Chinese Weather Pali Blues’ Storm

Women’s Soccer Team Ties Beijing 1-1 In Rainy Debut at Stadium by the Sea

The conditions were not exactly ideal, but the Pali Blues soccer team made the best of them in its first-ever game at Palisades High’s newly-renovated Stadium by the Sea. On a cold and rainy night, the squad served notice that the future will be sunny and bright by dominating Beijing for much of Friday’s exhibition game before settling for a 1-1 tie. “I could not be happier with our group after drawing with one of the top two teams in China,” Blues Coach Charlie Naimo said. “We knew that playing a game this early in the year was going to be challenging. The girls really did a fantastic job.” In the tradition of friendly international matches the two teams lined up at midfield for introductions and the national anthems before the opening kickoff. Once the game started, the Blues did their best impression of keep away, using pinpoint passing and deft dribbling to limit the amount of touches their talented opponents got. Using primarily a 4-4-2 formation (four defenders, four midfielders and two forwards), the Blues faced a strong wind in the first half but nearly took the lead late when Kasey Moore (University of Texas and United States U-20 national team member in 2006) fed Cal State Fullerton’s Brianna Buffington on a breakaway. “As the second half started, we tweaked our philosophy a tad by adding high pressure all over,” Naimo said. ‘Statistically, we had 19 corner [kicks] to their 0. But as the game of soccer goes you have to finish more than one no matter how much you dominate.” With the wind now at their backs, the Blues were determined to attack more over the last 45 minutes. Fittingly it was team captain Kendall Fletcher, the first player to sign with the Blues, who scored the Pacific Palisades team’s first goal. The former University of North Carolina standout and FIFA World Youth champion gave the Blues a 1-0 advantage on a set piece at about the 65th minute and it appeared the narrow lead would hold up until Beijing netted the equalizer on a counterattack in the 78th minute. The Blues pressed for the go-ahead goal in the final 10 minutes but were unable to score. All in all, Naimo was encouraged by the result and believes the best is yet to come. “I have this vision of seeing people walk over to PaliHi on game day just like they do in Europe,” he said. “The community will count the minutes between games.” The Blues’ starting lineup consisted of goalkeeper Karen Bardsley; fullbacks Fletcher, Kara Kabellis, Janessa Currier and Jill Oakes; halfbacks Kacey White, Rosie Tantillo, Brittany Klein and Leah Tapscott; and forwards Ouying Zhang and Kandace Wilson. Naimo named Buffington, Moore, Kikki Bosio and Cammie Levine as key contributors off the bench.