Beat, Power play to scoreless tie
A crowd of 20,170 saw a disjointed match, as the hometown Beat played the New York Power to the first scoreless tie in WUSA history. The April 21 match was played on the small field at Georgia Tech’s Bobby Dodd Stadium, which kept each team from making much use of the flanks until the Power made a late surge. The Beat’s Sun Wen, still working her way back into game shape after knee surgery last winter, entered the match in the 79th minute for Japan’s Homare Sawa, who was Atlanta’s most dangerous player in the match. New York substitute Kerry Connors, who came on for starter Tammy Pearman, was the most dangerous player for the Power.
April 21 in Atlanta Atlanta 0 New York 0 Atlanta — Scurry, Bivens, Smith, Nonen, Krzykowski, Lamb, Serlenga, Sawa (Sun Wen, 79), J. Augustyniak (J. Augustyniak, 88), Parlow, Hooper (Gragg, 72). Cautions: None.
New York — Gao Hong, Pearce, Fettig, Espeseth, Fair, Stauffer (Tracy, 46), Whelchel, Nielsen, Pearman (Connors, 71), Milbrett, Whalen. Cautions: Pearce 22, Espeseth 72.
Referee: Rachel Woo.
Attendance: 20,170.
Boston blanks Courage
Boston Breakers midfielder Kristine Lilly has never lost a game in four years at Fetzer Field and her streak is still alive, thanks to her new teammate Maren Meinert. In the season opener for both teams, Meinert scored an early Goal to give the Breakers a 1-0 victory over the host Carolina Courage. Carolina, of course, plays its home games at Fetzer Field on the campus of the University of North Carolina. “I’ve never lost at Fetzer, but I think we all had a winning streak and one of us had to lose tonight,” said Kristine Lilly, who enjoyed the return to Carolina, having played at UNC from 1989-1992. “The last 10 minutes they were down in our end. In the first half we dominated I think. We held on à the post was on our side tonight.” The other UNC alumnae in the match were Carolina’s Carla Overbeck, Tiffany Roberts and Meredith Florance and Boston’s Keri Raygor and Tracy Ducar. In the 14th minute, Raygor sent a ball up the left side to Meinert. The German midfielder got behind the defense and slipped the ball to the far post past Carolina Goalkeeper Bente Nordby for a 1-0 lead. The Courage came within inches of equalizing in the dying moments of the game, when Courage forward Silvana Burtini pounded a shot off the post. Courage coach Marcia McDermott was encouraged by her team’s performance despite the defeat. “One of the difficult things to do in soccer is be creative,” McDermott said. “You’re going to see teams start to be more creative as they get more comfortable with one another.”
April 21 in Chapel Hill, N.C. Carolina 0 Boston 1 Goal: Bos – Meinert 14.
Carolina — Nordby, Wen, Overbeck, Burt, T. Roberts, Hansen (Burtini, 22), Baxter, Yankowski (Stone, 64), Riise, Fotopoulos, Florance. Cautions: None.
Boston — Ducar, Calkins, Sobrero, Massengale, Powell, Raygor, Wiegmann, Meinert, Lilly, Hucles (Confer, 45), Mellgren (Kemp, 68). Cautions: Lilly 74, Confer 88.
Referee: Sandra Hunt.
Attendance: 6,134.
Charge spoils Spirit’s home opener
The Philadelphia Charge disappointed a sell-out crowd of 6,155 by blanking the San Diego Spirit, 2-0, at Torero Stadium on April 22. German defender Doris Fitschen knocked in a penalty kick in the 30th minute and Smith tallied an unassisted goal in the 62nd minute for Philadelphia, which established an early league season high for goals in a game. Goalkeeper Melissa Moore, whom San Diego cut and Philadelphia claimed off waivers on March 30, went the distance in the nets to post the shutout. Moore got the start over U.S. World Cup ’99 veteran Saskia Webber. Smith received a nice pass in the penalty box and was pulled down from behind by Kristin Bengtsson for a penalty kick. Fitschen, the Charge captain, converted the penalty past Spirit Goalkeeper Ulrika Karlsson for a 1-0 lead in the 30th minute. Smith then doubled Philadelphia’s lead in the 62nd minute when she intercepted a back pass by Spirit defender Rhiannon Tanaka, moved left past Karlsson and easily rolled the ball into an empty net.
April 22 in San Diego San Diego 0 Philadelphia 2 Goals: PHI – Doris Fitschen (pen.) 30. PHI – Kelly Smith 62.
San Diego — Ulrika Karlsson, Rhiannon Tanaka, Kim Pickup, Fan Yunjie, Kristin Bengtsson (Tara Koleski, 83), Shannon Boxx, Julie Foudy, Jen Mascaro (Erin Montoya, 76), Sherrill Kester, Shannon MacMillan, Traci Arkenberg (Mercy Akide, 70). Cautions: (Tanaka, 59).
Philadelphia — Melissa Moore, Heather Mitts, Doris Fitschen, Jen Tietjen, Jenny Benson, Erin Martin (Michelle Demko, 72), Liu Ailing, Rebekah McDowell, Lorrie Fair, Margaret Olafsdottir, Kelly Smith. Cautions: (Fitschen, 39, Mitts, 44, Olafsdottir, 66).
Referee: Keri Seitz.
Attendance: 6,155.
