Posted (07/30/2010) -
Santa Clarita, CA – New city, same script for the Buffalo Flash at the 2010 USL W-League Semifinal in Santa Clarita, California Thursday night. Buffalo downed the Atlanta Silverbacks, 3-1, on the strength of their dynamic duo: USL Scoring Champ Kelly Parker and USL Assist Leader Veronica Bouquete. The win moves the Flash into Saturday night's title game at the 2010 USL W-League Championship presented by Umbro.
Entering the match the Flash and Silverbacks were on impressive runs. The Flash were undefeated and looking to continue that trend. The Silverbacks also came off an impressive season, emerging from the talented Atlantic Division. The two sides began the match sharing possession and trading forays into each other's halves. Buffalo began to gain the edge as the first half wore on, with Parker pulling the strings for the Buffalo offense.
Parker and her teammates played a number of quality through balls only to be foiled by the Atlanta defense or the offside flag. Atlanta waited for their chance at possession and launched several counter-attacks early, only to be held off by the Buffalo defense.
The Flash were the first side to break through in the 23rd minute when Buffalo played in a dangerous corner to Jenny Jeffers' head, forcing keeper Michelle Betos into a tough save. Betos could only parry away the header though and it spilled to Bouquete, who slammed it off the crossbar only to land at Jenny Hammond’s feet, who finished it for a 1-0 lead.
Looking to jump-start its offense, Atlanta made an immediate substitution, bringing in Kay Harbrueger. The Silverbacks withstood the continued Buffalo pressure and leveled the match in the 36th minute. Atlanta won a free kick from 45-yards out and Bailey Powell played a dangerous ball into the box. The Atlanta forwards came hard into the box and sensing the pressure the Flash keeper came out to claim the ball, but the ball took a hard bounce off the turf and glided over Pamela Tajonar’s outstretched hands to tie the match, 1-1.
The second half kicked off with Buffalo continuing to dominate the possession and making dangerous runs into the Atlanta box. The Flash midfield was constantly springing the Silverbacks offside trap to threaten the Atlanta keeper, forcing Betos into several point-blank saves in the second half.
The Buffalo attack finally proved to be too much in the 53rd minute when Bouquete split the Atlanta backline with a through ball at midfield which Parker latched onto and finished for a 2-1 lead.
The Flash benefitted from the same Bouquete-to-Parker combo in the 81st minute, as Bouquete sped down the by byline, shouldered off a defender and cut the ball back to Parker who iced the match.
“Kelly has been phenomenal,” Buffalo Head Coach Aaran Lines said after the match. “She is a fantastic asset to the team.”
Buffalo quickly turned its attention to the next task at hand after the match, winning the W-League Championship.
“There is a lot of quality, talented teams [here],” Parker said after the match. But, Parker said, the Flash “are confident going into the final.”
Buffalo will put that confidence on display Saturday afternoon at 7 PM PST on Fox Soccer Channel.