Oakland Soul is on the ascent, moving into second place of the USL W League Nor Cal Division following its 3-2 victory over San Francisco Glens on Sunday, June 2 while playing at Skyline College in San Bruno. It came after a stretch of beating Pleasanton RAGE 3-2 at Merritt College on May 30, tying Cal Storm 1-1 in Davis on May 25, and a 3-1 win over Marin Siren FC at Merritt on May 23.
The victory over Glens continues Soul’s undefeated record at 4-2-0, carrying a Points Per Match average of 2.33. They are behind Cal Storm’s 2.60 through five matches, but gives them an advantage going into its second match with San Francisco, which improved its PPM to 2.40 after its recent win.
It marked Soul’s first victory in San Bruno in its third try, evening up the all-time series between the two at 2-0-2. Soul has a chance to pull ahead in the regular-season finale on June 30.
Soul are going into Saturday’s double-header opener against Academica with a full head of steam and will need to keep the wins rolling in to secure a playoff spot.
Here are our talking points going into tomorrow’s match.
Strong response to early-game struggles
Their win over Glens featured a much stronger start than against Pleasanton, Marin, and Cal Storm. Versus SF, Soul got out to a 2-0 lead through the first 20 minutes with goals by Henar Urteaga in the ninth minute and Shae Murison in the 17th. Urteaga then added one more before halftime to make it 3-1 while Glens added its second goal in the 90th minute.
It was a great response to the previous three matches, where Soul trailed after a slow opening 45 minutes in each of them. They conceded early against Pleasanton in the 14th, dropped a goal in 15 seconds against Cal Storm, and fell behind in the 40th against Marin.
“We’re not really happy with the early goals, but today felt different than Marin. Cal Storm is a different category, but the energy today was very different. So, the goal against; it was the run of play and our mistake. We still have some filtration things that we need to work through and we put a lot on players to pick up our game-model and playing style really quickly. We’re asking them to do a lot in a system they aren’t used to, those growing pains are going to happen,” Clinton said following the win over Pleasanton.
In the three matches prior to San Francisco, Oakland showed increase intensity immediately after conceding. Soul didn’t break through until the second half against Pleasanton and Marin, but they dominated play against both teams. They reeled off 14 shots against Pleasanton with eight coming in the second half, while they cranked out 24 shots versus Marin including 16 after conceding.
Against Cal Storm, a giveaway in the back allowed the go-ahead in the very first minute, but Oakland responded in the 26th when Sam Tran scored after the midfield forced a turnover, turning up the Murison before sending a pass to Tran.
“I think some of our players have to basically get on the roller-coaster and just stay going up. They go up-and-down for 90 minutes and that becomes difficult from an intensity standpoint. We have to remember that players come from college systems where they can play 15 minutes and get subbed off, so its way different. To control the tempo of the game is hard to do, but what I love about the W League is that they have to learn how to manage it,” Clinton said.
It’s unfortunate the match against Glens wasn’t streams because it was likely Oakland’s best performance all season. We’re assured to get them again and Soul must get a win to assure itself a spot in the postseason. More on that below.
Nor Cal Division
Now passing the mid-way mark of the 12-game regular season, Oakland sits in third-place of the Nor Cal Division despite its recent win and will likely need to win-out the rest of the schedule to secure one of the two playoff spots available for the division.
The schedule for Soul is seriously tilted against them with remaining games against Storm on June 13, a stronger Pleasanton side on June 20, and Glens on June 30. For Storm and Glens, however, they face each other just once on June 23, meaning Oakland cannot bank on Storm or SF taking an extra loss or tie in a second meeting.
Why, you ask? Well, that’s only something someone at the league-office could answer.
If you’re Glens or Storm, it’s an obvious answer to play each other just once. It limits the travel expenses for two of the W League’s youth development clubs and nearly assure itself a playoff spot if they handle business. Assuming the league set up and approved the schedule, its all fair-game.
Sunday’s game against Glens not having an available stream was a testament to the current level of the W League. It’s a pre-professional amateur league, first and foremost, albeit a very high-talent level one for the top-end of clubs like Soul, Glens, and Storm. Teams like Storm and Glens aren’t obligated to do any favors and make extra expenses that aren’t required of them.
It’s a reminder that the light will be shining brighter on Oakland Soul in the Super League soon and the W League is temporary. Assuming all goes as planned, the Coliseum is on the horizon and Soul will be a fully professional Division 1 club.
Henar Urteaga heroics
Henar Urteaga keeps showing why she’s the leader of the team. She bagged a brace against San Francisco and dominated the game against Marin Siren FC after entering at halftime. We named her our RootsBlog Player of the Match against Marin and likely would’ve gave her the award versus SF.
She came in against Marin in a pinch after entering the game in a 1-nil deficit. Clinton wanted to save her for the following game against Cal Storm, but the situation called for the captain.
“There’s a point to saving some of the players for when we play back-to-back games, but it got to a point where we were chasing a game that we didn’t want to be chasing any more. We know what some of our players bring,” Clinton said following the win over Marin.
She scored the tying goal after entering against Marin, slamming home a header in the 49th minute. In her defensive midfielder spot, Henar and Soul’s defense dominated the second half, allowing just one shot.
Jordan Geis against Pleasanton
As Clinton called the win over Pleasanton, it was “The Jordan Geis Show.” She scored a goal, two assists and was consistently sending dangerous passes across the face of goal after beating her opponent down the left side for all 90 minutes.
It’s worth mentioning that high school soccer at the club and interscholastic level plays its games with unlimited substitutions, meaning Jordan is proving she’s ready for the next level.
“Just get the ball to Jordan,” Clinton said of Geis. “We know what she gives, the fact we pushed Jordan for 90 minutes is pretty amazing, she’s still in her club season. We know not a lot of people can keep up with her, so we’re going to exploit that as much as we can.”
It marked her first start of the season for the recent high school graduate from Archbishop Mitty. If FotMob was tracking stats, she likely would’ve finished with around eight chances created.
Her goal in the 53rd minute came from around the top of the penalty area on the left side, arcing in a shot to the far post. She contributed to the second goal in the 62nd when whipping a pass to Ceci Gee right in front of the net, then assisted the third goal in the 77th when sending a pass to Madison Samillo. She also forced a diving save in the 65th.