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Atlanta Beat Weekly

April 29, 2002 - Women's United Soccer Association (WUSA)
Atlanta Beat News Release


Recap of Week Atlanta Beat (1-2-0, 3 pts) vs. Washington Freedom (1-2-0, 3 pts)
Saturday, April 27, 2002
Herndon Field - ATLANTA

The Beat recorded it's first win of the young 2002 season on Saturday afternoon, needing a late Charmaine Hooper goal to defeat the Washington Freedom. Hooper's goal came in the 4th minute of stoppage time, when she pounced on a Homare Sawa header that floated over the Freedom defense and into the penalty box. Hooper raced past Freedom defender Carrie Moore and slotted the ball past goalkeeper Siri Mullinix, who had replaced Dawn Greathouse in 64th minute of the match. Greathouse was carried off of the field on a stretcher after a hard collision with Beat forward Emily Burt. Greathouse suffered from back and hip pain and was taken to Piedmont Hospital for evaluation. The four minutes of stoppage time was added on due to Greathouse's injury.

The win snapped a two game regular season losing streak and three game streak dating back to the 2001 Founders Cup, which the Beat lost in a penalty kick shootout to the San Jose CyberRays. Although all four meetings versus the Freedom have been decided by only one goal, the Beat has dominated the series winning all four of those meetings in the final 10 minutes of the game.

For the second game in a row versus the Freedom, Hooper has notched the game winner in the last few minutes of regulation. She scored two goals in a 2-1 come back win over the Freedom on August 4, 2001, one in the 81st and the other in the 85th. Hooper, for the second year in a row, also scored the Beat's first home goal of the season. The win in 2001 also snapped a three game losing streak that the Beat has suffered late in the season.

Saturday's win gave Beat goalkeeper Briana Scurry her first shut out of the 2002 season. Scurry has now tallied eight career shutouts, tying San Jose CyberRays goalkeeper LaKeysia Beene for the most in WUSA history.

Hooper did not start the match because of a left medial collateral ligament strain, marking the first start she's missed in 12 games. The Beat was playing without the services of midfielder/defender Kylie Bivens, on call with the U.S. National Team and Cindy Parlow, who the WUSA ruled ineligible due to FIFA regulations regarding national team call ups.

Tom Stone Quotes on Match versus the Freedom:

"When you get Hooper in front of the goal, she knows what to do with it."

"We are getting better each week, but it's still not good enough."

"In the year and a quarter that I've had this team, I have never seen them quit. In the 94th minute we still wanted the game and were able to come through."

"We said to ourselves, 'We are not going to be beaten today.' And if from that we could get a win, we wanted it anyway we could get it." "We've got so many great players and one of the things I've been impressed with is that when one our core players doesn't get 90 minutes, they doesn't pack it up. They are still there for her teammates, fighting and pushing for the win."

Atlanta Beat (1-2-0, 3 pts) vs. Carolina Courage (2-0-0, 6 pts)
Saturday, May 4, 4:00 p.m. National Broadcast: PAX-TV
All-time Series record (Atlanta Beat 1-2-0)
Top scorers in Series: Charmaine Hooper (2G, 0A, 4 pts), Danielle Fotopoulos (2G, 2A, 6 pts)
Key Players Out: None

The Beat and Courage meet for the first time of the 2002 season in the match being broadcast nationally on PAX-TV. The Beat will hope, the national audience witnesses a win this time versus the Courage. The Courage defeated the Beat 3-2 in the last meeting on July 29, 2001. Currently the Courage is 2-0-0 and at the top of the WUSA standings with six points.

The Courage was the only team to defeat the Beat twice and win a season series over Atlanta in 2001. Sun Wen notched her first career WUSA goal and Charmaine Hooper scored her 7th goal in the last meeting, but it was not enough as Hege Riise scored an 88th minute goal to put the Courage on top. Carolina got on the board first with a Silvana Burtini goal in the 27th minute and then stretched the lead to 2-0 with a Danielle Fotopuolos goal in the 45th. The 2-0 lead was erased in a span of three minutes when Sun Wen scored her first goal, lobbing the ball over Courage keeper Kristin Bengtsson in the 70th minute. Hooper pulled the match even in the 73rd, converting a penalty kick after being fouled in the box. Carolina's winning goal came in the 88th minute when the Beat failed to clear the ball out of the area, allowing Riise the chance to finish the shot from only five yards out.

The Beat and Courage met in the 2002 preseason on April 6, in an exhibition match in Chattanooga, Tennessee, with the Beat prevailing 2-1. Emily Burt notched both goals for Atlanta in the win.

Key matchup: Beat midfielder Kylie Bivens versus Courage Midfielder Hege Riise. Bivens will be relied upon to provide some of the Beat's attacking pressure versus the Courage, but she'll also have to closely watch Courage midfielder Hege Riise, who is one of the best passers in the game.

Quote from Tom Stone on upcoming match versus the Carolina Courage:

"Unlike any other team in the league, Carolina can battle us physically. The Courage is the only team we didn't Beat last year and now that they're in first place, they're the team to beat in first place."

Quote of the Week - Tom Stone

"We exercised some demons versus the Freedom, in getting our first win. The Courage team is still one that needs exorcism."

Injury update: Nancy Augustyniak - Probable (right knee patellar tendonitis)
Charmaine Hooper - Probable (left MCL strain)
Cindy Parlow - Probable (right ankle contusion)
Liping Wang - Probable (left knee contusion)

Beat Notes

Twins Make History

Saturday's Beat match versus the Freedom, produced a few firsts, one in particular a historical event in North American professional sports history. Julie and Nancy Augustyniak, twin sisters and defenders for the Atlanta Beat, stepped on the field versus the Washington Freedom's Jacqui and Skylar Little, also twins. Although there have been cases of twins playing on the same team in MLB, NHL and NBA, one set of identical twins has never faced another set of twins in major North American sports history.

Kylie Bivens Notches Another Cap for the U.S. Women's National Team

Bivens recorded her seventh career cap for the U.S. Women's National Team, in a 3-0 defeat of Finland on Saturday night at Spartan Stadium in San Jose, California. The Beat defender missed the Beat's first win of the season due to the call up, but will be back when the team takes on the Carolina Courage on Saturday, May 4 at 4 p.m.

Atlanta Beat to Participate in USA Tennis Month

May is national tennis month and the Beat will be on hand this Wednesday, May 1, to kick off tennis month at the Lincoln Tennis Center in Stone Mountain, Georgia. The Beat's mascot and interactive games will be there during the day, as children from all over Atlanta take part in the event. The evening portion of the event includes a celebrity and media exhibition featuring Atlanta Beat players, local television celebrities and Atlanta Falcons and Hawks players and coaches.

Get Up Close and Personal with Beat Forward Kelly Cagle on Channel 33's Sports Unlimited

Cagle, a starting forward for the Atlanta Beat will be a guest Wednesday night May 1 at 7 p.m. on Sports Unlimited. The hour long sports talk show is taped live in studio and features many of Atlanta's premier athletes fielding questions from fans and going into depth about what it's like on and off the field.

Beat Training Schedule - April 30 - May 3
Tuesday - Thursday, 10 a.m. - 12 p.m. at Rose Bowl Field.
Friday - Training at State Capital Soccer Park in Cary, NC

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Women's United Soccer Association Stories from April 29, 2002


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