Predictions
Here are Soccer America Associate Editor Dean Caparaz’s predictions for the May 24 game: Philadelphia 2 Atlanta 2
Preview
(all times ET) Thursday, May 24 – (7:05 pm) – Atlanta (1-0-3, 5th place, 6 points) at Philadelphia (2-0-2, tied for 2nd place, 8 points) (Fox Sports Net South). Season series: Tied (1 game: 0-0 on April 28);
All-time regular-season series: Tied.
Leading scorers: Atlanta: F Charmaine Hooper (1 g, 1 a = 3 pts); Philadelphia: D Michelle Demko, D Doris Fitschen, F Rakel Karvelsson, F Erin Martin, M Rebekah McDowell, M Margret Olafsdottir, F Kelly Smith (each w/1g = 2 pts).
Did you know? Following a 10-day break, Philadelphia plays a stretch of four games over 11 days starting with the Atlanta match. Next is Boston at home on Sunday, May 27, Washington at RFK Stadium on Thursday, May 31, and at home vs. Washington on Sunday, June 3. The time of the June 3 game has changed from 4:00 pm to 7:00 pm.
Key players out: Atlanta: M Sara Reading (knee-R); Philadelphia: D Erica Iverson (stress fracture foot-R), G Melissa Moore (broken hand-R), F Kelly Smith (stress fracture ankle-R).
Notes: The Beat has the best collection of attacking players in the league. But Atlanta — with Cindy Parlow, Charmaine Hooper, Sun Wen and Homare Sawa — still hasn’t scored more than one goal in a game. In fact, Atlanta has scored just twice in four games. Conversely, the Beat’s stingy defense has allowed just one goal this season. This match could change all that. Villanova Stadium’s artificial turf — a fast carpet that produces unpredictable bounces and defensive mistakes — could mean a goalfest, as in Philadelphia’s 3-2 win over the Bay Area on May 6. … Philly leads the league in goals per game with 1.08 after four games, despite the fact that the injured Smith has missed the last two games. The seven Charge goals have come from seven different players. … This is Amy Walsh’s debut with Atlanta. … If Atlanta D Dayna Smith gets a yellow card, which would be her third in three games, she will be suspended for the May 27 game at the Bay Area for yellow card accumulation. That would be a moot point if Walsh replaces Smith in central defense.
KEY MATCHUP: Atlanta M Homare Sawa vs. Philadelphia M Rebekah McDowell: Sawa, the unheralded Japanese international, has outplayed some of her more famous Atlanta teammates in the early part of the season and scored one of the two Beat goals. McDowell, the Charge’s workhorse in midfield, will shadow Sawa and try to keep her from going forward.
SCHEDULED REFEREES: TBA.
