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Played
August 21, 2010 5:00 PM EDT
Veteran Memorial Stadium, New Britain, CT
Attendance: 4071
August 21, 2010 5:00 PM EDT
Veteran Memorial Stadium, New Britain, CT
Attendance: 4071
Boston Breakers Take On Atlanta Beat Hoping To Gain Ground In The WPS Table
Atlanta looks to spoil Boston's red-hot run up the standings as interim coach James Galanis makes his debut.
By Giovanni Albanese Jr.
Atlanta Beat got off to its inaugural season in Women's Professional Soccer slowly. After five losses in six games, St. Louis Athletica folded and the Beat picked up a number of the club's star players (Hope Solo, Tina Ellertson, Lori Chalupny and Eniola Aluko to name a few).
Then after some moderate success over a 10-game span, going 4-2-4 including a three-game win streak, things went south again. Since that run, the Beat have lost three straight. And now, more change: head coach Gareth O'Sullivan, along with his assistant Robbie Nicholson, were relieved of their duties.
On Saturday night, the Beat (4-10-5, 17 points) look to get another fresh start, now with interim coach James Galanis at the helm, when they head north to take on the Boston Breakers (8-6-5, 29 points) at Veterans Memorial Stadium in New Britain, Conn.
“The girls put in a hard couple of days both mentally and physically," said Galanis about the first week of training with the club. "Now they’ve just got to go in and empty the tanks.”
It'll be a quasi-home game for the Breakers -- one in which their devoted fan base, The Riptide, will be in full effect. In the last meeting between the two clubs on Aug. 4 (a 2-0 Boston win at home), the Riptide fans and Breakers organization were ripped by Hope Solo via Twitter, accusing them of insensitive remarks towards race.
Things seem to have been handled by both sides and it shouldn't play a factor.
What should, however, is the last-place Beat's near-elimination from postseason contention. A loss against Boston won't eliminate them, but it will leave them on life support for their final four matches.
Boston, however, can't clinch a playoff spot this weekend, but with a win, can all-but ensure itself a berth in the 2010 WPS postseason. Currently in third place, five points behind Philadelphia (with a game in hand), the Breakers have reeled off a 7-1-1 record since the All-Star Game.
Boston's biggest challenge will be preparing for Galanis' style of play he implements.
"It does create a challenge because we have no way to know what system they will play or where he will put players," said Breakers coach Tony DiCicco. "So we have prepared mostly ourselves."
Most recently, Kelly Smith, Jordan Angeli and crew got a league-high four-goal outing in a 4-0 whitewashing of the defending champion Sky Blue FC.
"Our recent success has been because we secured ourselves defensively. We need to be good defensively against Atlanta’s personalities," said DiCicco. "It takes focus; effort; and more effort."
However, this weekend, the Breakers, who have racked up a third-best 29 goals, will be without its leading scorer Smith (10), as well as Alex Scott (both with England) and Ifeoma Dieke (Scotland), playing with their national clubs. In addition, the club lost Leslie Osborne to a season-ending shoulder injury last week.
Kickoff is at 5 p.m. ET.
For more on Women's Professional Soccer, visit Goal.com's WPS page and join Goal.com USA's Facebook fan page!
Then after some moderate success over a 10-game span, going 4-2-4 including a three-game win streak, things went south again. Since that run, the Beat have lost three straight. And now, more change: head coach Gareth O'Sullivan, along with his assistant Robbie Nicholson, were relieved of their duties.
On Saturday night, the Beat (4-10-5, 17 points) look to get another fresh start, now with interim coach James Galanis at the helm, when they head north to take on the Boston Breakers (8-6-5, 29 points) at Veterans Memorial Stadium in New Britain, Conn.
“The girls put in a hard couple of days both mentally and physically," said Galanis about the first week of training with the club. "Now they’ve just got to go in and empty the tanks.”
It'll be a quasi-home game for the Breakers -- one in which their devoted fan base, The Riptide, will be in full effect. In the last meeting between the two clubs on Aug. 4 (a 2-0 Boston win at home), the Riptide fans and Breakers organization were ripped by Hope Solo via Twitter, accusing them of insensitive remarks towards race.
Things seem to have been handled by both sides and it shouldn't play a factor.
What should, however, is the last-place Beat's near-elimination from postseason contention. A loss against Boston won't eliminate them, but it will leave them on life support for their final four matches.
Boston, however, can't clinch a playoff spot this weekend, but with a win, can all-but ensure itself a berth in the 2010 WPS postseason. Currently in third place, five points behind Philadelphia (with a game in hand), the Breakers have reeled off a 7-1-1 record since the All-Star Game.
Boston's biggest challenge will be preparing for Galanis' style of play he implements.
"It does create a challenge because we have no way to know what system they will play or where he will put players," said Breakers coach Tony DiCicco. "So we have prepared mostly ourselves."
Most recently, Kelly Smith, Jordan Angeli and crew got a league-high four-goal outing in a 4-0 whitewashing of the defending champion Sky Blue FC.
"Our recent success has been because we secured ourselves defensively. We need to be good defensively against Atlanta’s personalities," said DiCicco. "It takes focus; effort; and more effort."
However, this weekend, the Breakers, who have racked up a third-best 29 goals, will be without its leading scorer Smith (10), as well as Alex Scott (both with England) and Ifeoma Dieke (Scotland), playing with their national clubs. In addition, the club lost Leslie Osborne to a season-ending shoulder injury last week.
Kickoff is at 5 p.m. ET.
For more on Women's Professional Soccer, visit Goal.com's WPS page and join Goal.com USA's Facebook fan page!
Field Report
| Womens Pro Soccer - WPS (WPS) | Sep 1, 2010 | Atlanta Beat 1 - Boston Breakers 3 |
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| Womens Pro Soccer - WPS (WPS) | Aug 21, 2010 | Boston Breakers 2 - Atlanta Beat 3 |
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| Womens Pro Soccer - WPS (WPS) | Aug 4, 2010 | Boston Breakers 2 - Atlanta Beat 0 |
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| Womens Pro Soccer - WPS (WPS) | Jul 11, 2010 | Boston Breakers 3 - Atlanta Beat 1 |
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Boston Breakers
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| Sep 23, 2010 | Boston Breakers 1 - Independence 2 | WPS |
| Sep 10, 2010 | Sky Blue FC 0 - Boston Breakers 0 | WPS |
| Sep 5, 2010 | FC Gold Pride 2 - Boston Breakers 0 | WPS |
| Sep 1, 2010 | Atlanta Beat 1 - Boston Breakers 3 | WPS |
| Aug 29, 2010 | Independence 1 - Boston Breakers 2 | WPS |
Atlanta Beat
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| Sep 10, 2010 | Freedom 1 - Atlanta Beat 0 | WPS |
| Sep 5, 2010 | Atlanta Beat 0 - Sky Blue FC 0 | WPS |
| Sep 1, 2010 | Atlanta Beat 1 - Boston Breakers 3 | WPS |
| Aug 28, 2010 | Atlanta Beat 1 - FC Gold Pride 6 | WPS |
| Aug 21, 2010 | Boston Breakers 2 - Atlanta Beat 3 | WPS |
Match News