Flash Look to Continue Winning Ways Against Boston
June 3, 2013 - National Women's Soccer League (NWSL)
Western New York Flash News Release
Elma, N.Y. - Riding a three-game winning streak, the Western New York Flash (3-2-1, 10 points) head to Beantown on Wednesday to face the Boston Breakers (3-2-2, 11 points) at 7 p.m. The Flash are just one point behind Boston and currently sit tied for fourth place in the NWSL, while the Breakers hold third place. The Flash, however, have only played six games while the Breakers have had seven.
The two teams met earlier in the season and Boston came away with a 2-1 victory, spoiling the Flash's home opener at Sahlen's Stadium back on April 27th. Samantha Kerr put her team ahead just minutes into the game, with a seventh minute goal that gave the Flash a 1-0 lead early on. However, Heather O'Reilly scored a goal on each side of the half to give the Breakers a 2-1 lead, that proved to be the final score.
In that game, however, the Flash were without U.S. Women's National Team allocations Abby Wambach and Carli Lloyd who will both be in the starting lineup on Wednesday night.
After teaming up to take down Canada 3-0 on Sunday, Wambach and Lloyd will have to switch gears and battle against U.S. Women's National Team teammates Sydney Leroux and O'Reilly. Wambach and Leroux combined for the Americans' third goal in the friendly, with Abby sending a coy no-look pass to Leroux who scored in extra time.
After starting the year winless in its first three games, the Flash have won their last three games. The team's most recent win came back on May 24th, 12 days before Wednesday's game. Defender Brittany Taylor was the highlight of that game, as the centerback posted both assists in the Flash's 2-1 win over the then-winless Chicago Red Stars. Taylor setup Wambach's 54th minute header goal, tying the game at 1-1. Then, 11 minutes later, Taylor drove a corner kick to Flash captain McCall Zerboni who put the ball in the back of the net for the 2-1 final.
Boston is coming off its second loss of the year, after falling to Sky Blue FC 5-1 on Saturday. The Breakers allowed three goals in the game's opening 17 minutes and were unable to recover against the league's top team. Lianne Sanderson, last week's NWSL Player of the Week, scored Boston's only goal of the game in the 75th minute with a hard shot from a distance.
Both Wambach and Leroux are tied for second place in NWSL scoring, each with four goals on the year, while Sanderson leads the league with six assists. Wambach and O'Reilly are also near the top of the list in shots on goal both with 12 to tie for third place.
Flash goaltender Adrianna Franch has been one of the league's top keepers so far, racking up 27 saves thus far for fourth place in the NWSL.
Fans can follow the Flash's official Twitter page @WNYFlash for live updates and join in on the conversation by using the hashtags #BOSvWNYF and #WNYF. The game will also be live-streamed on YouTube.
• Discuss this story on the National Women's Soccer League message board...
National Women's Soccer League Stories from June 3, 2013
- Washington Spirit to Add Defender Toni Pressley - Washington Spirit
- Flash Look to Continue Winning Ways Against Boston - Western New York Flash
- Seattle Reign FC Score Six in Victory over Haiti WNT - Seattle Reign FC
The opinions expressed in this release are those of the organization issuing it, and do not necessarily reflect the thoughts or opinions of OurSports Central or its staff.
