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Sports

Season Draws to an End for Pali Blues Soccer

A scoreless tie with Santa Clarita keeps the club in third place and out of the playoffs.

"Win and we're in!"

Such was the rallying cry for the Pali Blues women's soccer team heading into Sunday night's regular season finale versus the Santa Clarita Blue Heat at Canyon High School in Canyon Country.

A victory would clinch the Western Conference title and a home game in the first round of the W-League playoffs. Anything less would leave the Blues in third place and out of the postseason because fifth-place Seattle is hosting this year's national championships and is thus awarded an automatic berth into the Final Four. 

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Despite dominating time of possession in the second half and creating many more scoring chances than the opponent, the Blues were unable to find the back of the net and saw their season end with a 0-0 tie.

"In the first half we were just feeling them out to see how they were playing us," Blues Coach Jacob Tudela said. "In the second half I think we possessed the ball extremely well. They defended us but still we had some opportunities. That's been the story of our season--not being able to finish."

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The Blue Heat entered the game with 28 points, tied with Vancouver atop the conference standings, followed by the Blues with 26. The draw wasn't exactly what Santa Clarita Coach Fabian Sandoval wanted, but it got the point his team needed to finish in first place.

"Anytime we play, we play to win," Sandoval said. "Pali threw numbers forward and put pressure on us, which is what we expected. They like to attack from behind so I told my players to contain them wide and make their center backs beat us."

Santa Clarita (8-1-5) was without its leading scorer, Portuguese striker Edite Fernandes, who pulled a hamstring in the Blue Heat's 1-0 loss at Seattle seven days earlier. 

"She's not only our best scorer, Edite's our captain and she would've made a difference tonight," Sandoval said. "I don't know if the result would've been different, but we would've had a few more opportunities."

It was a quiet night for Blues goalkeeper Anna Picarelli, as the home team managed just five shots and earned only one corner kick. Blue Heat goalkeeper Cynthia Jacobo, on the other hand, was afforded precious few moments to relax as the Blues (7-1-6) bombarded her with 25 shots.

"This was just one of those games where the best team doesn't always win," Blues captain Christie Shaner said, shaking her head. "Look at the World Cup final today, same thing. I personally think we play the best style of any team in our conference. There are three good teams and it's a shame one of us had to get knocked out." 

Mariah Nogueira drew "oohs" and "aahs" from the crowd and applause from her Pali coaches and teammates 10 minutes into the game when her bicycle kick bounced wide of the net. 

The Blues' best chance to score came early in the second half when Shawna Gordon's corner kick curved into the box, forcing Jacobo off her line to deflect the ball away. The rebound bounced right to Elizabeth Eddy in front of the goal, but her shot from seven yards was blocked at the end line by Texas-El Paso defender Madison VanDine.

As the final minutes ticked away, the Blues flooded the offensive zone in a desperate attempt to end the stalemate. Shaner even pushed up from sweeper to join the attack, rocketing a shot just wide from 25 yards out on a one-touch feed from Molly Kruger.

Moments later, Jacobo partially deflected Rachel Quon's half volley, which glanced off the far post and was cleared out of danger before any of the Blues could get a foot on the ball. A tense two minutes of injury time followed before the final whistle blew.

"We knew we needed to win, but we didn't change our strategy--we played our game and created some quality chances," Shaner said. "I like overlapping and being part of the offense. I wish I could do it more."

Blues players left the field feeling frustrated and disappointed, but not defeated.

"It's hard knowing that it's over," said Shaner, in her second season with the Blues after playing for Sky Blue FC and the Los Angeles Sol of the WPS in 2009. "We left it all on the field and even though we didn't win we can be proud of the way we played."

The Blues failed to qualify for the playoffs for the first time in their four-year history. They won back-to-back championships in 2008-09 and lost to Vancouver in the conference finals last season.

As for Santa Clarita, it hosts Vancouver next Sunday with the winner facing Seattle in the Final Four. The Blue Heat defeated the Whitecaps by 5-2 and 2-1 scores in the regular season.

"God is always good and I'm very blessed to have this opportunity," said Tudela, who succeeded Blues Vice President Charlie Naimo as head coach in February. "This is a terrific group of girls. They're good players, they play for each other and I'm excited about the future."

Click here to view the W-League final standings.

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