Pali Blues Edge Laval to Win Third W-League Title in Six Years

This year, the Pali Blues women’s soccer team would not let opportunity pass them by.

After having their championship dreams dashed by the Ottawa Fury in a shootout last season, the Blues captured their third W-League title in six years by edging the Laval Comets, 1-0, on Sunday at IMG Academy in Bradenton, Florida.

The victory came about in bizarre fashion in the 87th minute when Laval player/coach Cindy Walsh inadvertently deflected a shot off her foot into her own net for the deciding goal.

“I feel like everything kind of led to this day,” Blues head coach Charlie Naimo told the Blues’ official Web site. “There’s been a lot of adversity, and I just didn’t think they had losing in their mind this year. A lot of times you have talent on your team but you’re just not sure if they’re ready to get it done, but a lot of these kids have stayed to the end and made sacrifices.”

The game’s lone scoring play began when Wake Forest and U.S. U20 star Katie Stengel received a pass in the penalty box. Stengel got a shot off that was compromised when she was taken down by a pair of defenders and Walsh got her foot on the ball in an attempt to clear the trouble, but it trickled past Comet goaltender Genevieve Richard into the left corner of the net.

This was a fitting ending for the Blues after the way they lost last year’s championship match. Ottawa was just seconds away from defeat when it rallied to tie the score and force overtime before eventually winning the shootout, ending Pali’s undefeated season.

“I’m always going to think about ‘Why can’t we get that one second back?’ and ‘Why can’t this be our fourth championship?,’ Naimo said, “but a championship always feels great, and tomorrow I’m going to wake up and think about how we can do it again.”

In the semifinals, Pali utilized goals by midfielders Stengel, Ashley Nick and Chioma Ubogagu to edge the Washington Spirit Reserves, 3-2, in overtime. Ubogagu’s goal was the decisive one, coming in the 109th minute, when the Stanford junior took an outside feed from Nick and tucked the ball into the far side of the net from the penalty area.

Playing in 90-plus-degree heat, Pali twice took leads, only to see Washington rally. Goalkeeper Anna Picarelli, who had two saves in her championship game shutout, made nine saves in the semifinal victory. The Blues finished their season with an overall record of 11-2-2, including a 5-0-1 mark in their last six games.