Pali Blues Poised to Repeat

It’s not how you start, it’s how you finish. That has been the mantra of Pali Blues Coach Charlie Naimo ever since the season began and now, three months later, his squad is poised to win its second consecutive W-League championship.

Like they did last year, the Blues will have to travel across country for the finals and they hope for a similar result. The Blues (11-0-3) play the Washington Freedom (13-1-1) on Friday at the Maryland SoccerPlex–a game to be televised live at 4:30 p.m. Pacific time on Fox Soccer Channel.

“We’ve had great success on the road,” Blues General Manager Jason Lemire said. “We’ve gotten it done all season and we’re looking forward to doing it one more time.”

The Blues showed signs of vulnerability early in the season, tying three games while the roster was incomplete. However, Naimo didn’t panic. One by one, key players were added to the puzzle and since getting all the pieces in place the team has played at a level no opponent has been able to match.

“It took us awhile to get going at the beginning of the year, but all that matters is how you end the season,” Naimo said. “It is humbling to be around this group of girls, and I am happy to see them achieving this kind of success.”

Naimo has possessed the ‘Midas Touch’ in the W-League. Friday will be his fourth title game as a head coach and second straight since moving to the West Coast. According to Lemire, luck has nothing to do with it.

“We’ve got the best coach in the country,” Lemire said. “He prepares better than anyone and his record speaks for itself.”

Many of the Blues’ best players will miss Friday’s final, including Palisadian Ali Riley, who had to report to Stanford to begin her senior season. Naimo, though, anticipated the conflict in the college and W-League campaigns and had a contingency plan.

“We have our work cut out for us after losing some amazing players to college preseasons,” Naimo said. “But I have the utmost confidence in the group that will make this trip east.”

So the Blues will still take the field with a strong lineup, led by Mexican national team star Iris Mora, former Stanford standout Leah Tapscott, Jenny Anderson-Hammond (who started the spring with Sky Blue FC of the WPS), New Zealand national team star Kirsty Yallop, Oregon State alum Jodie Taylor and Yale teammates Adelaide Gay and Becky Brown.

In last Friday’s semifinals the Blues beat the Hudson Valley Quickstrike Lady Blues, 4-0, in Newburgh, New York. Goalie Ashlyn Harris made several key saves early before Taylor struck from 30 yards out in the 14th minute. Just before halftime, Mora scored off of a feed from Christen Press for a 2-0 lead. Mora passed to Kelley O’Hara for the Blues’ third goal early in the second half, then set up Lauren Cheney for the final tally in the 65th minute.

“We saw when they came out that they were motivated,” Mora said after the game. “We knew we had to stay composed and defend on both ends of the field. We played like a team and a unit out there, and I’m just so proud of all my teammates.”

The win extended the Blues’ unbeaten streak to 28 games over two years. Washington beat the Ottawa Fury 3-1 on penalty kicks in the second semifinal on Saturday.

The Freedom won the W-League title in 2007 and will look to avenge last year’s 2-0 semifinal loss to the Blues, who then rallied late to clip FC Indiana, 2-1, in the final at Virginia Beach.

Blues midfielder Nikki Washington, who tallied five goals and two assists in nine games, was named to the 2009 All-League squad on Monday.

Lemire has organized viewing parties at both Barney’s Beanery on Third Street Promenade in Santa Monica and Mogan’s Cafe on Palisades Drive. Fans are encouraged to wear blue and arrive early. Prize giveaways will include merchandise and an autographed Blues jersey.