Prediction
Here is Soccer America Associate Editor Dean Caparaz’s prediction for the June 6 game: Atlanta 2 Boston 1
Preview
(all times ET) Wednesday, June 6 – (7:30 pm) – Atlanta (3-1-3, tied for 3rd place, 12 pts) at Boston (2-3-2, 5th place, 8 pts) (AT&T 3). Season series: Atlanta leads 1-0;
All-time regular-season series: Atlanta leads 1-0 (Atlanta leads 1-0 in aggregate goals).
Leading scorers: Atlanta: F Charmaine Hooper (2 g, 1 a = 5 pts); Boston: F Dagny Mellgren (3 g, 3 a = 9 pts) and F Maren Meinert (4 g, 1 a = 9 pts).
Did you know? Atlanta M Homare Sawa scored her club’s first goal in the 1-0 win at Boston on May 5. Atlanta’s Hooper was also called offside five times in that match.
Key players out: Atlanta: F Sun Wen (high ankle sprain-L), M Charry Korgel (fibula fracture-L), M Sara Reading (torn MCL-R); Boston: None.
Notes: Boston G Karina LeBlanc gets her second start of the season. Coach Jay Hoffman has a good problem in goal — he has two quality keepers in LeBlanc and Tracy Ducar, who starts most of the time. … Atlanta F Sun Wen is out after spraining her ankle in a collision with Carolina G Bente Nordby last weekend. The Chinese star played 41 minutes in the last meeting with the Breakers. F Emily Burt is the top candidate to replace Sun Wen up front. But Coach Tom Stone might use the opening in the lineup to get a healthy Nikki Serlenga back in midfield. The former Santa Clara star came off the bench last weekend and didn’t play the previous two games with a strained right hamstring. Atlanta has a glut of good central midfielders with Serlenga, Amy Walsh and Marci Miller. … Boston F Robin Confer (strained back) and F Allie Kemp (chondral contusion knee-R) are probable. … Atlanta looks to rebound after its first loss of the season, a 2-0 setback at home to Carolina. Will the Beat break out against the Breakers? Even without Sun, Atlanta has amazing goalscoring talent in Sawa, Hooper and F Cindy Parlow. But Atlanta has scored more than one goal just once, in a 2-0 win at Philadelphia. Meanwhile, Boston has allowed 10 goals in the four games since the last Atlanta game. … Boston has lost all three of its home games — including last weekend’s 3-2 loss to New York and an earlier 3-2 loss to Philadelphia — heading into the Atlanta match.
KEY MATCHUP: Atlanta F Charmaine Hooper vs. Boston D Kate Sobrero: All the Boston defenders will get their shot at Hooper, but Boston’s tough and speedy man-marker has the best chance to contain the fleet Canadian. Both are fast and both are tough on the ball. The U.S. Olympian has had physical battles with Hooper at the international level. Expect more of the same in the WUSA.
SCHEDULED REFEREES: Referee: Rachel Woo; Assistant Referees: Erich Simmons (SAR), Jeffery Cook (JAR); Fourth Official: Claudiu Badea.
