Olivia Smith: “We Left It All Out On The Field” In Semifinal Loss To Chelsea
The Canadian striker gave the Liverpool FC Women an early lead against Chelsea in the FA Women’s Cup semifinal match, but the Reds conceded in second half extra time to lose 2-1.
The Liverpool FC Women knew they had a tall task in front of them as they faced Chelsea in the FA Women’s Cup semifinal at Kingsmeadow. The hosts had only lost once all season across all four competitions, having already won the Women’s League Cup and advancing to the Champions League semifinal while also holding a six point lead at the top of the WSL table with four matches left to play.
Liverpool were not intimidated, however, and the Reds took an early lead after a slick through ball from Marie Höbinger found the run of Olivia Smith, and the Canadian forward made not mistake with her finish. Liverpool were hunting for a second goal as they controlled much of the first half, but were undone by a late goal from a difficult chance to go the the dressing rooms knotted at 1-1. Chelsea dominated much of the second half, but it was Liverpool who seemed like they may steal a win after Taylor Hinds lofted a cross that drifted towards the goal, but it ended up coming off the crossbar and out. The Blues scored several minutes later in second half extra time to snatch the win and advance to the finals.
In a post-match interview, Olivia Smith said she and her teammates were disappointed with the result, but were proud with the effort they put forth.
“Definitely extremely disappointed. I can say the same for my teammates. But we left it all out on the field, I’m very proud of them. It’s an unlucky result. This one is definitely going to hurt, we’re not going to be at Wembley. But we left it out on the pitch and we’re all proud of each other. We just have to stick together and look forward to the next game.”
“Now we’ll reflect and feel it. Then moving forward to training this week, we’ll look forward to the next match. The same goes for my teammates, we’re definitely going to feel this one, but moving forward we’ll be OK.”
Liverpool have four matches left in their season, all in the WSL. The Reds will be back on the road to face Brighton next weekend before home matches against Spurs and Everton, with the Merseyside Derby being played at Anfield. Liverpool will close out the season with another trip to Chelsea.
Source: liverpooloffside.sbnation.com
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