Oakland Soul provided a great Mother’s Day gift for all its fans, obliterating Olympic Club 7-nil in the club’s home opener at Merritt College. It was a strong response to the previous 0-0 draw with Stockton Cargo with two goals by Shaelan Murison and individual scores by Sam Tran, Arianna Veland, Manaka Hayashi, Jordan Geis, and Sydney Shepherd.
In their later power rankings, the W League moved Soul all the way up to third behind Greenville Liberty SC of South Carolina and Tennessee SC.
Seven goals marked an organization record, topping the previous 6-1 win over Olympic Club and the five goals they accomplished twice last year in a 5-2 win over Cargo and 5-0 over Pleasanton RAGE. Roots, meanwhile, have never scored more than four goals in a single game going all the way back to its inception in NISA.
Soul cranked out 20 shots with 10 on target, to go along with five corners, including 14 shot attempts in the first half alone. They dominated possession, rarely allowing Olympic Club out of its own half. Olympic Club finished with just two shot attempts.
Murison’s brace came on her first start in an Oakland uniform after entering as a substitute in Stockton. She slotted into the strike role in Soul’s 4-2-3-1, allowing Tran to move out to the left side and Miranda Nild on the right while Hayashi made her season debut in the Central Attacking Midfield role.
Murison’s first goal came when Nild won the ball off of a fallen Olympic Club defender, playing a forward pass to Shaelan running free. OC’s goal keeper came far off of her line to around the top of the area, allowing Murison to land a perfectly executed chip in the 12th minute. Oakland’s next goal came in the 23rd when Tran but away a shot with OC’s keeper, again, way off her line. After receiving a long ball from Hayashi, Sam took a couple of touches before sending in a right-footed shot.
Arianna Veland then scored Oakland’s third goal in the 28th on some terrific interplay with Nild. In the buildup, Veland sent a pass up to Miranda, who took a few dribbles before Arianna made a run in behind Olympic Club’s defense. With OC ball-watching, Nild sent a perfect pass to Veland for the right-foot goal.
Murison then struck again in the 34th, launching in a rocket from around 25 yards, making it 4-0 at the half. Oakland’s next goal was another product of terrific work by Nild, working herself free of a defender down by the end line before centering a pass to Hayashi for the first-touch goal.
Jordan Geis scored Oakland’s sixth goal in the 79th, this time after Katie O’Kane shook away a defender before sending a pass between two defenders. Geis took a couple of touches around OC’s keeper before scoring into the empty net with her left foot. It’s worth mentioning that O’Kane is a starter at the University of Utah.
Soul’s final goal in the 87th came from a corner, where Lauren Frohan lofted a perfect cross from the left flag to Sydney Shepherd a couple of feet above the 6-yard box for the header goal. Shepherd was the target of multiple corners, this time landing on the looping header above the outstretched arm of Olympic Club’s keeper.
Here are our talking points coming out of Sunday.
RootsBlog Player of the Match – Shaelan Murison
It only seemed right to give Shaelan Murison our RootsBlog Player of the Match award for her brace in the first half to create a 4-nil lead before making way for Jordan Geis at the start of the second half.
Murison was on the subs list against Stockton, but made an instant impact after entering the game. Coach Jessica Clinton seemed to have recognized that, giving her the start on Sunday against Olympic Club.
Murison graduated from UC Santa Barbara in 2020 after being on the Gauchos soccer team for all four year of her collegiate career. She was a two-year starter over her final two seasons, finishing her time at UCSB with 75 appearances and 50 starts, scoring 34 goals and 16 assists.
Miranda Nild magnificence
We nearly gave Nild the Player of the Match award for dancing all over Olympic Club’s defense on her way to a pair of assists. Miranda can line up in any position for Soul, previously appearing in the CF spot but rotating out to a winger role in Sunday’s game. It seemed to pay dividends on multiple occasions.
On Veland’s goal, Nild received the ball centrally and won the ball away from a defender with ease. After circling around with a few dribbles, Miranda soaked up all of the attention, allowing Arianna to make the run in behind. Nild sent through a soft pass with the perfect amount of speed to lay up for Veland.
Her second assist was even more impressive. On the assist to Hayashi, Nild shoved away a defender while isolated on the left wing and then worked around the same defender with her terrific footwork before uncorking a laser to Manaka in the box.
Nild continues to show she’s one of the most exciting players in the W League.
Two games in three days
Soul entered a two week break following its win over Olympic Club, but look ahead to a busy stretch where they will play three matches over a week span. Oakland will have one day of rest between Thursday, May 23 hosting Marin Siren and traveling to Cal Storm in Davis on Saturday, May 25, followed by hosting Pleasanton RAGE five days later on May 30 back at Merritt.
It will be interesting to see how the roster continues to develop over the break given many college-age players are finishing up their final days of the spring semester. Oakland seems likely to rest its premier players against Marin to prioritize Cal Storm, making the Thursday game a good time to gel new arrivals into the mix.
Oakland defeated Marin Siren 2-1 in its only meeting last year.