The Sounders Women took on Oregon State in a pre-season home opener tonight. The weather held, and it turned out to be a great sunny Sunday evening for soccer. The game kicked off as the drums from the Sounders fans were pounding in the background.
For the first 20 minutes the play was very back and forth and there was no real goal scoring opportunities for either side. The first goal of the game came in the 25th minute. After a few nice wall passes, Oregon State’s, Brandi Dawson, took the ball down the sideline to the corner and played the ball back to the top of the six-yard box where #5, Val Marqerum, placed it into the top of the net beautifully. In the 31st minute Sounders Women had a great opportunity resulting from crisp passing in the box, but a nicely timed tackled by the OSU defender stopped it. There were a couple more chances for the Sounders Women just before half-time, but unfortunately they were not able to capitalize on any of them. The Sounders Women trailed 1-0 at the half.
In the 2nd minute of the 2nd half, #19 for Sounders Women ripped a shot from the left side of the field, but it missed just wide of the post. 10 minutes later there was another opportunity for the Sounders Women but this time it missed just over the crossbar. At this point in the game, play started to pick up and it got a bit more physical. The match started to look less like a pre-season game and more like a heated playoff game. The Sounders fans picked up the volume as the game intensified. OSU was awarded a free kick in the 64th minute, but the keeper came out it bravely and saved it for the Sounders Women. The best chance for the Sounders women of the whole match came in the 75h minute when a gorgeous through ball was slotted in to M’ily Reiter. She got to the ball just a few yards from goal, but unfortunately so did the OSU keeper and after a hard collision the ball was deflected over to the sideline. Immediately after the almost goal, there was a flurry of opportunities for the Sounders Women. Unfortunately for them, Oregon State’s defense was solid and protected their lead. The game ended 1-0 for an Oregon State win.
Tonight’s home opener was competitive and full of exciting moments; both teams put on an excellent performance for the fans. The Sounders Women will face off with Seattle University on April 26th in their next game here at Starfire Sports.
