The old saying goes “If you can’t beat ’em, join ’em.”
Back in November the Pali Blues Soccer Club merged with the Los Angeles Strikers to form the LA Blues and on Sunday the “super team” loaded with collegiate stars and U.S. national team players completed an unbeaten season with a 6-1 rout of the Washington Spirit Reserves in Bradenton, Florida.
The two teams fought for Southland supremacy for three years, but the rivalry is now a distant memory and manager Charlie Naimo couldn’t be happier. He called his latest assemblage of talent “one of the best teams he has ever coached” and it’s easy to see why. Blues owners Ali and Maryam Mansouri, longtime Palisades residents, also finance the LA Blues’ men’s team and now they have an equally viable women’s squad that could be on the verge of a dynasty.
After winning the Western Conference, the Blues outscored their semifinal and finals opponents 10-1. Playing home games at Palisades High‘s Stadium by the Sea in front of robust fans known as “The Tony Danza Army,” the Pali Blues won W-League titles in their first two seasons (2008-09), reached the finals in 2012 and regained the crown last year. The new club is being dubbed “Southern California’s premier women’s soccer team” and after its latest triumph, who can argue?
Among the Blues players is defender Shanna Hudson, who earned first team All-City Section honors her junior year at Pali High and went on to play at USC and for the Haiti national team.
Here’s a link to some of the milestone moments in LA Blues history.
— Steve Galluzzo
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