SoccerBlogs

The Force is the Force of course, of course, unless of course the Force is no more.

The Colorado Force became the Colorado Rapids Women on Tuesday, wiping out the name of a past W-League champion, but also paving the way for a new experience in women's soccer in Colorado.

Based out of Fort Collins and playing in Loveland for the past several years, the Colorado Force had provided inexpensive, family-centered entertainment.

The Colorado Force have again joined with the Colorado Rapids to present a soccer doubleheader, featuring the highest level of women's and men's soccer in Colorado as part of the Rapids' 4th annual Women's Soccer Celebration.

On Saturday, Sept. 18, Dick's Sporting Goods Park will host the Force's match vs.

Saturday's exhibition between the University of Denver men's soccer team and Stanford has been moved to the Colorado Rapids' practice field at Dick's Sporting Goods Park in Commerce City. The game time has been changed to 4:30 p.m., and admission will be free. Denver opens the regular season at the Duke Classic in Durham, N.

A few Colorado fans might recognize goalkeeper Chris Sharpe, but the Rapids players certainly did on Saturday night. With Sharpe suited up for Chivas USA at Dick's Sporting Goods Park, many of the Rapids bumped fists or shook hands or patted him on the back as they passed the Goats' bench.

Sharpe's rights are owned by the Rapids, and he trains with the Rapids.

The Colorado Force found just enough offense to send off the Colorado Rush 1-0 in W-League action.

In the final meeting of the season for the two Colorado teams, Lisa Kosena-Forbes turned a Rebekah Patrick pass into the game's only goal in the 47th minute.

In goal, Kristin Salminen registered three saves as she picked up the shutout.

The Colorado Force used three second half goals to propel the team into the win column and to continue the misery of the expansion Victoria Highlanders.

The win pulls Colorado even for the season at 1-1 in the W-League, heading to a Thursday match against the unbeaten Pali Blues, 3-0-2. Pali holds a 2-1 victory over Victoria earlier this season.

The Colorado Force opened the season with a host of fresh faces on Friday, but got a tough result against the visiting Los Angeles Strikers FC in Greeley.

The Force, making one of two appearances this season at Jackson Field in Greeley, were stung in the first half when Los Angeles forward Cherelle Khassal registered the game's only goal.

The Vancouver Whitecaps took advantage of the home team on Friday night, defeating the Colorado Force 2-0 at Loveland Sports Park.

The loss dropped the Force to 1-3-1, 4 points, on the season and left the team in seventh place in the eight-team Western Conference. Vancouver improved to 6-1-1, 19 points, and briefly pulled even with the Santa Clarita Blue Heat at the top of the conference.

The Colorado Force didn't allow a last-minute goal to change the outcome this week, as the Force battled the Vancouver Whitecaps to a 0-0 draw at Loveland Sports Park.

On a night where thunderstorms were the biggest threat, neither side could find the back of the net. This draw came a week after Vancouver managed to squeak by 2-1 with an 89th minute goal.

The Colorado Force salutes the upcoming World Cup at its 14th home opener at 7 p.m. Friday when it hosts the Seattle Sounders in a W-League match at Loveland Sports Park, 950 North Boyd Lake Ave.

 The opening match will be followed quickly at 7 p.m. Sunday when the Force welcomes the Vancouver Whitecaps to Loveland.

The Vancouver Whitecaps snapped a tie in the 89th minute to topple the Colorado Force 2-1 on Sunday afternoon.

All of Sunday's scoring occurred in the final 20 minutes. After a scoreless first half, Vancouver tallied the game's first goal in the 70th minute off of a free kick. The ball was played into the box where defender Martina Franko, a veteran who played for the WPS Los Angeles Sol last season, headed the ball into the top right corner of the goal past Force keeper Maria Del Guercio.

The Colorado Force returns home for its final regular-season game, against the Vancouver Whitecaps at 7 p.m. today at the Loveland Sports Park.

Then Vancouver will travel to Highlands Ranch to take on the Real Colorado Cougars at 1 p.m. Sunday at Shea Stadium.

Friday's match presents a number of opportunities for milestones for the Force: The Force remains in playoff contention in the W-League's Western Conference, where it's tied for second with Seattle.

Soccer fans on Friday night got an entertaining match and a win for the home team as the Colorado Rush dispatched the Seattle Sounders 1-0 in W-League action.

Lindsey Horan delivered the lone goal of the evening in the 56th minute at Trail Winds Park in Thornton, Colo. Horan threatened several times during the night before her shot from inside the box found the upper left corner, giving her four goals in four games this season.

From left: Sally Cole, Brittney Macdonald, Iris Mora, Kay Hawke and Jenae Gibbons.Â
(photos by Tom Auclair, Zane Tanner, George Tanner/ColoradoSoccerNow.com)

I enjoyed the 2009 W-League season so much that I decided to put together an all-conference team based on the games we covered at ColoradoSoccerNow.

After building a 2-1 lead in the second half against the defending W-League champion, the Colorado Force fell 5-2 to the Pali Blues in the first round of the W-League playoffs Saturday night in Pacific Palisades, Calif.

The Force took a 2-1 lead in the 70th minute on a goal by Nikki Marshall, her second of the evening.

The United Soccer Leagues has honored Nikki Marshall as W-League player of the week for her three-goal performance in two victories by the Colorado Force.

Marshall scored both goals for the Force in a 2-1 road victory against the Los Angeles Legends on July 14. Three days later she scored winning goal for the Force in a 3-0 win over the Vancouver Whitecaps.

The Colorado Force will face the defending W-League champion Pali Blues on Saturday evening at the Stadium-By-The-Sea in Pacific Palisades, Calif., in the opening round of the W-League playoffs.

Saturday's match marks the first playoff appearance for the Force since 1998, when the club won the W-League's W2 national championship.

Today, The Tuesday List takes a look at the final goal-scoring totals for Colorado's two W-League teams. Each team played 12 games in the regular season.

COLORADO FORCE
Lisa Franke, 4 goals
Nikki Marshall, 4 goals
Emmalie Pfankuch, 4 goals
Jessica Boots, 1 goal
Monica Dolinsky, 1 goal
Carly Peetz, 1 goal
Molly Thomas, 1 goal

REAL COLORADO COUGARS
Kellyn Farrell, 4 goals
Taryn Hemmings, 3 goals
Becca Mays, 2 goals
Jenna Owens, 2 goals
Brianna Pugh, 2 goals
Brittney Macdonald, 1 goal
Beth West, 1 goal
Brianne Young, 1 goal

The Colorado Force has qualified for the W-League playoffs on the strength of three consecutive victories, combined with three consecutive losses by the Seattle Sounders.

The Force ended the regular season with road victories at Ventura County and Los Angeles and with the team's first ever defeat of the Vancouver Whitecaps, a 3-0 drubbing on Friday at the Loveland Sports Park.

Colorado Force midfielder Lisa Kosena traps a pass during the first half of her team's 3-0 victory over Vancouver on Friday night in Loveland. (photo by Tom Auclair/ColoradoSoccerNow.com)

With a shot at the W-League playoffs on the line, the Colorado Force put it all together Friday night.

Nikki Marshall scored two goals as the Colorado Force kept its playoff hopes alive with a 2-1 win over the L.A. Legends on Tuesday night in Chino, Calif.

The Force, 3-2-6 overall, improved to 15 points in the W-League's Western Conference and climbed into a second-place tie with Seattle.

Seattle, 3-0-6, has three matches to play, all on the road, beginning with a match Wednesday night against the Ventura County.

Striker Lisa Franke and defender Carly Peetz scored as the Colorado Force topped the Ventura County Fusion 2-1 on Sunday at Ventura, Calif.

The Force (2-2-6) jumped to 12 points in the W-League's Western Conference, pulling into a fourth-place tie with the Real Colorado Cougars. If Colorado wins Tuesday against the L.

The defending W-League champions, the Pali Blues, powered past the Colorado Force 3-0 on Friday night in Pacific Palisades, Calif., clinching the Western Conference title for the second consecutive year.

The Blues improved to 8-0-3, good for 27 points. Second-place Seattle, 3-0-6, can do no better than 24 points.

Jestina Orlando, right, and Lisa Kosena vie for a header on June 21 against the L.A. Legends. (photo by George Tanner/ ColoradoSoccerNow.com)

With its eyes on a playoff spot, the Colorado Force kicks off a three-game Southern California road trip tonight against league-leading Pali Blues.

Second half scoring proved to be the salvation and the doom for Colorado's W-League teams over the weekend.

The Colorado Rush fell behind early and rallied on two second-half goals to earn a point on the road. The Colorado Force took a 1-0 lead into halftime before surrending two second-half goals and falling on the road.

A fifth-minute goal was the bright spot for the Colorado Force on Thursday night against the visiting Pali Blues.

The Californians, undefeated since joining the league in 2008, improved to 28-0-3 in the W-League with a 3-1 victory at Loveland Sports Park.

Midfielder Lisa Kosena provided the early spark for the Force and a crowd of 475 with the opening goal.

Unbeaten since joining the W-League in 2008, the Pali Blues will put that impressive streak on the line tonight when they visit the Colorado Force, 7 p.m. at Loveland Sports Park.

While many of the names have changed from last year's championship side, the new names are equally impressive for Pali, which won its season opener Saturday over Santa Clarita, 1-0.

Perfection from the penalty spot earned the Colorado Force a 2-2 tie with the visiting Seattle Sounders on Friday night at Loveland Sports Park.

The Force battled back from a 2-0 deficit on the strength of penalty kicks from Hishamar Falconer in the 17th minute and Christie Ehrhardt in the 88th minute in front of a home season-opening crowd of 590.

Three members of the 2009 Colorado Force were selected in Friday's Women's Professional Soccer draft, including the University of Colorado's Nikki Marshall, who was taken by the Washington with the seventh overall pick.

The Force also had two central defenders drafted. The University of Kansas' Estelle Johnson went to Los Angeles in the third round, and Nebraska standout Carly Peetz was taken in the sixth round by Boston.

RMAC defensive player of the week Wally Fink punches the ball away from Fort Lewis striker Euan Purcell. (photo by George Tanner/ColoradoSoccerNow.com)

Jeff Nelson of the Colorado School of Mines was named Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference offensive player of the week for games played the weekend of Oct.

The passing of the Fourth of July always marks the start of the downhill slide for the summer. This shows up in particular in the USL's Premier Development League and W-League seasons, both of which start to wind down as July moves along.

Locally, as the days left in the season shrink, rivalries grow.

On a cool, crisp night in Northern Colorado, the Colorado Force kept the powerful Pali Blues attack on ice, playing to a scoreless draw Thursday at Loveland Sports Park.

With the 0-0 result, the Force moves to 1-1-1 in the W-League's Western Conference, while unbeaten Pali stands at 3-0-3. The Force returns to action at 7 p.

Tony Anglin, a former head coach for two W-League organizations, has agreed to join the coaching staff as the first assistant of the Colorado Force for the 2010 season.

Anglin, who coached the Chicago Red Eleven to the 2009 W-League playoffs, will assist Force Head Coach Craig Deacon. Deacon is on the sidelines with the Force for a fifth season.