat-trick.

The Furies attack pressured the All-Blues numerous times, only to let them off the hook through unforced errors. Four separate drives got inside the All-Blue’s 22 meter line, but resulted in knock-ons by the Furies. In all, both teams were impressive, but the All-Blues seemed more cohesive, and consistent.

Furies
Jocelyn Richards
Lisa Glassman
Tiffany Smith
Joanna Bader
Darcy Miller
Leanna Berger
Julie Hogan
Elizabeth Hirschorn
Sara Shanley
Jessica Shipley
Elizabeth White
Katie Bell
Elizabeth Noto
Sharifa Love-Schnur
Emily Miller Glodzik
Lori Rifkin
Eva Dugoff
Brigid Beech
Danielle Dione
Brittany Martin
Valerie Winschel
Sarah Buhlman

All Blues
Georgi Ellis
Ginna Brelsford
Julia Diskin
Katie Chou
Hillary Hegener
Alexandra Boskovich
Phoebe Boone
Sonia Globerson-Lamb
Tisha Waki
Ashley English
Elaine Gardner
Jill Whitfield
Lucy Croy
Kelly Griffin
Jaymie Schunkle
Emily Peinert
Kat Augustyn
Elizabeth Ward
Kerrie Kubo
Kathryn Tsang
Leah Llach
Irene Gardner
Nathalie Marchino

Officiating Crew
Referee – Marc Nelson (National Panel)
Asst. Referees – Andy Burke (Potomac)
Bill Cook (Potomac)

View the 2011 WPL Schedule and Results here.