Written by:  Cassidy Hettesheimer | WPSL Correspondent

 

As the end of the WPSL regular season approaches, the race at the top of the Southeast Conference is heating up. From Friday, June 16, to Wednesday, June 21, six conference games shook up the standings as top-ranked teams battled for three points.

 

Georgia Impact jumps to the top of conference standings

With a home draw against the Charlotte Eagles and a second victory over in-state opponent Atlanta Fire United, Georgia Impact jumped to the top of the Southeast Conference standings. Granted, Impact have played one or two more games than the conference’s other teams, but the Impact’s recent form is promising as it has one regular-season match left to go on schedule.

On Friday, Impact’s Ines Obradaovac scored a stunning over-the-shoulder bicycle kick to help the hosts equalize 1-1 with the Charlotte Eagles — an opponent ranked top-20 in the league heading into Friday’s matchup.

Obradavoac earned WPSL South Player of the Week for her performance — plus her game winner the previous Wednesday, as Georgia Impact beat Atlanta Fire 2-1 in the teams’ first matchup.

The Impact made lightning strike twice as it earned another win over AFU one week later, with a 3-1 win behind a brace from Farah Tayeh (Marshall) and a goal from Brooke Shank (Georgia State).

 

Charlotte Eagles beat in-town rival to remain undefeated

Both WPSL teams based out of Charlotte, N.C. were undefeated heading into Wednesday’s first matchup between the two sides. The hosting Charlotte Eagles walked away with all three points in a 2-0 win.

The Eagles earned another shutout on the season while only giving up two goals this summer — a Southeast Conference best. Only two teams have given up fewer in the entire WPSL.

“Against WFCC’s diamond midfield, our unsung heroes were our midfielders. They received no glory on the scoresheet but were the backbone of our defense,” Sam Hope, Charlotte Eagles head coach, said. “Alex Jennings had one of her best games all season because of her ability to work defensively and ability to keep the ball for us and value possession.”
 

Four different players were involved with Wednesday’s goals as Chloe Marr (Liberty), assisted by Maddy Rhodes (Florida), and Laura Žemberyova (Alabama-Birmingham), assisted by Ashley Barron (Cincinnati), scored in the Eagles’ win.

“We have faced a lot of adversity lately with injuries and sickness,” Hope said. “We have talked about how individual effort will not be enough for us. We have to trust one another and play together as a team in order to find results.”

The teams will rematch on Wednesday, July 5, only 30 minutes away at WFCC’s home stadium. It’ll be a game to watch— with potential playoff implications on the line.

 

865 Alliance hits its stride

After a busy stretch of playing five games in eight days, going 2W-1L-2D, 865 Alliance had a few days to breathe and regroup ahead of traveling from Knoxville to face Chattanooga FC.

With a direct style of play and early goal-scoring opportunities, 865 Alliance jumped out to a 2-0 lead by the seventh minute and maintained control the remainder of the match to beat Chattanooga FC 3-1.

“We got a little bit tired [from the busy schedule]... but we had the same players coming to the games, so we were able to apply principles and use the same terminology with the same players, so it definitely helped us there,” Allan Schoenfeld, 865 Alliance assistant coach, said.

Alivia Stott, Maddie Padelski and Allison Hansford (Liberty) scored for 865 Alliance, while Summer Hernandez got Chattanooga FC on the board in the second half. It’s a tight race on the conference scoring leaderboard; after Stott and Nashville’s Yuki Watari both lead the conference with six goals. After them, Impact’s Tayeh and Chattanooga’s Krysan St. Louis both have five goals scored this season.

The teams tied 2-2 earlier this season and Schoenfeld said the team found more success playing a bit more direct against the Chattanooga side and also shouted out defensive midfielder Lexi Bearden for her performance.

““I really liked her [Bearden] work rate,” Schoenfeld said. “I think she disrupted a lot of plays tonight, did a lot of great things for us.”

 

Nashville snags biggest win of the week

All of this week’s games were decided by two goals or less with the exception of Nashville Rhythm FC’s 4-0 win while hosting Atlanta Fire United. With the win, Nashville moves into second in the conference and only one point behind Georgia Impact with two games in hand.

Yuki Watari (Tennessee Martin) scored a brace for the Rhythm while Raegan Kelly (Vanderbilt) and Keilani McNabb also found the back of the net. This win was Nashville’s biggest margin of victory this season.

“We did great,” Watari said. “We had a lot of chances, but we couldn’t finish because they [Atlanta Fire] had a lot of people in front of the goal, so we were struggling to find goals. We finally figured out, that we could take a shot from distance. We don’t need to do too much— Sometimes we do too much because we are having fun with the ball.”

 

Atlanta United FC grabs first points

On Sunday, Atlanta Fire United traveled to FC Birmingham and earned its first points in team history. The expansion side won 1-0 behind a goal from Gracie Tyrrell (North Alabama) and recorded its first shutout of the season.

“We have been very close to more wins,” Domenic Martelli, Atlanta Fire United head coach, said. “We have outplayed several of the opponents this season but just couldn't pull off the wins… We had very good performances from Amanda Dewey, Mackenzie Cherry and Canby Biddle.  Our goalkeeper Sam Thompson made two very important saves to preserve the win.”