Goal scorer: Giana Riley - 10’

The Storm hosted the Oakland Soul on Thursday night in what was eagerly slated to be a revenge match. The two clubs had met the previous weekend in Oakland in front of a rowdy and loyal Oakland crowd, and the Storm was handed its second loss in a row by a narrow margin. It seemed they took the lessons to heart, though, and held the Soul scoreless at home in their next USL W League match.

The game started out evenly, with the Storm putting pressure on the Soul’s goalkeeper by way of Giana Riley, the club’s leading goal scorer. She would put a shot on frame in the 8th minute and just two minutes later, would nail a shot from distance that rocketed past the goalkeeper’s hands and into the inside netting.

The rest of the first half was much quieter, with the Storm maintaining possession and winning balls quickly if dispossessed. The Soul would have only one shot on goal all half, and three shots total compared to the Storm’s ten shots.

The second half, if possible, was even quieter. For most of the half, the Storm focused on pressuring the Soul’s backline and peppering in crosses and long balls after the Soul, switching tactics, switched to a low block. Towards the middle of the second half, the Storm won a free kick in front of the box which almost resulted in a second goal, but the Soul defenders swarmed and cleared it.

After three minutes of stoppage and an aggressive push by Soul for an equalizer, the whistle blew and the Storm handed the Soul their second test and first defeat of the season.

“Incredibly proud of the team,” said Coach Jamie Levoy, about her team’s performance on Thursday. “We outshot Soul and that was the results of the efforts of our the team working so well as a unit. All 18 players played with heart and grit.”

“Thursday was a battle from start to finish,” said goalkeeper and Player of the Match Abbie Faingold. “Credit to the whole team for coming together and finding a way to beat a very talented and undefeated Oakland Soul. Everyone knew the role they needed to play in order for us to get the 3 points. For me, I just wanted to keep the game managed and allow us to keep as much momentum as we could. I think this was a pivotal moment for us because with this win we are back on track and looking to come out strong for the 2nd half of the season.”

The Storm are away today, June 10th, and will be back at home on Wednesday, June 14th at 7:00 PM when they host cross-town rivals FC Davis. To buy tickets: https://calstorm.co/42v9WEV