Rising above lesser silverware and match balls, the big trophy sits on a shelf in the Ventura County Fusion's downtown Ventura office.

But that's where the Fusion will put its glorious 2009 Premier Development League championship run today. On a shelf.

Ventura County are ready to play its first PDL game since Alfonso Motalgalvan's dramatic rebound goal in second-half stoppage time gave the Fusion a 2-1 win over the Chicago Fire in the PDL final Aug. 8 at Buena High.

A new look Fusion team will open the defense of its continental championship tonight at 8 against the Lancaster Rattlers at Antelope Valley High.

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The Ventura County Fusion women's soccer team saved its best performance for the final week of the season.

Buena High product Emily Cressy scored twice as the Fusion handed the previously unbeaten Seattle Sounders its first loss of the season, 3-1, Wednesday night at Buena High.

Cressy scored the 11th -minute opener off a Fabiane Nascimento pass and converted a penalty kick earned by Nancy Avesyan as the Fusion strolled to a 3-0 lead after 29 minutes.

Her four goals leads the team.

In between Cressy strikes, Randi Johns set up Natalie Martineau for the midfielder's first goal of the season.

"It's very memorable," said Fusion coach Ranbir Shergill. "What was most pleasing, aside form the result, was the performance. We had a young team out there and we really passed and moved.

"It's really good to see us finish strong and play well."

Seattle's Tafara Pulse scored the lone goal for second-place Seattle (3-1-6) in the 31st minute. The Fusion (2-6-3) host Los Angeles Sunday in the season finale.

The second wonder goal from U.S. international Tobin Heath in eight days helped push the reigning W-League champion Pali Blues over the Ventura County Fusion women's soccer team, 4-0, Sunday afternoon at Palisades High School.

Heath, a gold medalist in the Beijing Olympics last fall, hit the top corner from 35 yards to break the scoreless deadlock after 35 minutes and the first-place Blues (7-0-3-) followed with three second half goals.

"We matched them in the first half," said Fusion coach Ranbir Shergill, "but got tired pretty quickly because it was our fourth match in eight days."

The Fusion (1-5-3), which lost for the second straight time on its travels after a four-match road unbeaten streak, saw its best chance come in the 40th minute, when defender Fabiane Nascimento hit the bar from long range.

"That was the closest we got to scoring," said Shergill.

Kirsteen Buchan scored less than two minutes into play and Canadian international Jodi-Anne Robinson scored twice as the host Vancouver Whitecaps ended the Ventura County Fusion women's soccer team's four-game road unbeaten streak, 3-1, Wednesday night at Swangard Stadium in Burnaby, British Columbia.

Emily Cressy's 52nd minute penalty kick kept the visiting Fusion (1-4-3) from behind shut out.

The goal by the former Buena High star pulled Ventura County within 2-1 early in the second half before Robinson, a veteran of the 2007 Women's World Cup in China and the 2008 Olympics in Beijing, salted away the three points with her second goal set up by strike partner Amy Vermuelen in the 72nd minute.

With just six points from eight matches, the Fusion sit just one point ahead of seventh place Los Angeles (1-6-2) ahead of Sunday's trip to the first-place Pali Blues (6-0-3).

It took Kelley O'Hara and Christen Press to keep the Ventura County Fusion women's soccer team from making history Saturday night at Buena High.

The USA Under-23 women's national team tandem, who combined for 29 goals at Stanford University last fall, scored a goal apiece as the defending W-League champion Pali Blues held off the Fusion, 2-1, to extend its unbeaten streak to 23 games.

"I thought we gave a great performance and were unlucky not to get something from the game," said Fusion coach Ranbir Shergill. "We just needed a little more in the attacking third (of the field)."

Hopeful of inflicting the first loss in franchise history upon the Blues (5-0-3), the Fusion (1-3-2) gained confidence from the Blues having drawn three of their previous four matches on the road.

That aspiration seemed dead when Press' 25-yard screamer gave the visiting Blues a 2-0 lead in the 65th minute, but Fusion substitutes Heather Vandevanter and Colleen Gibson combined to restore the game with 15 minutes to play.

Vandevanter's pass sent Gibson sprinting clear on goal and the University of Dayton midfielder beat Blues' goalkeeper Kristin Olsen to make it 2-1.

The Fusion's previous best chance was a 70th-minute free kick earned by forward Jessica Velasquez and driven off the crossbar by Brazilian defender Fabiane Nascimento.
But the Fusion also carved out several quality chances in the final 10 minutes.

"We had four or five really good chances at the end, not just to draw the game, but to win it," said Shergill. "They were scared. Anytime you force your opponent back like that shows you've achieved something."

Especially an opponent that features a pair of Beijing Olympic gold medal winners in striker Lauren Cheney and Tobin Heath.

"They're a good team, they're clinical in front of goal," said Fusion goalkeeper Kay Hawke. "But those medals don't mean as much when you're on the pitch."

The Fusion held firm in the face of wave after wave of Pali's fleet-footed attacks, especially English goalkeeper Hawke and Canada midfielder Natalie Martineau, who was one of the best players on the field.

"We showed a lot of character," said Shergill. "I felt we were the better team in the first half."

The Fusion held out for 32 minutes. Until Heath completed a winding 30-yard run through midfield by setting up O'Hara, who slotted home the opener from 18 yards.

Down 1-0 at the half, the Fusion had a penalty claim three minutes into the second half, when winger Emily Cressy was toppled in the Blues penalty area. But build-up play was ruled offsides.

The Fusion now face perhaps the biggest week of the season, with its annual trip to the Pacific Northwest in midweek -- including matches at Seattle Monday and Vancouver Wednesday -- before the return trip to the Blues on Sunday.

"We need to get some wins on this trip," said Hawke. "It's vital."

Randi Johns' second goal in three days allowed the Ventura County Fusion women's soccer team to grab four of a possible six points on its annual two-game trip to Colorado.

Johns' second-half goal, set by up a Colleen Gibson pass, gave the Fusion a 1-1 draw against the Colorado Force at Loveland Sports Park in Fort Collins, Colo.

The UC Santa Barbara graduate scored the winner in a 1-0 win at Real Colorado Monday.

"Every game we're looking better as a team," said coach Ranbir Shergill. "Today we showed a lot of character coming down from a goal down. Towards the end, we could have won it with some of the chances we created."

The game kicked off nearly 90 minutes late because of thunderstorms. But it is the Fusion (1-1-2) storming up the standings. Five points in its last three games has moved Ventura County up to fourth place in the Western Conference with four games in hand on third-place Real Colorado.

After more than a month without a home game, the Fusion return home for Saturday's doubleheader at Buena High, hosting fifth-place Vancouver in the 5 p.m. opener.

"We can't wait to get in front of the home fans," said Shergill.

UC Santa Barbara graduate Randi Johns converted a rebound goal midway through the first half as the Ventura County Fusion women's soccer team earned its first win of the W-League season Monday night in Centennial, Colo.

The 1-0 win at Real Colorado avenged the Fusion's season-opening loss on May 16.
"Today we got our revenge," said coach Ranbir Shergil, who earned his first victory as head coach.

Heloisa Olivera earned a free kick in the 35th minute, which Fabiane Nascimento drove off the post. Johns was in position to convert the ricochet into the net and the Fusion (1-1-1) into the win column, despite missing several key players on the five-day trip.

"It's unbelievable, really," said Shergill. "We played many players out of position. But we worked hard as a team and got the result."

The Fusion entered play in seventh and last place in the Western Conference, but had played between two and five matches fewer than the other teams in the conference.

The Fusion visit the Colorado Force in Fort Collins Wednesday before returning home to Buena High Saturday against the first-place Vancouver Whitecaps.

The Ventura County Fusion women's soccer team drew 2-2 at the Los Angeles Legends Sunday night despite taking a two-goal lead inside 15 minutes.

Ventura College star Jazmarae Strozier slammed home the opener after winger Randi Johns played a pass across the face of goal in the eighth minute.

Four minutes later, Brazilian attacker Paula Pires converted a cross from former Buena High star Emily Cressy for a 2-0 lead.

But the Legends would pull even before halftime on a pair of set pieces, scoring from a long throw and a free kick.

Despite dropping to 0-1-1, Fusion coach Ranbir Shergill appreciated the team's improvement from the season-opening 3-1 loss to Real Colorado May 16.

"We just looked a lot better," said Shergill. "We had addition time of preparation. We moved the ball very well. We passed and moved very well. At the end we were really unlucky not to take all three points.

"We looked like a good team out there."

The Fusion women next take their annual road trip to Colorado, visiting Real Colorado June 15 and the Colorado Force in Fort Collins June 17.