Powell puts FURY back on Winning Track

Shay Powell (pictured left) netted the first three FURY (3-1-0) goals while, Co-Captain, Jennifer Hance added the fourth in a 4-0 victory over the Vermony Voltage (0-8-0) in a continuous downpour at the Algonquin Soccer Complex Wednesday night.
The first 15 minutes saw both teams battling for control in the middle field in the wet conditions, but Shay Powell, as she has done so often this season, changed the shape of the game with a goal in the 17th minute converting on an excellent through ball from Adrienne Ruhe-Lischke. To no surprise the extremely wet conditions played a factor and to Powell's luck in the 28th minute her shot from 18-yards out was only half stopped by Voltage keeper Catherine Cadieux and Powell had her second goal of the half. Just before half Vermont striker Akamse Nadage was involved in a colllision at midfield suffering a leg injury which required outside medical attention. After a considerable delay the half was completed and the FURY took a 2-0 lead into the dressing room.

On the restart the FURY took to the Voltage quickly and Shay Powell netted the hat-trick in style roofing an Adrienne Ruhe-Lischke cross. With a commanding lead it allowed FURY coach Craig Smith to ensure his substitutes saw action. Smith inserted U23 England International Jodie Taylor seeing her first action with the FURY this season upon the completion of her studies at Oregon State. Taylor made an immediate impact and in the 60th minute Taylor made the best of Zoe Avner cross with a clever reverse pass to Jennifer Hance who pound a shot into the top-right from 8-yards out putting the final touches on a convincing FURY victory. The Voltage put together two late chances, but FURY keeper Erin Reinke ensured the clean sheet in her first action of the season. The FURY outshot Vermont by an 11-2 count.

The FURY travel to Rochester on Saturday and head to Toronto on Sunday for a rematch against the undefeated and division leading Lynx as the FURY look to redress last weekend's 2-1 loss. The FURY are on the road for the next three weeks before returning home July 6th versus the Hamilton Avalanche.

FURY Strike Down Voltage

The Ottawa FURY (2-2-0) picked up their second consecutive home victory in four days to improve their record to 2-2-0 with a convincing 5-2 victory over the Vermont Voltage (2-5-1). The FURY had contributions from five different goals scorers in an a relentless attack that Vermont had great difficulty containing. Will Beaugé (goal pictured left) scored the fifth and final FURY goal in a dominating second half of play.

For the second consecutive game it was Paul Kihara that put the FURY on the score sheet first as he capitalized on some strong defensive pressure forcing a turnover inside the box and he calmly beat a helpless John Stubbins for the games first goal (8th minute). Minutes later after continued pressure FURY Captain Jamie Ramm powerfully headed an Andrew Rigby corner giving the FURY a 2-0 lead after only 14 minutes. The Voltage would cut the deficit in half at the 31 minute mark as Bosco Cupar converted on a free kick bending it around the wall with FURY keeper Eric Lefebvre having little chance. Just before half Andrew Rigby, who played a very strong game in the FURY midfield, and a goal-bound shot stopped by a Voltage defender's hand which ultimately led to both a red card for the defender and a FURY penalty kick. Ladi Bushiri, who was clutch all game in the defensive end, calmly fired the ball into the top left corner restoring the 2 goal FURY lead. To the FURY's surprise the reduced Voltage squad continued to press in injury time and were awarded with a late goal from Darko Kolic giving the Voltage some added life heading into the dressing room.

Through the second half it became quite visible that the FURY were playing against a 10-man squad as they made every opportunity to exploit the missing Voltage player in all areas of the field. Florian DeCamps converted in the 56 minute of a mishandled Andrew Rigby cross making it 4-2. Eight minutes later FURY substitute Tiago Dalboni was fouled outside the box after a strong run down the left side. Andrew Rigby curled the ball into the box where Will Beaugé, who was very visible up front all game for the FURY, convert on his first goal of the season. The fifth and final goal removed all energy from the Voltage and the FURY took complete control for the remainder of the half. The physical intensity heightened as the half wore on predominantly due to some frustration on behalf of some Voltage veterans, but cooler heads prevailed and the FURY improved the record to 2-2-0 while the Voltage fell to 2-5-1.

The FURY travel to Rhode Island and Cape Cod this weekend in two marquee matches against a struggling club in Rhode Island and the division leaders in Cape Cod. The FURY next play at home July 28th & 29th where they entertain Long Island (Sat. June 28 @ 6pm) and Rhode Island (Sun. June 29 @ 3pm). Both games take place at the Algonquin Soccer Complex - Tickets are available online at www.ottawafury.com or by calling 613.235.3879.

FURY Undefeated Streak Ends on Stormy Day in Ottawa

The Ottawa FURY (now 2-1-0) W-League squad who entered Sunday's game against the Toronto Lady Lynx (now 6-0-1) with an impressive 21-regular season game undefeated streak fell prey to the Lynx in a game that was delay over two hours on a very stormy day in Ottawa.

In the 18th minute, the Lynx counter-attacked after the FURY lost possession. The strong Lynx striker Brittany Bisnott held off the FURY defence and blazed a strong swerving shot past FURY keeper Diaz into the top of the net. The FURY equalized in the 33rd minute after a throw-in near half led to Rachael Axon springing Sarah Sample deep on the right side of the box. With the keeper closing in she smartly cut the ball back to the edge of the six yard box where Shay Powell scored from close range. The goal seemed to spur on the FURY and Sarah Sample almost got to a high ball as she collided heavily with Kuhar-Pitters in the Lynx net. An evenly matched first half ended all square at one goal apiece.

The second half began as the first with the spirited and hard working Lynx side causing the FURY back line problems in playing the ball out of defence. The Lynx forced the FURY into turning the ball over repeatedly and this would cost the Fury dear in the 56th minute when a collision between Bisnott and FURY keeper Kimberley Diaz resulted in an unsuccessful scramble to clear the loose ball out of danger by the FURY back line. Eventually the ball fell to Stefania Morra who shot the ball into the open net to regain the lead for Toronto.

Ottawa’s best chance came in the 84th minute when substitute Christina Julien hit the post with a cracking shot and Emma Mattsson was unable to convert the rebound. The Fury pushed forward in search of an equalizer but were unable to convert.

The Lynx enjoyed a rare victory over their arch-rivals as the FURY lost a regular season game for the first time in 21 games since they lost away to the Hamilton Avalanche on June 25th, 2006. The FURY outshot the visiting Lynx by a count of 13 to 3.

The FURY are home again on Wednesday evening as the host the Vermont Lady Voltage at 8:30 looking to work on putting together another lengthy undefeated streak.

FURY Men record first victory in Storm-delayed Match

A succession of thunderstorms accompanied by lightning was the real winner in a game that was called by the match officials in the 48th minute after two interruptions due to lightning. The FURY (now 1-2-0) were leading New Hampshire (now 3-2-3) 1-0 at the time the game was called by virtue of a headed goal from Paul Kihara scored in the 3rd minute.

The FURY got off to a flying start when in the third minute Matt Pecheone crossed from the right wing to the far post for Paul Kihara to score with a header. New Hampshire had barely touched the ball much less gotten into the game and found themselves down 1-0. Soon after the opening goal, the match officials sent the players back into the safety of the dressing room as lightning repeatedly struck in the vicinity of the stadium.

Both teams returned to the field after a lengthy delay with the FURY continuing to prove threatening. The match developed into a physical tussle between two evenly matched teams. In a first half full of stoppages, the Fury conceded 10 fouls and the Phantoms 20. The score at half was FURY 1 New Hampshire 0.

They only managed a mere 3 minutes of play into the second half at which point officials sent players to the dressings rooms for a second and final time due to lightning in the vicinity of the stadium. After a further prolonged delay and a subsequent attempt to restart the game had to be aborted, the officials made the difficult decision to call the game with the Fury leading by a goal to nil. An unsatisfactory end to the game for both sides and for the fans watching the game.

The FURY continue their home stand Wednesday night against the Vermont Voltage at 6pm as part of another double-header with the W-League FURY playing at 8:30pm.

FURY Soar Past Gryphons

In their first ever meeting the Ottawa Fury (now 2-0-0) scored an emphatic 6-0 victory over the London Gryphons (now 2-3-0) at the Algonquin Soccer Complex on Saturday evening. The win extends the FURY's regular season undefeated streak to 21 games. The Gryphons had no answer to an onslaught from Ottawa who scored four second half goals to add to two markers in the first half.

Unlike their opening game which saw the FURY edge Western Mass with a goal late into extra time, Emma Mattsson put Ottawa in front in the 2nd minute converting on a perfect through ball from Ashly Kennedy. Sarah Sample made in 2-0 in the 17th minute with a low rasping shot into the bottom left corner off an pass from Shay Powell

The FURY took complete charge in the second half adding four more goals to the score sheet. Despite London coming close in the 58th minute which could have turned the tide of this game, Kimberly Diaz was equal to the task and her teammates rewarded her with goals coming from Shay Powell (66th minute), a second from Sarah Sample (70th minute), Ciara McCormack (75th minute) off a perfect 30-yard strike and Adrienne Ruhe-Lischke (85th minute) to round out the scoring.

The FURY continue their homestand on Sunday against the Toronto Lady Lynx @ 6pm and again on Wednesday evening against the Vermont Lady Voltage @ 8:30pm.

EXTRA TIME HEROICS in FURY Victory

The Ottawa FURY women opened their W-League campaign on Saturday night against the Western Mass Lady Pioneers. The FURY starting 11 was comprised of 10 newcomers who all took a little time to adjust. The score was 0-0 at half despite the FURY having many close chances from Raber, Avner and Sample - Raber having the best of the three, but was robbed by the Pioneers keeper from close range. They FURY came out strong in the second half and controlled posession for virtually the entire half. The Pioneers made it know that they would be pleased with the draw ensuring that they had almost all players behind the ball. The FURY's efforts eventually paid off in extra time as Shay Powell converted a cross from Anna Caniglia to ensure the FURY received all expected three points from this match.

The FURY (1-0-0) are home again this week on Saturday (June 14) to host London at 7pm (Algonquin Soccer Complex) and again on Sunday (June 15) to host Toronto at 6pm (Algonquin Soccer Complex). Come out an support YOUR FURY!

PDL SEASON UNDERWAY

The 2008 PDL season is underway for our FURY. With great expectations heading into the season the FURY travelled to Brooklyn for a date against last years North American semi-finalist. The Knights took a 1-0 lead off a free kick in the 22nd minute. After a convincing pep talk at half from head coach Stephen O'Kane the FURY came out with a strong effort in the second half and were rewarded with a 73rd minute goal off the head of Florian DeCamps. While it looked as though the FURY were going to come out on the positive side of a 1-1 draw, but with a late free kick in extra time the Knights made the FURY pay and stole the full 3 points in a 2-1 final.

The FURY (0-1-0)had to quickly re-group for a game against PDL newcomers Newark Ironbound Express. The Fury were hit by an express train in the form of Teddy Niziolek who provided all the offence as the Express defeated the Fury 3-0.

The FURY's (0-2-0) home opener comes this Sunday (June 15) at 3pm at the Algonquin Soccer Complex against New Hampshire. Come on out and support our boys!