SF Fire Defeat LA Reign 21-14
On Thursday, Coach Sarah and the San Francisco Fire defeated their Western Conference foe, the LA Reign, by a score of 21-14 in the Fire's 2016 NPGL season opener. You can read the match re-cap here, watch the archived broadcast on GRID TV, and view the network broadcast on NBC Sports Network in September. A few excepts of the match re-cap are included below:
Before they even stepped foot on the GRID on Thursday night, the San Francisco Fire’s rookies knew: they were going to mess up and no one was going to bat an eye about it.
“We were all rookies once,” San Francisco veteran Sarah Hopping Estrella said of the message before the Fire’s first match.
But when the dust settled on the Fire’s 21-14 win over the Los Angeles Reign, you’d be hard-pressed to find too much to quibble about. San Francisco came out firing, winning five of the first six races, and looked incredibly poised under the pressure of their first National Pro GRID League match this season.
“We had some pregame jitters,” Fire Head Coach Ben Wise said of his club, which ended its season last year with a semifinal loss to Phoenix. “People maybe moved too fast even, or didn’t follow the transition. A couple kettlebell handoffs, not starting the muscle-ups right away. But, for the most part, I think the hard work by everyone here paid off big-time.”
The Reign let a key Fire miscue slip away in Race 2, as San Francisco dropped the bar on their hang cleans in Quadrant 3, forcing them to run back to the start. LA was the first to get to its final 10 reps, but San Francisco out-cycled them to narrowly take the race win.
“I love our team,” Estrella said. “I think the rookies came in really hungry, really prepared. Training camp was great- they brought everyone in and feels like we are a team already. Those who have been back are excited to be back, excited to be a part of it and excited to be part of this opportunity. I’m so glad to be on this team.
“It feels like our team is even more well-rounded than last year.”
-Brittany Ghiroli (NPGL)
It's back to the practice GRID for the Fire on Friday, as they have little time to celebrate their season-opening victory knowing that a showdown with their heated rival, the Phoenix Rise (the team that defeated them in the playoffs last year), is just around the corner: Tuesday, Aug 23rd at 6pm PT.
Go Fire!
WOD for 08-20-16:
3-Position Power Snatch (high hang, knees, floor):
5 Sets of (1+1+1)
Climbing as technique allows
-then-
A) Against a 6-Minute Clock:
40 Calorie Row
40 Box Jump Overs @ 24/20 in
Max Reps Hang Power Snatches @ 95/65 lbs
-REST 3 MINUTES THEN-
B) Against a 4-Minute Clock:
20 Calorie Row
20 Box Jump Overs @ 24/20 in
Max Reps Hang Power Snatches @ 95/65 lbs