CALIFORNIA STORM ADVANCE TO BRANDI CHASTAIN CUP FINAL WITH 4-1 WIN
 

SALT LAKE CITY — The California Storm advanced to the final of the inaugural Brandi Chastain Cup Thursday with a 4-1 semifinal win hosted by USASA National Champions, Pan World Elite. 

The Storm qualified for the newly conceived tournament that brings the top amateur teams from the WPSL, W-League, USASA National Amateur Cup, and United Women’s Soccer league together to crown a National Champion, as the 2024 WPSL National Champions. With the win, the Storm face the winner of the June 5 semifinal between Richmond Ivy (USL-W) and New England Mutiny (UWS). 

Senai Rogers, Elle Quinn, Lauren Hunter, and Alicia Osegueda scored for the Storm in the win. 

“I think the score line flattered us a little bit. Our goalkeeper, Abbie Faingold, was magnificent. The score could easily have been the other way,” said Storm co-head coach, David Roberston. “They were a very good team, but today was our day. We had some very good goalkeeping and some clinical finishing and the result went our way.” 
 

Player of the Match, Abbie Faingold (00). Photo by Uriel Bento


Pan World Elite, winners of the 2024 Women’s National Amateur Cup, and featuring current and former WPSL players, came out on the front foot, earning a corner kick less than a minute into the match. Pan World’s Colette Smith, pounced on the partially cleared ball forcing Faingold to make her first of eight saves. 

After Pan World’s first surge forward, Pan World fell into a more defensive posture, allowing the younger, fitter, Storm the lion’s share of the possession, content to keep numbers behind the ball and pounce on the quick counter running through Smith, who played with the Utah Royals in the NWSL and was a longtime WPSL standout. 

It was Smith—easily the player of the match for Pan World—who created the next opportunity for either team in the 13th minute, deftly turning a defender just inside the penalty area and driving a left-footed shot to the far upper corner for what looked like another spectacular go to add to her highlight real when Faingold denied her the goal with a spectacular diving save. 

The dynamic of the match changed in the 23rd minute when Osegueda, an incoming Freshman at the University of San Francisco, was inserted into the playmaker role for the Storm. With possession running through her, the Storm was able to mount more sustained attacks, pinning Pan World in its defensive third for longer and longer spans of time. 

Twice Pan World was able to counter in the waning moments of the first half with Smith leading the attack, this time getting in one-on-one with Faingold, who stymied the attack well off her line in the 42nd minute. A minute later Faingold was called to make another spectacular diving save, this time to her left, after Ella Rusick, a junior at Utah Tech University and current WPSL player with the No. 1 Utah Surf, turned her defender at the goal line and got a shot off to the near post at a tight angle, forcing Faingold—earning unanimous Player of the Match honors—to make a diving save at the near post. 


Senai Rogers connects for the first goal of the match moments before the halftime whistle. Photo by Uriel Bento

With Pan World still looking to regain its defensive shape after the counter, Storm defender Alex Klos (University of California) found Rogers (Louisiana State University) with a searching ball from just inside the midfield stripe. Rogers took one controlling touch and slammed the ball to the far post past an outstretched Bre Empey to put the Storm up 1-0 moments before the halftime whistle. 

Like in the first half, Pan World came out on the attack, again playing through Smith, who turned her defender in the box and put the ball across the face of goal where Michaela Didericksen got to the ball at the same time as a Storm defender, putting it over the line to draw the score level at 1-1 in the 48th minute. 

Pan World Elite's Colette Smith unleashes a shot leading to the host's only goal of the match. Photo by Uriel Bento

The Pan World goal left the Storm defense scrambling in the ensuing minutes. Faingold was forced to save again in the 53rd when Anna Evans got in behind the Storm defense. And it would be another 15 minutes before the Storm would take control of the game for good thanks to a knuckling 40-yard bomb from Quinn (Pepperdine University) in the 70th minute to put the Storm up 2-1.

With one last gasp, Pan World mounted its final surge forward when Evans was played in on goal with a ball over the top in the 83rd minute. With Faingold charging Evans put her shot wide of the near post. 

Hunter (Santa Clara University) made it 3-1 in the 87th minute, beating her defender near the endline before slotting the shot from a tight angle past Empey. 

Osegueda punctuated the match in stoppage time with an incredible individual effort inside the penalty area, beating two defenders to make space for herself, tucking the ball just inside the far post. 

With the win, the Storm advance to the final of the inaugural Brandi Chastain Cup, named after the U.S. Women’s National Team icon, and former Storm player. 

“This means a lot to us, because Brandi was, and is, a big part of this organization. To be able to play in a tournament in her honor to crown a national champion is massive for the club,” Robertson said. 

The inaugural Brandi Chastain Cup Final date and venue will be announced following the second semifinal between Richmond Ivy and New England Mutiny on June 5 at City Stadium in Richmond, Va. 
 

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Pan World Elite: Bre Empey; Cackenna Doilney, Brittany Garrett, Dankia Serassio, Abigail Jameson; Chelsey Campbell, Anna Evans, Kassidy Shumway; Michaela Didericksen, Hailey North, Colette Smith. 

Substitutes: Kasandra Dennett, Jasmine Espinoza, Victoria Espinoza, Kendra Halterman, Megan Hendricks, Jayne Merrill, Ella Rusick.
 

Shots: 13

Shots on Target: 8

Corner Kicks 4

Saves 6

Fouls 5

California Storm: Abbie Faingold; Brenda Uribe, Susie Long, Alex Klos, Amelia Villa; Elizabeth Hutchison, Cam Silva, Anna Hauer; Senai Rogers, Elhom Khursand, Sarah Foley.

Substitutes: Izzy Duink, Elizabeth Hutchison, Lauren Hunter, Paige Thompson, Madee Dougherty, Devyn Simmons, Alicia Osegueda. 
 

Shots: 16

Shots on Target: 9

Corner Kicks: 2

Saves: 5

Fouls: 11

 

0-1: Seni Rogers 45+1’

1-1: Michaela Didericksen 48’

2-1: Elle Quinn 70’

3-1: Elle Quinn 87’

4-1: Alicia Osegueda 90’

 

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