OTTAWA FURY WOMEN WIN TWICE, CLINCH CONFERENCE
If you catch Dominic Oliveri in a talkative mood, he will confess that this year’s Ottawa Fury W-League team is special. This weekend proved that fact.
The Fury Women defeated Laval 3-0 on Saturday on the back of two Teresa Rynier goals in the opening 10 minutes and a clinching third from Kayla Adamek 10 minutes from time. That gave it the W-League Central Conference league title with two games to go. Twentyfour hours later the side eased past Quebec 1-0 on a goal from Taylor Townsend. And you can be certain that next weekend this highly competitive team will be pumped to punish visiting Toronto for having the audacity to take the only point Fury women have conceded during the league season.
A win at Algonquin on Saturday will leave the Fury with 11 wins and a draw and home field advantage against the winner of a second versus third playoff game as it bids for a final four place against the three other conference winners from across North America. This side certainly ranks with the very best in Fury history, says Oliveri.
“Player for player this is the strongest squad we have had in years,” he says. The group is littered with players who have represented their countries at various levels. Understandably, thoughts go back to Fury teams with leading Canadian internationals in their ranks, players like Diana Matheson, Rhian Wilkinson and Robyn Gayle.
“From this group in the future, we will hear a lot about players representing their countries,” Oliveri says. “They have that much potential.”
That is something to be proud of, but what bothers Oliveri is that not enough people in Ottawa show up to watch the stars of the future. He believes there is insuf- ficient recognition of the Fury women’s program and its professional attitude to the game.
“We have had players who came back from overseas saying this is best place they have ever played. For me, the soccer community should come and watch these kids in Ottawa rather than waiting to watch them on TV two or three years from now.”
Top of the most likely list has to be Arin Gilliland. The University of Kentucky standout is a member of the U.S. U-23 squad as a fullback. But she has been an effective striker with the Fury. She fits well with the fast Fury attack and carries ball skills and game-reading skills that make her a constant threat. Sunday against Quebec, playing as a right back, she forced a goal-line save after firing with an outside of the foot far-post volley following a corner. After 31 minutes she popped up on the left wing in an overlap and provided the cross that resulted in Taylor Townsend sliding home the game winner.
Ten minutes later she raced down the right touchline, beating three players in the process, and forced a diving save with a stinging right-foot drive. And, in the final minute of the game and with Quebec pressing for an equalizer, there she was to block a scrambling shot on the goal-line that would have tied the game.
The Sunday game may not have been considered actionpacked, but it served to highlight an all-action showing that is not unusual for Gilliland. For those still doubting her potential as an international soccer star, she was in Los Angeles last Monday to receive the 2014 Honda Inspiration Award at the U.S. Collegiate Women Sports Awards. Past winners of this award? How about four of the biggest names in U.S. soccer — Mia Hamm, Abby Wambach, Alex Morgan and Brandi Chastain. That’s good company to keep and prompts me to suggest we are only beginning to recognize the name Gilliland.