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Beat Looks to Clinch Home Field & Gain Momentum for Playoffs

August 4, 2003 - Women's United Soccer Association (WUSA)
Atlanta Beat News Release


ATLANTA (August 4, 2003) - The Atlanta Beat closes out a WUSA record long five-game road trip, on Wednesday night in San Jose. The Beat faces the CyberRays at 9 p.m. ET and will be looking to clinch home field advantage and will look to gain momentum heading into the playoffs. The Beat split two previous games with San Jose early in the season.

The Beat closes out the regular season at home on Sunday, August 10, at 6:30 p.m. at Herndon Stadium versus the New York Power. The Beat is 5-0-3 all-time versus the New York Power and is 1-0-1 versus New York this season.

Atlanta Beat @ San Jose CyberRays Preview - Wed., Aug. 6, 9 p.m. ET, - Spartan Stadium The Atlanta Beat will face the San Jose CyberRays on Wednesday, August 6, in the final game of a league record five-game road trip. Both Atlanta and San Jose are coming off of losses from the weekend. Atlanta lost on the road 3-0 to the Philadelphia Charge, while San Jose took a 5-0 beating from the Washington Freedom.

Atlanta heads into the game with a 9-4-6 record and 33 points and still remains atop the WUSA standings. San Jose has a record of 7-9-3 and 24 points and still has a shot at the playoffs. The Beat and CyberRays have split games this season. The rubber match of this series is the most important of the season, as San Jose is trying to keep its playoff hopes alive and the Beat is trying to secure home field advantage in the semifinal round of the playoffs. Atlanta holds the edge over San Jose in regular season play with a 5-2-1 all-time record.

Both Atlanta and San Jose will be relying heavily on their leading goal scorers.

For the Beat, Charmaine Hooper leads the team with eight goals and seven assists, for 23 points and following close behind is Maribel Dominguez, who has seven goals and four assists for 18 points. The leading scorer for the CyberRays is Pretinha, with five goals and five assists for 15 points. Unfortunately Pretinha is sidelined for the season with a torn ACL. The CyberRay's second leading scorer is Sissi with three goals and five assists for 11 points.

With playoff hopes and home field advantage on the line in this contest, look for each team to take chances and force the game on the other. The CyberRays will have to overcome an anemic offense to topple the number one defense in the WUSA.

Key matchup: Beat midfielder Nikki Serlenga vs. CyberRays midfielder Tisha Venturini-Hoch - Nikki Serlenga will be responsible for shutting down Tisha Venturini-Hoch of the CyberRays. This season, Serlenga has recorded a goal and an assist for four points. In the three-year history of the WUSA, Serlenga has tallied four goals and 12 assists. On the opposite side, Tisha Venturini-Hoch has three goals and two assists for eight points on the season and in her three years in the WUSA, has recorded 12 goals and eight assists. Serlenga will have to be on top of her game to close down Venturini-Hoch, as she has scored two goals and an assist in her last four games.

Tom Stone's Quotes on upcoming matches:

"Home field advantage is important, but maybe more important right now is building some momentum and confidence heading into the post season. We've clinched a playoff spot, but we're not relaxing at all right now, because it's all about preparing for one 90 minute game that could put you into the Founders Cup."

"Even though we're heading into our 20th game, there are still ferocious battles going on for starting spots at different positions. Every player wants to be on the field and the whole team realizes these next two games are very important, if we want to bring a game home to our fans."

Beat 0, Charge 3 - Game Recap - August 2, 2003

The Beat's five-game unbeaten streak was snapped on Saturday, as Atlanta lost to the Philadelphia Charge 3-0. Despite the loss, Atlanta was still able to clinch a playoff spot after Washington defeated the San Jose CyberRays 5-0. This was the third and final meeting this season between the two teams. Atlanta won both of the previous meetings with a combined score of 5-2.

On Saturday, Philadelphia got on the board early as Marinette Pichon scored her first of two goals in the 20th minute. Pichon slotted a pass from Stacey Tullock on the 18-yard line to beat Briana Scurry on her left. The Charge wasted no time after the break, scoring just five minutes into the second half. Former Atlanta Beat forward Emily Burt ran onto a loose ball in the six-yard box put away her 2nd goal of the season. The third and final goal came from Pichon, as she was able to beat the Atlanta defense to notch her 12th goal of the season.

The Beat had its chances to even the score; however, the post played a role in keeping Atlanta off the scoreboard. The first chance, Cindy Parlow headed a ball past Charge goalkeeper Hope Solo, but Marinette Pichon was on the post to clear the ball out. In the second opportunity, Charmaine Hooper used a poor clearance by Philadelphia to unload on a shot, but unfortunately it hit the cross bar and was cleared off the line.

Tom Stone's quotes on match versus Philadelphia: "We lost a little steam. I don't think we've had our best games in our last two outings, but it's still under our control."

"For as well as Philly played, Charmaine [Hooper] hit it off the crossbar, Maribel [Dominguez] missed an open net, Cindy [Parlow's] was knocked off the line."

"It's sometimes more dangerous to play against teams like tonight. Philly played with a lot more freedom than last time we were here. You could sense they were like, ok, our season's done but let's show everyone we can still play."

Injury Report - (August 4-10, 2003)

None

National Team Duty - (August 4-9, 2003)

Conny Pohlers - Germany

Additional Notes

Pohlers Returns to German National Team

Atlanta Beat first year forward, Conny Pohlers, is returning to the German Women's National Team for the first time since the fall of 2002. Pohlers, who was sidelined in training camp while recovering from a knee injury, came on strong in the second half of the WUSA season. She ranks 3rd on the team in scoring with 4 goals and 5 assists for 13 points. Three of her four goals are game winners. She will join the national team and will be available for Germany's match versus Nigeria on August 6, in Trier, Germany. Pohlers is slated to return in time for the Beat's regular season finale on August 10.

There's No Place Like Home

The Atlanta Beat returns home for the final regular season game on Sunday, August 10. The Beat has fared decently on the road (.500, 2-2-5), but is tops in the league at home, with a 7-2-1 record and .750 winning percentage at Herndon Stadium. The Beat has scored 23 of its 32 goals this season, at Herndon Stadium.

Defense Wins Championships

The Beat's defense ranks 1st in the WUSA, with a 0.89 goals allowed per game average, through 19 games. The league wide goals against average stands at 1.50 goals per game allowed. The Beat can become the first team to allow less than one goal per game, if the team allows three goals or fewer in the last two matches. The Beat won the regular season championship in 2001 and went on to the Founders Cup, when allowing only 21 goals the entire season for a 1.00 goals against average.

Atlanta Beat Season Final August 10, 2003, 6:30 p.m. @ Herndon Stadium

The Atlanta Beat's final regular season game will be played at home on Sunday, August 10, at 6:30 p.m. It was originally scheduled for Saturday, August 9, but due to a conflict with the Atlanta Falcons preseason game on August 9, the game was rescheduled.

Tie-Breaking

1) Head-to-Head Competition (against all other teams equal in points)
2) Head-to-Head Goal Differential (against all other teams equal in points)
3) Overall Goal Differential
4) Total Goals
5) Disciplinary Points (5 -each Yellow Card; 10 - each Red Card or Staff Send-off)

This Week's Scenarios (Prior to Wednesday's Matches)

Atlanta Beat:

1) A win or tie by Atlanta on August 6 coupled with a loss by either a loss by Washington or Boston will result in the Beat clinching homefield in the playoffs as well as the 2003 regular season crown. 2) A win by Atlanta on August 6 coupled with a tie by either Washington or Boston will result in the Beat clinching homefield in the playoffs as well as the 2003 regular season crown.

Boston Breakers:

1) A win by Boston on August 6 coupled with a loss by Washington will result in the Breakers clinching homefield in the playoffs.

Carolina Courage:

1) A loss or a tie by Carolina on August 6 will result in the Courage being eliminated from playoff contention.

San Diego Spirit:

1) A loss or a tie by Carolina on August 6 will result in San Diego clinching a playoff spot. 2) A loss or a tie by San Jose on August 6 will result in the Spirit clinching a playoff spot.

San Jose CyberRays:

1) A loss or a tie by San Jose on August 6 will result in the CyberRays being eliminated from playoff contention.

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