Julie Murray laid waste to Philadelphia as LaKeysia Beene picked up yet another shutout in the Bay Area’s 3-0 win over the depleted Charge on a hot June 20 night in San Jose, Calif. At the other end of the field, Beene needed just two saves to set the record for the WUSA’s longest scoreless streak at 437 minutes. Murray, the CyberRays Australian forward, scored twice and assisted on Katia’s goal for a five-point night, which ties the league record for points in a game. Before last Sunday’s win over Carolina, Murray and frontline partner Katia failed to finish plenty of good goalscoring chances. Now Murray has three goals and one assist in her last two games, while, against the Charge, Katia scored her second goal of the season. “IÆm just happy to finally put away some necessary goals for the team,” Murray said. “The team’s been playing so well collectively. I was happy I was able to do my part of the job and put the ball in the back of the net.” “I was delighted for her,” Bay Area coach Ian Sawyers said. “SheÆs been getting herself in position since the start of the season. I think the true testimony to a great player and a great goalscorer is that they’re not afraid to get in position again. Some people will not get in position, purposefully, so they’re not going to get their shot off. She’s always in there. She’s got a lot of courage.” For the second straight game, the CyberRays played a 4-3-3 formation, which kept their defense solid and applied heavy pressure to the Charge backline. They put 14 of their 17 shots on goal. The Bay Area’s Brandi Chastain could have made the score 4-0, but the heroine of the ’99 World Cup final, who decided that match by converting a penalty kick, missed a PK in the 77th minute. Referee Kari Seitz had whistled for a penalty after Charge defender Jennifer Tietjen tripped Bay Area forward Katia in the Philadelphia penalty area. Chastain, who used her left foot in ’99 and used her right foot to convert a penalty against Boston earlier this season, switched back to her left but fired a weak shot slightly to the left of Charge goalkeeper Melissa Moore, who smothered the ball. Philadelphia was missing injured midfielder Lorrie Fair (strained hamstring) as well as England striker Kelly Smith and German defender Doris Fitschen, both preparing with their respective countries for the European Championship in Germany. But afterwards Charge coach Mark Krikorian would not use that as an excuse, rather lamenting a poor effort by the players he did have on hand. “We have a team of 20 professional players, and maybe the ones that are missing do influence the game,” he said. “But the ones who are here are [here] to represent the team and to do the business, and tonight we didn’t do that. Would the lineup be different if we had all our players available? Maybe, maybe not. All these players have to be ready to compete, and tonight we weren’t.” June 20 San Jose, Calif. BAY AREA 3 PHILADELPHIA 0 Scoring Summary: BAY û Katia (Christina Bell, Julie Murray) 48. BAY û Julie Murray (Brandi Chastain) 50. BAY û Julie Murray (Sissi) 77. Bay Area — LaKeysia Beene, Thori Bryan, Kelly Lindsey, Lisa Nanez, Carey Dorn, Brandi Chastain, Christina Bell (Dianne Alagich 66), Sissi (Theresa Wagner, 80), Tisha Venturini, Julie Murray (Megan Horvath, 80), Katia (Jacqui Little, 80). CAUTIONS: None; EJECTIONS: None. Philadelphia — Melissa Moore, Heather Mitts, Kalli Kamholz, Jen Tietjen, Jenny Benson, Rakel Karvelsson (Erin Martin, 79), Liu Ailing, Rebekah McDowell, Michelle Demko (Margret Olafsdottir, 46), Mandy Clemens, Deidre Enos. CAUTIONS: None; EJECTIONS: None. Referee: Keri Seitz. Attendance: 4,687. Weather: Sunny, Hot û 92 degrees.
