Previews
(all times ET) Thursday, July 12 – (7:00 pm) – Atlanta (6-1-6, 1st place, 24 pts) at New York (6-2-5, 2nd place, 23 pts) (Fox Sports Net South, Metro Channel). Season series: Tied; All-time regular-season series: Tied (0-0 in only meeting on April 21). Leading scorers: Atlanta: F Charmaine Hooper (4 g, 2 a = 10 pts) and F Cindy Parlow (3 g, 4 a = 10 pts); New York: F Tiffeny Milbrett (10 g, 2 a 22 pts). Did you know? This will be the second regular-season meeting between the two teams. In the first meeting, the teams played to a 0-0 draw on April 21 at Billy Dodd Stadium in Atlanta, GA. New York’s Gao Hong was named ERA Max Player of the Game for her outstanding play in goal. Notes: New York will be glad to be home, as it was forced to travel to the West Coast to play each of its last two road games – a 1-1 draw with San Diego and the 1-0 loss to Bay Area. Prior to those excursions, the Power handled Philadelphia (2-1) and Boston (3-1) at Mitchel Athletic Complex. KEY MATCHUP: New York forward, Tiffeny Milbrett vs. the Atlanta defense. Milbrett leads the league in points scored with 22 and goals with 10. She is among the leaders in shots (46, third) and shots on goal (27, second). She has recorded three multiple-goal games including the league’s only hat trick, scored June 22nd against Boston. But teams that concentrate solely on Milbrett have paid dearly, as midfielder Tammy Pearman and forward Ann-Kristin Aarones – each with three goals – have come up big, especially big at crunch time. Pearman has two game-winning tallies, while Aarones has one game-winner. SCHEDULED REFEREES: Referee: Brenda Wright. Assistant Referees: Bill Dittmar (SAR), Christopher Price (JAR). Fourth Official: Tom Shenk. Thursday, July 12 – (7:00 pm) – Bay Area (5-4-3, tied for 3rd place, 18 pts) at Washington (5-6-2, 5th place, 17 pts) (KICU 36). Season series: Washington leads 1-0. All-time regular-season series: Washington leads 1-0 (Washington leads 1-0 in aggregate goals). Leading scorers: Bay Area: F Julie Murray (5 g, 1 a = 11 pts); Washington: F Pretinha (5 g, 1 a = 11 pts). Did you know? This two teams last met in the WUSA inaugural game. Washington won 1-0 on a Pretinha penalty kick in front of an audience of 34,148. Key players out: Bay Area — Jen Mead, knee surgery (injury list), Lauren Molinaro, broken ankle (injury list); Washington — none. Notes: Washington is well within striking distance of the playoff line, just two points out of third. But they also are just one point ahead of the sixth-place San Diego Spirit. While the Freedom struggle to gather points, having won twice in their last six matches, the CyberRays are the hottest team in the league. The Bay Area has not lost since May 27 and have not allowed a goal during the streak. LaKeysia Beene’s ongoing pair of shutout records was bumped up to another level by Sunday’s 1-0 victory over the New York Power. Her consecutive shutout games now total six; her consecutive shutout minutes now total 617. But without taking anything away from what Beene has accomplished, it’s worthwhile to look at how the CyberRays’ overall defense has contributed to an unprecedented scoreless stretch. Over the course of the six shutouts, the CyberRays have outshot their opponents five times. Only the New York Power, in the June 10 match at New York, and the San Diego Spirit on June 24 in San Diego had more shots than the CyberRays. More to the point, only the Spirit in that match put more shots on goal that the CyberRays. Overall the CyberRays have put nearly 72 percent more shots on goal than their six opponents. SCHEDULED REFEREES: Referee: Ricardo Salazar. Assistant Referees: Steven Taylor (SAR), Kelly Lee (JAR). Fourth Official: Kenneth Kaplan. Thursday, July 12 – (7:30 pm) – Carolina (3-8-2, 8th place, 11 pts) at Boston (3-6-3, 7th place, 12 pts) (ATT 3). Season series: Boston leads 1-0 ; All-time regular-season series: Boston leads 1-0 (Boston leads 1-0 in aggregate goals). Leading scorers: Carolina: F Danielle Fotopoulos (6 g, 2 a, 14 pts); Boston: M/F Maren Meinert (5 g, 1 a, 11 pts). Did you know? Carolina’s new additions, Swedish goalkeeper Ulrika Karlsson and Swedish defender Kristin Bengtsson, will get a chance to help Carolina turn its season around. The Swedish pair were obtained in a trade with San Diego in exchange for Norwegian goalkeeper Bente Nordby and Chinese defender Wen Lirong. Notes: Midfielder Lorrie Fair is back with the Charge after re-joining the U.S. Women’s National Team for last week’s Independence Day Series vs. Canada. Forward Kelly Smith returned to the Charge lineup on Saturday after missing three matches due to the European Championships. Charge captain and starting central defender Doris Fitschen is on her way back to Philadelphia after helping the German National Team capture its third straight title at the European Women’s Championships. KEY MATCHUP: SCHEDULED REFEREES: Referee: Rachel Woo. Assistant Referees: Karalee Sutton (SAR), Erich Simmons (JAR). Fourth Official: Claudiu Badea. Friday, July 13 – (7:00 pm) – San Diego (4-5-4, 6th place, 16 pts) at Philadelphia (5-5-3, 4th place, 18 pts) (CN8/Cox 4). Season series:Philadelphia leads 1-0. All-time regular-season series: Philadelphia leads 2-0. (Philadelphia leads 2-0 in aggregate goals). Leading scorers: San Diego: M Shannon MacMillan (7 g, 5 a, 19 pts); Philadelphia: M Liu Ailing (6 g, 1 a, 13 pts). Did you know? The Charge take on the Spirit for the first time since the season opener in San Diego on April 22. In that match, defender Doris Fitschen scored Philadelphia’s first-ever goal on a penalty kick in the 30th minute, Kelly Smith added an unassisted tally in the 62nd minute and goalkeeper Melissa Moore made five saves for the win. Notes: KEY MATCHUP: Charge defender Jennifer Tietjen’s twin sister Margaret is a defender/midfielder for the Spirit. The duo shared New York State Player of the Year honors after leading Huntington High School to a No. 1 ranking in the nation and the state title as seniors. They also played together at the University of Connecticut and for the Long Island Lady Riders of the W-League. Jennifer, who is seven minutes older, played all 90 minutes in Philadelphia and San Diego’s first encounter on April 22, but Margaret did not see any action. SCHEDULED REFEREES: Referee: Terry Vaughn. Assistant Referees: Kelly Lee (SAR), William DeLaney (JAR). Fourth Official: Martha Sinclair.