The second game saw
Avalanche face DeAnza Fever. Unfortunately, Avalanche would be without the
services of Kaitlin (injured) and Laura (sick). The game started off very
evenly with several attacks by both sides. However, neither team was able
to succeed in putting the ball in the net. "It was clear to me that
this was going to be a close match," said Ed. "Our defense was
holding strong, and as long as you can keep the other team from scoring,
you always have a chance to win. We should expect to see these close games
in the future. We lost possession on several misplaced passes. We're getting
used to passing with only one or two touches, but we want to be careful
and make sure that we've located the teammate we're passing to. Once you've
looked up and seen your teammate, then you can focus on the ball and passing
it to her or to a space in front of her." Irena was able to open up
the field with her speed and stretch the Fever defense. Still no score until
the 57th minute, when Katy played the ball wide to Rachel on the left side.
Rachel then passed it back to the middle to Chelsea, who received the ball
well and put it into the net. "That was a nice example of how we can
create scoring opportunities by playing it wide," said Ed. "By
putting the ball on the left wing, the defense will naturally react and
get stretched out trying to defend the ball. Then by passing it back into
the middle, our attacker should have a little more room to work with and
get more time for a good shot. Rachel had a very good game at left mid;
she had an earlier shot just go off the post." From then on, the Avalanche
defense went to work and kept DeAnza out of the net. Christy, despite playing
with an injured thumb, closed down on any shots and kept her shutout.
