BY DEAN CAPARAZ A goalfest erupted at Spartan Stadium in San Jose, Calif., last night, as the Boston Breakers raced out to a 4-0 lead before defeating the host Bay Area CyberRays, 4-2. The game set the WUSA record for most combined goals (6) as well as most goals by one team (4). With the win, Boston (8 points) leaps into a first-place tie with Philadelphia, while the CyberRays remain in seventh place with four points. Boston got goals from four different players: Sherice Bartling, Angela Hucles, Kristine Lilly and Dagny Mellgren. Brandi Chastain scored both Bay Area goals, including an 88th-minute penalty kick after Boston defenders brought down the CyberRays Sissi in their penalty area. Boston managed an easy win without the services of Germans Bettina Wiegmann and Maren Meinert, who are at home with their national team for a May 17 friendly with Russia. Boston coach Jay Hoffman started defender Lindsay Massengale along with former Stanford star Elie Foster in midfield, while midfielder Hucles paired up front with Mellgren. Also, Boston’s Karina LeBlanc replaced Tracy Ducar in goal, though the latter replaced LeBlanc late in the game when the Canadian international suffered leg cramps. “We felt that with our draft and the players that we have on our roster, [they] were able to come in and play, and those are the quality players we felt we had in the very beginning,” Boston coach Jay Hoffman said. “Did it change our game a little bit? Yeah, it probably did, but at the same time, we felt we had the players to be productive.” The last time these two teams met, on April 29 at Spartan, Boston eked out a 1-1 tie with a late penalty kick in what was a defensive struggle. The second meeting was far different. For the second straight match, the CyberRays used a lineup that featured Chastain at defensive midfield and Kim Clark at flank midfield. But Chastain and her teammates did little defending, as the CyberRays attacked from the outset. Boston undid the Bay Area defense by playing long balls over the top, while the CyberRays, playing their three-woman defense of Thori Bryan, Kelly Lindsey and Lisa Nanez in a high restraining line, tried in vain to catch the Breakers offside. “The type of midfield that we have — we have Brandi who’s working her tail off there, just doing tremendous things; Tisha [Venturini] is very offensive minded; obviously Sissi [is] in there,” Bay Area coach Ian Sawyers said. “The intent is for us to create a lot of chances and play exciting soccer. The down side of that is sometimes you’re going to get burned by good counterattacking. That’s the risk we’re prepared to take. Still, having said [that we are] taking that calculated risk, I still think we can do things defensively a little bit better and not allow those things.” The first two goals came after passes that sprung Boston players who were close to being offside. In the end, Boston scored back to back goals — in the eighth and the ninth minutes — to go up, 2-0. Bryan, Lindsey and Nanez were slow to recover when beaten and didn’t get much defensive help from their teammates. In particular, the pacy Mellgren and Hucles were handfuls for the Bay Area, even for Bryan, who is perhaps the fastest player in the league. “Obviously weÆre going to have to shore up the defense, but IÆm not going to jump to any decisions tonight,” Sawyers said. Despite the early 2-0 setback, the Bay Area continued to attack and actually outshot Boston, 26-10. But only 10 of those 26 were on frame. Players and coaches said that match seemed closer than the score indicated. “They put a lot of pressure on us,” Boston midfielder Keri Raygor said. “Even when we were up 4-0 we felt like it was a 1-0 game. They put you under a lot of pressure. They have two fast frontrunners, they have Sissi and Tisha and Brandi coming through the middle. You never feel comfortable.” Meanwhile, Boston worked its counterattack to perfection and scored two more back to back goals — in the 56th and 57th minutes — late in the match as the CyberRays pushed up more and more and left goalkeeper LaKeysia Beene exposed. “The last time we played here, if I remember correctly, they played four in the back,” Hoffman said. “Brandi played in the left back spot. After watching last week’s game against Carolina, I’m sure Ian is thinking what we’re all doing — figuring out a way how to score goals and create opportunities. If you look at his team, he has a very attack-oriented team. They’re very good at going forward. Does that open up chances at the back at times? Yeah, it does. But I felt we found some good spaces and I felt we played some good balls to get people through and capitalized on our opportunities.” The Breakers showed the Bay Area how to finish, scoring on four of their nine shots on goal. LeBlanc, who made four saves, was steady if unspectacular in her first action of the season. “She was calm throughout that entire storm,” Hoffman said. “I have two very, very good goalkeepers. I used her because I wanted her to get some playing time.” In her 14 minutes in the game, Ducar faced four shots and made three saves. Chastain took partial blame for “two or three” of Boston’s goals and was eager to bet back on the field. But the Bay Area and Boston don’t play their next games until May 27. “I’d like a game tomorrow,” Chastain said. “I’d like a game right now. … It’s hard to say whether it’s good or bad we have this much time. We’ll will do our best to make it a positive.” (Dean Caparaz is an Associate Editor at Soccer America.) May 16 in San Jose, Calif. BAY AREA 2 BOSTON 4 Scoring Summary: BOS û Bartling (Mellgren) 8. BOS û Hucles (Foster) 9. BOS û Lilly (Foster) 56. BOS û Mellgren 57. BAY û Chastain (Sissi) 63. BAY û Chastain (pen.) 88. Bay Area — LaKeysia Beene, Thori Bryan, Lisa Nanez, Kelly Lindsey, Brandi Chastain, Tisha Venturini (Christina Bell, 72), Kim Clark (Jacqui Little, 80), Venus James, Sissi, Julie Murray, Katia (Megan Horvath, 60). CAUTIONS: Nanez, 45; EJECTIONS: None. Boston — Karina LeBlanc (Tracy Ducar, 76), Kimberly Calkins, Kate Sobrero, Heather Aldama, Lindsay Massengale (Sarah Powell, 46), Kristine Lilly, Elie Foster (Allison Kemp, 78), Keri Raygor, Angela Hucles, Sherice Bartling, Dagny Mellgren (Meotis Erikson, 86). CAUTIONS: Sarah Powell, 85; EJECTIONS: None. Referee: Sandra Hunt. Attendance: 4,686.