Beat Look to Extend Winning Streak

Published on May 28, 2002 under Women's United Soccer Association (WUSA)
Atlanta Beat News Release


The Atlanta Beat blanked the Boston Breakers 1-0 giving Atlanta a record of 3-3-1 with 10 points. The victory gave Atlanta its first winning streak of the season and vaulted the Beat into a tie for third in the league standings.

Cindy Parlow notched the game's only goal in the 10th minute on a headed shot that hit the top right corner of the goal. Nikki Serlenga sent the cross in from a free kick awarded to the Beat after Parlow was fouled in the right corner of the field. The tally was Parlow's second of the season and second in as many games. Serlenga notched her fourth assist of the season and second in as many games to Parlow. Serlenga has earned an assist in three straight games and has equaled her assist and point total from 2001.

The second half saw some fireworks from each squad as the Breakers out shot the Beat 10-5 in the frame with five shots on goal to the Beat's three. The Breakers turned the table on the Beat coming out aggressively in the second half, forcing Scurry to make key saves in the first 12 minutes of the half.

In the 72nd minute Marci Miller replaced Liping Wang in the midfield for the Beat. Miller entered the game to give the Beat a good defensive ball winner. Miller would stay in the middle until the 82nd minute when she was given a red card for a dangerous foul on Breakers midfielder Bettina Wiegmann. The Beat was forced to play with ten players for the remainder of the match.

The Breakers best scoring opportunity of the game came in the 92nd minute when Wiegmann dribbled through the box and sent a point blank shot on goal. Scurry quickly dove to her left making the save of the game. Scurry recorded her second shutout of the season and the ninth of her career. Scurry ranks second in career shutouts to LaKeysia Beene of the San Jose CyberRays, who with a shut out versus Washington on Sunday now has 10 career clean sheets.

Tom Stone Quotes on Match versus the Breakers:

"We are continuing to get better every week and the first half of the game today was the best we've played all season."

"We knew Boston would come out firing in the second half and we were able to withstand the pressure and create some chances of our own to wrestle away the win."

"We gave Amanda Cromwell the start today because she's an experienced player with good speed and creativity, the things we knew the team would need to counter the speed of Mellgren and Meinert up front."

"Cindy is such a creative and strong player, but she's still not 100 percent match fit. When she's fully fit, I think teams are going to have a tough time stopping her."

Preview Week 8
Atlanta Beat (3-3-1, 10 pts) vs. San Diego Spirit (2-3-2, 8 pts)
Saturday, June 1, 2002 - 6:00 p.m. EST
Broadcast: Fox Sports Net South
All-time Regular Season Series record (Atlanta Beat 1-1-1)
Top Beat scorers in regular season series:
Charmaine Hooper 1 goal, 1 assist, three points
Key Players Out: Lisa Krzykowski, broken left ulna

This Saturday the Atlanta Beat meets the San Diego Spirit, arguably its biggest rival in the WUSA The Beat's all time series standing versus the Spirit stands at 1-1-1. San Diego defeated Atlanta 3-1 the last time the teams met, July 29, 2001.

When the Beat and Spirit get together to do battle, expect some fireworks. In the first meeting of 2001, the Spirit came back to tie the game on an apparent foul throw in, by Kim Pickup, that led to a Beat own goal. The second meeting, a 3-2 Beat win, saw Cindy Parlow ejected for elbowing Spirit midfielder Julie Foudy, in the face. The third and final meeting was a physical battle with the Beat coming out bruised and battered.

Briana Scurry left the game with a sprained ankle after colliding with a teammate while trying to make a save. Cindy Parlow left the game after a suffering a concussion in a collision with Charmaine Hooper and Homare Sawa left the game with a sprained knee.

A key to victory for the Beat will be containing San Diego forward Shannon MacMillan, who is one of the top attacking forwards in the world. She notched two goals versus the Beat in the 3-1 win on July 29, and recorded another in the Beat's 3-2 win over San Diego on June 17, 2001.

Key matchup: Cindy Parlow versus Joy Fawcett.
Parlow has scored goals in consecutive matches for the Beat and still has yet to regain her fitness level after being injured throughout much of the season. Fawcett is a teammate of Parlow's on the U.S. Women's National Team and is one of the top defenders in the game today. She's started and played every minute in six games for the Spirit this season. She'll be counted upon to use her speed and strength to counter Parlow's mix of power and finesse.

Tom Stone Quotes on upcoming Match versus the Spirit:

"San Diego is good because they have great balance and a terrific front line with three very different players that cause unique problems for us."

"Last year, we had a bizarre game in San Diego. We lost Bri (ankle), Cindy (concussion), Sawa (knee) and Hooper (slight concussion) in a span of about 20 minutes and three of the four injuries were self inflicted!"

"We are excited about getting back to Torero stadium because the field is wonderful and the playing environment is one of the best in the league. It should be a great game."

Injury update:
Lisa Krzykowski. Out (Broken left ulna)
Cindy Parlow, Probable (Fractured nose)
Nikki Serlenga, Probable (right hamstring strain)
Sun Wen, Probable (left adductor strain)
Nancy Augustyniak, Probable (right knee patellar tendonitis)

Atlanta Beat Training Schedule:
Wednesday, May 29 - 10 a.m. - 12 p.m. Herndon Stadium
Thursday, May 30 - 10 a.m. - 12 p.m. Herndon Stadium
Friday, May 31 - Time TBD, Torero Stadium - San Diego, CA
Times and locations are subject to change

Atlanta Beat Notes:

Beat Remain Undefeated When Scoring First

Scoring the game's first goal has been a key for the Beat throughout its early history, showing that Atlanta knows how to hold a lead. The Beat is 10-0-3 all time in the regular season when notching the game's first goal.

Defense Getting Stingy

Through seven games the Beat has used six different defensive lineups due to injury and experiment. The past two games have seen the lineups work for the Beat as the team has allowed only one goal in the last 180 minutes. The Beat currently ranks fourth in league defense standings, allowing only 1.4 goals per game.

Serlenga Dishing Out Assists

Beat midfielder Nikki Serlenga has already equaled her 2001 season assist total, only a third of the way through the season. Serlenga has notched an assist in three straight matches, and has dished out two to Cindy Parlow in consecutive matches. Serlenga is tied for the league lead in assists with Tiffeny Milbrett of the New York Power.

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Women's United Soccer Association Stories from May 28, 2002


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