Amy Vermeulen connected for the only goal of the game in the 74th minute as the Ottawa Fury Women presented the New Jersey Wildcats with an unfamiliar result - a loss. The Fury Women edged New Jersey 1-0 at Keith Harris Stadium at Carleton College in Ottawa to snap the Wildcats' 27 game regular season streak. The loss was the first regular season setback for the Wildcats since July 27, 2003 when they coincidentally fell to Ottawa 2-0 on the same field.
Ottawa also earns the best record in the regular season by virtue of goal differential with both teams finishing at 13-1. The Fury Women finished the season with 64 goals for and seven against for plus-57 and the Wildcats finished with 57 goals for and two against for plus-55. The defending W-League champion Vancouver Whitecaps Women also ended at 13-1 but with 47 goals for and four against for plus-43.
The goal was the first of the season allowed by Wildcats keeper Karina LeBlanc. The two goals allowed all season ties a W-League record for defensive prowess matching the feats of the the New York Magic in 1998 and the Chicago Cobras in 2000. In a battle of Canadian National Team goalkeepers between LeBlanc and Ottawa keeper Taryn Swiatek, the Fury netminder needed just three saves to post the shutout.
New Jersey was missing up to seven starters from the match along with a number of other players due to a variety of reasons including the US Women's National Team game against Iceland and the US U-21 National Team's participation in the Nordic Cup. The Wildcats now have two weeks off from W-League action before they host the 2005 W-League Championship on August 5th and 7th. Ottawa will host the Eastern Conference playoffs next weekend with the hopes of joining the Wildcats in the W-League semifinals.
In a mostly defensive battle, Ottawa had the better of the chances as the Wildcats sat back in their own half for much of the game. The Fury Women held an 11-3 advantage in shots in the game including a 7-2 margin in the second half.
The first half was mostly uneventful with Ottawa getting two good chances two minutes apart starting in the 24th minute. Diana Matheson led Kelly Parker into the box and she could only get a weak shot off and not long after, Vermeulen slid a shot just past the left post from 20 yards out.
The Wildcats got their best chances early in the second half. In the 51st minute, Rachel Unitt sent a long ball into the box that Kelly Hammond brought down for Kate Sands but her shot was stopped by a diving Swiatek. Four minutes later, Sands cut into the box and cut a pass across that bounced around just in front of the goal line before Ottawa could clear.
The Fury Women threatened after that and should have scored in the 56th minute. Annie Hamel took the ball along the right endline and cut a pass back to Vermeulen, who cracked a shot headed for the lower left corner. Inexplicably, Matheson was standing in an offside position right in front of the post and she blocked the ball from going in and then was called offside.
In the 60th minute, a giveaway by Unitt allowed Rhian Wilkinson to get in behind and she cut the ball back for Parker but LeBlanc was able to stuff her from close range.
Ottawa finally broke through in the 74th minute. Another Wildcats giveaway in the back allowed Parker to carry the ball in on the left and she played the ball back for Vermeulen, who ripped a shot from 15 yards out off the leg of LeBlanc and into the left side of the goal.
The final three minutes of the game saw a flurry of chances with LeBlanc stopping Parker again, Swiatek diving to stop a long range free kick from Bonnie Young, and LeBlanc tipping over a free kick from Leah Robinson.
LINEUPS:
NEW JERSEY WILDCATS: Karina LeBlanc, Beth McNamara, Rachel Unitt, Bonnie Young, Sarah Dwyer (Domenique Esposito 79), Rochelle Willis, Jen Redmond, Kelly Hammond, Kate Sands (Kristen Edmonds 78), Lisa Grubb, Kacey White (Rebecca Moros 87).
OTTAWA FURY WOMEN: Taryn Swiatek, Allison Kelly, Linda Consolante, Marie-Eve Nault, Robyn Gayle (Jenine Stangler 69), Kelly Parker, Diana Matheson, Leah Robinson, Rhian Wilkinson, Amy Vermeulen (Carmelina Moscato 79), Annie Hamel.
GOALS:
OTT: Vermeulen (Parker) 74th minute
SAVES:
NJW: LeBlanc 6; OTT: Swiatek 3
SHOTS:
NJW: 3; OTT: 11
