Charlotte, NC – The 2010 W-League season came to a close for the Charlotte Lady Eagles late Saturday evening with a heart-breaking 1-0 loss to the Atlanta Silverbacks in the Eastern Conference Final.
The game was a hard fought battle between two teams that knew each other very well. This was the fourth meeting between the top two teams in the Atlantic Division this season. Charlotte had the upper hand in the first two meetings winning 2-0 and 1-0 respectively. Atlanta won the final meeting of the season 2-1 and continued to find the holes in the Charlotte defense in the final meeting of the teams.
The Lady Eagles had multiple chances early in the first half to take the lead but the inability to finish their attacks and great goalkeeping would see the first half come to a close with Atlanta up 1-0. Perhaps the best chance for Charlotte the whole game was a through ball played by Megan Bellingham to Ashley Swinehart in the first minutes of the game. Swinehart was able to make a penetrating diagonal run the found her one-on-one with Silverbacks goalie Michelle Betos only to see her shot go through the legs of Betos and deflect off her heel and roll inches wide of the near post.
Atlanta would get their game winning goal in the 44th minute. Defender Kelli Corless hit a perfect ball that found the head of fellow defender Bailey Powell who used her size to redirect the ball pass the outstretched hand of Charlotte’s Alyssa Whitehead.
With the game ending 1-0 in favor of Atlanta, the Lady Eagles’ hopes of going to the Final Four were also ended. After an inspiring comeback the night before against Washington, the Lady Eagles had high hopes of making it to their first final four since 2006.
The Lady Eagles would like to say thank you to all of their supports, host families, and families for all of the love and support they showed to them this year and are excited to see them out next year for the 2011 season.
Don’t forget you can still support your Lady Eagle’s by coming out to our annual 3v3 tournament on November 20th, 2010. More information is coming, but mark your calendar now and come out and support the Lady Eagles!
