Oakland Soul remains undefeated and clinches a spot to the W League Western Conference playoffs with a 3-1 win over San Francisco Glens at Merritt College.
The win concludes Soul’s regular season at 9-3-0, qualifying for the playoffs for a second consecutive season. Soul us scheduled to face Western Conference No. 1 seed FC Olympia, which won all 10 of its games in the Northwest Division. Oakland has already scheduled a home match at Pioneer Stadium.
Oakland broke through in the sixth minute with Shae Murison’s first of three goals. Glens tied the match just four minutes later, but Soul’s Murison scored again in the 13th on a slick assist from Sam Tran.
Then, Shae got her hat trick in the 27th. It started with Oakland clearing a dangerous ball from in front of its own goal, sending a long ball up to Murison. She won possession when isolated high up the field, slotting in a shot by the approaching keeper.
Making it 3-1, it was good enough to hold on for the victory through the remaining 63 minutes. Glens dominated possession in the second half, but Oakland never gave way.
Here is our Player of the Match and initial takeaways.
RootsBlog Player of the Match – Shae Murison
We name Shae Murison our RootsBlog Player of the Match for bagging a first-half hat trick to help solidify a playoff spot for Soul. She was clinical in her finishing and nearly had a fourth in the second half.
She’s shined from Game 1 for Soul, proving to be nearly and every-game starter.
Initial Takeaways
- Soul hosting Olympia
Oakland’s postseason fate is already determined, they will host Olympia at Pioneer Stadium next Friday. I asked Jessica Clinton what she knew about Olympia, she pretty said not much because she focuses on one game at a time. Expect a good lineup and a Soul team that will pose Olympia’s largest challenge this season.
FC Olympia, hailing from Olympia, Washington, went a perfect 10-0-0 in its shorter Northwest Division schedule. The league doesn’t have statistics available, but their webpage shows how many games some players have appeared.
Among their most active players are Sadie Sider-Echenberg, who is a midfielder and a junior at the University of Southern Florida. Ameera Hussen is a U of Washington graduate, who plays midfield, while their eldest player is Peyton Chick–a graduate from Western Washington. Hannah Boughton is a junior midfielder for Baylor Presumably, their starting goal keeper is Kansas State junior Murphy Sheaff, who has appeared with the New Zealand National Team. Midfielder Anne-Valerie Seto is entering her senior year at Memphis, McKenna Martinez is a senior foward for Oregon State.
- Undefeated has a nice ring to it
It’s an undefeated 9-3-0 season and it’s quite the accomplishment.
Oakland had to start with Stockton Cargo, resulting in a draw, while the schedule makers did Oakland no favors scheduling Storm and Glens twice. The odds were stacked against them following that opening-day tie given SF and Cal played just once.
Clinton reflected on going undefeated and what it means.
“There’s a part of me that’s really speechless, the fact that there was so much grit, heart, and fight came from them today,” Clinton said. “It’s been there, for sure, especially with the rivalry [with Glens], I think this provides something different than what your usual summer-league offers. There’s only a handful teams across the country that fight and play for the culture, and three of them are essentially in our Nor Cal Division. It wasn’t pretty, nor did we need it to be, but I think you saw how much they wanted it. There’s a belief to what they are doing and that has me excited more than anything else.”
- Two straight W League playoff berths
Oakland Soul is 2-for-2 in qualifying for the W League’s playoffs in the Nor Cal Division.
Last year, Soul finished 10-0-2 after falling to Glens in the first round of the postseason. This time, they go into the playoffs with one less win, but the same amount of points and no losses. It’s difficult to compare to last year given both teams have gained a lot of success, but there’s an instilled culture around Soul that wasn’t as evident in 2023.
“It’s not-so-much two different teams, but two different feelings,” Clinton said. “Last year was exciting and fun and we made the playoffs. It was great; there was an expectation but we weren’t sure how we were as a club yet. This year, with the group of the returners, we didn’t want to end like we did last season. We asked what would it take for us to get there. The difference is the culture was just forming last year and if anyone, or any youth player is watching right now, it’s evident that there’s an expectation of what they need to play like.”
Starting Lineups
- Oakland Soul Starting 11
Soul comes out Shae Murison leading the attack, once again, with Miranda Nild on the left, Katie O’Kane at the CAM spot, and Sam Tran on the right–making up a potent attack. Barbieri and Henar Urteaga make up the CM spots, giving solid defense and stability in the central areas. Sydney Shepherd and Veland make up the CB spots, with Coady on the left and Robke on the right.
Timeline
GAME TIME! Can Oakland Soul stay undefeated and lock a W League playoff spot?
Shae longshot wide – 4′
Glens corner – 5′
SOUL GOAL – 6′
Longball to Shae Murison through. Bears the approaching keeper and slots into the empty net. Merritt erupts. Oakland gets the goal they need in just six minutes.
Glens corner – 8′
Glens goal – 10′
Ball in behind the defense in the box, composed finish. It’s tied once again after just four minutes.
SOUL GOAL!!! – 13′
Sam with a nice pass across the face to Shae Murison. She bags her brace! It’s a ball game folks!
Glens corner – 18′
Shae shot on target – 22′
nearly a hatty. Forces a diving save and a corner
Soul corner- 22′
Yellow Cunningham- 22′
Soul free kick – 24′
Good area on left side; about 15 yards above area. Ball in cleared.
SOUL GOAL!!!!! – 27′
SHAE MURISON HAT TRICK!!! Dangerous moment for Glens leads to a longball over the top to Shae. Beats the keeper on her approach in a 1-o-1. Fourth hat trick in Soul history!
Glens corner – 31′
Glens header wide – 32′
Glens corner – 36′
Hit crossbar then rolls out
Early sub for Glens – 37′
Glens corner – 39′
Ball through the area, Layla hops on a low cross for another corner.
Glens corner – 39′
blocked out for another corner
Glens corner – 40′
play short, leads to a slow shot to Armas.
Glens shot on target – 42′
Nild shot wide – 44′
shot from atop area. Close.
Glens corner – 45′
leads to a shot on volley going wide. Not a challenge.
Glens corner – 45+2′
out the back
First half notes:
What a performance by Shae Murison, absolutely clinical finishing. She’s been the difference. Wouldn’t be surprised to see her net a fourth.
Glens have been aggressive and are pressing forward for chances, evident by drawing a total of 10 (!) corners. Oakland beating SF over the top, I’m sure they have the lesser side of possession.
Glens free kick – 47′
Soul free kick- 49′
Glens free kick – 52′
Layla a good stop on a forward off her line – 60′
Glens hit the post! – 62′
Layla pushes away a loose ball for corner – 63′
Glens corner – 63′
play short, cleared out.
another big defensive stop on play in behind- 65′
Glens shot very wide – 70′
Soul corner – 72′
out
Soul free kick – 74′
Shae nearly a fourth – 78′
called offside
Shae off for Franks – 78′
Glens corner – 79′
claimed by Layla
Glens corner- 89′
Layla with another good approach out of net – 90′
Glens corner – 90′
Soul free kick – 90+1′
Glens longshot easily handled – 90+3′
Armas a huge save and a huge block to end it