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When it Rains it pours, 4-0 over Fraser Valley After opening up the season with two losses, the Portland Rain finally broke though in a big way with a 4-0 win over Fraser Valley Action in a match played at Rob Strasser Field at Delta Park on Saturday. Meghan Neumann. Jamie Blakesley, Mary Cascio, and Tami Perkins all scored for the Rain, while Angela Harrison and Kim Parker combined for the shutout in goal. The first scoring opportunity of the match would be for visiting Fraser Valley in the 10th minute. Krysta Kons had a good look at net from 25 yards out, but hit her shot a few yards wide left. A few minutes later, the visitors had another good chance when Ashlee Davidson's through pass had Katie Johnson breaking in alone, but the pass was a bit too far ahead, and was collected by the Rain goalkeeper. In the 23rd minute, Portland had their first good opportunity, but Noelle Miller's shot from 20 yards out was right at the Fraser Valley goalkeeper. But two minutes later, the Rain took the early lead when Meghan Neumann's diagonal run towards the corner of the box brought the Fraser Valley goalkeeper out to cut off the angle, and Neumann chipped the goalkeeper from 30 yards out to give the Rain an early 1-0 lead. Fourteen minutes later, the Rain's next good scoring opportunity also produced a goal, when a pass from Miller found Jamie Blakesley open at the top of the box, and she hit the upper right corner of the net perfectly with her shot from 18 yards out, and the Rain had a 2-0 lead, which is where the score stood at halftime. Two minutes later, the Rain got their third goal of the match quite by surprise. Portland's Mary Cascio hit a curving shot from the top of the box that seemed to fool the Fraser Valley keeper, and when it hit the ground about five yards in front of her, in ended up bouncing behind her an into the net, and suddenly the Rain had widened their lead to 3-0. Over the next twenty minutes, both teams had a few chances where through balls from midfield nearly sprung a forward into a one-on-one attack, but in all instances, the goalkeeper for each respective team was able to cover the ball at the top of the box, or come out to clear the ball before the attacker could reach it. In the 67th minute, Portland's Melissa Parker managed to get to a free ball when the Fraser Valley goalkeeper was unable to control the ball in her own box, but her attempt to chip the keeper was knocked over the endline. In the 69th minute, the home side put the finishing touch on the win when Tami Perkins hit a shot towards goal from 15 yards out as she charged into the box. The shot was saved by the Fraser Valley keeper, but it rebounded back to the Portland striker and ricocheted in off Perkins' leg and into the net to put the Rain up 4-0. Fraser Valley did threaten a few times in the last twenty minutes, with a through ball from Kay Costilow to Johnson only being lost by a bad first touch as she entered the box, and Julie Lufty's shot from 15 yards out in the 87th minute was just wide left. But in the end, the Fraser Valley side was never able to break through against the Rain defense, and the Rain emerge with their first win of the 2003 season, a convincing 4-0 victory. |
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