NPL Women’s Rd 2 talking points: Ravens continue stellar form as Sydney Uni remains goalless
Gladesville Ravens picked up another huge win in the second round of the NPL Women’s NSW, while Sydney Uni fail to score again. Check out all the major headlines from a huge weekend of football.
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Gladesville Ravens have gone from strength to strength, taking home another massive win to put themselves top of the NPL Women’s NSW ladder.
They stunned reigning premiers 3-2, coming back from an early 2-0 deficit to take the win in a far cry from their frustrating 2023 season.
Meanwhile 2022 premiers Sydney University remain goalless and winless in a concerning start to their campaign following a 2-0 loss to Macarthur Rams.
Sydney Olympic’s new signings were standouts again, with Demi Koulizakis adding another two goals to her season’s tally.
Check out all the talking points from round two.
Ravens outclass premiers in come from behind win
Gladesville Ravens are showing no growing pains under new coach Guillermo Rubio, slaying the two top teams of the past two years to sit equal top of the ladder (equal with Sydney Olympic).
Following last week’s 5-0 demolishing of 2022 premiers Sydney University, the Ravens pulled out another incredible result this time against last year’s premiers APIA Leichhardt, coming from an early 2-0 deficit to win 3-2.
Once again, new signings Isabella Edwards (Habuda) and Pat Charalambous found the back of the net, with the former picking up a second half brace.
It’s still a long season ahead but early signs indicate the Ravens are real contenders for a finals berth.
Concerns as APIA go winless in opening rounds
The growing pains absent from Gladesville are unfortunately obvious in Leichhardt, with the reigning premiers APIA Leichhardt failing to pick up a win for the second week in a row.
Despite starting strong with a Gisella Pipino goal in the first 10 minutes, followed up by a second from Charlotte Lancaster, APIA conceded three unanswered goals for a 3-2 loss.
It follows a frustrating 1-0 loss to Manly last week to open their campaign, with APIA conceding in the first minute and unable to respond through the next 89.
The side has been keeping up pressure through the game, with 14 shots and seven on target against the Ravens, most of which came in the second half, proving APIA is match fit and has the ability to score.
Hopefully it’s just an early rounds slump and not a sign of things to come.
Teenager stars in Bulls FC goals-fest
Teenage star Amber Luchtmeijer has remained a standout for Bulls FC Academy, bagging a brace and an assist in her side’s 4-2 win over Football NSW Institute.
It brings her tally for the season so far to four goals, after she scored two against her former club Blacktown Spartans last week.
Luchtmeijer has been a great pick-up for coach Jamie Gomez, along with former APIA player Isabella Coco-Di Sipio who started her tally on the weekend, and Danielle Naeimi who moved from Institute in the off-season.
The Bulls have a couple of hard matches ahead of them, facing in-form side UNSW FC next round followed by reigning premiers APIA in round four.
Olympic fight off Tigers’ comeback for a perfect start
Sydney Olympic have proven last week’s dominant 4-0 win over the Jets wasn’t a fluke, netting another four goals for a 4-2 victory over Northern Tigers.
New signing Demi Koulizakis scored twice in four minutes to give Olympic the perfect lead, and could have easily gotten a hat-trick had her further shots gone the right way.
Maxine Peak, another new Olympic player, added a further goal to her tally and has proven herself to be a formidable attacker.
Two goalkeeper errors were the only blight on Olympic’s day, with the Tigers finding Sayaka Koyama out of her box to net in their two goals.
Defence will be a key focus for Olympic as they prepare for APIA Leichhardt this weekend.
Sydney Uni remain goalless
Sydney University SFC are goalless and winless to start the season, following a 2-0 loss to Macarthur Rams and a crushing 5-0 loss to Gladesville in the opening round.
The only other team yet to score a goal is Emerging Jets, who finished the 2023 season at the bottom of the ladder with no wins and four draws from 26 matches.
Similar to last week, Sydney Uni only managed two shots on target from eight total shots, reiterating the side’s lack of attacking firepower.
With the club championship including each club’s first grade, reserve and U18 side’s results deciding promotion and relegation, and the first grade results contributing the most, Sydney Uni may be staring down a battle to stay in the top flight if things don’t improve.
UNSW claim dominant first NPL win
Five goals from five different players has given UNSW FC their first ever win in top flight football, destroying Emerging Jets 5-0.
Tiana Petkovski opened the scoring with a penalty goal eight minutes in, with Chloe Smith, Allira Toby, Sarah Moore and Corinna Medaglia all contributing to the impressive scoreline.
UNSW has been very impressive since making the jump from League One this season, unbeaten in two matches so far after round one’s 1-1 draw with Football NSW Institute.
Their upcoming match against Bulls FC Academy will be a real test for the young team, with the Bulls a much stronger attacking side than UNSW’s previous opponents so far.
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Originally published as NPL Women’s Rd 2 talking points: Ravens continue stellar form as Sydney Uni remains goalless
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