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Beat Snaps Boston's Streak, Prepares to Face San Diego on Saturday

May 26, 2003 - Women's United Soccer Association (WUSA)
Atlanta Beat News Release


ATLANTA (May 26, 2003) - The Atlanta Beat traveled to Boston and ended the Breakers 13-game home unbeaten streak with two goals from Charmaine Hooper and one from Homare Sawa in a 3-1 victory. The Beat now holds sole possession of second place and prepares to head to San Diego for a Saturday showdown versus the Spirit. The Beat and Spirit tied 1-1 on May 10. The Spirit sits two points behind the Beat in the standings and has not lost in six games.

Atlanta Beat vs. San Diego Spirit Preview - Saturday, May 31, 9 p.m. ET, Torero Stadium - San Diego, CA

The Atlanta Beat faces the San Diego Spirit for the second time in 2003, on Saturday, May 31, at Torero Stadium. The Beat heads into the match with a two game winning streak and three game unbeaten streak. The Spirit has not lost since the first game of the season and is 3-0-3 since.

The Beat and Spirit played the first game of the 2003 series on May 10 in Atlanta and tied the game 1-1. Atlanta had to scramble from behind after Julie Fleeting headed home a corner kick for the game's first goal. The Beat's goal came from Maribel Dominguez and the game ended 1-1.

The Spirit won its last game, a 2-1 decision over the Carolina Courage at SAS Stadium. Julie Foudy and Aly Wagner notched goals for the Spirit in the win. For Wagner, the WUSA's 1st overall selection in 2003, it was her first ever WUSA goal. Fleeting leads the Spirit's attack with four goals and one assist for nine points.

The Beat's attack is multifaceted with many different key players. The Beat's scoring leader is Dominguez, a Mexican international. She leads the team with six goals and three assists for 15 points. Hooper ranks second on the team in scoring with 11 points off three goals and five assists. Her five assists are tied for the league lead with Carolina's Danielle Fotopoulos.

Key matchup: Nancy Augustyniak versus Julie Fleeting - Scottish forward Julie Fleeting notched the Spirit's only goal versus the Beat in the last meeting and created numerous chances with her quick runs and tough goal crashing mentality. Beat defenders will have their hands full with Fleeting, especially Augustyniak who will be counted about to track Fleeting down and keep her scoring opportunities to a minimum.

Tom Stone's quotes on heading to San Diego: "We are learning some tough lessons when starting games not on the same page. We've learned that we have to start games like we've been finishing them."

"We've got another tough test ahead of us, heading into San Diego. They are a team that, like Boston, is really hot right now. As we have come to understand, this league does not allow you to take a break, so we'll have to be ready heading in there."

Beat 3 vs. Breakers 1, Recap - May 25, 2003 The Beat traveled to Boston for only the team's second road game of the season. The Beat defeated Boston 6-0 in the first meeting of 2003. The Breakers were looking for revenge and looking to keep their 13-game home unbeaten streak intact.

It took only 10 minutes for the Beat to get on the scoreboard, as Charmaine Hooper notched her second goal of the season. Hooper got her second of the game and third of the season in the 33rd minute. It would prove to be the game winner, as Boston's only goal came from Dagny Mellgren in the 38th minute.

Homare Sawa added an insurance goal in the 68th minute en route to the Beat victory. With the win, the Beat won the 2003 season series and snapped the Breakers home unbeaten streak. Atlanta and Boston will face off for the final regular season meeting on July 19 in Boston.

Tom Stone's Quotes on match versus Boston: "We weren't at our best in the first half and Boston probably didn't deserve to be down 2-1. We went into the locker room and decided we needed to regroup and tighten the defense."

"We got into a nice rhythm in the second half and took control of the game. We deserved the result, by the way we played the second half."

Tom Stone on the return of Nikki Serlenga: "When Nikki stepped on the field in the second half she made an immediate impact. Her passing helped lead to Sawa's goal."

Additional Notes

Women's World Cup on the Way to U.S. It was today announced that the U.S. will now host the 2003 FIFA Women's World Cup. The 2003 Women's World Cup had originally been scheduled for China from Sept. 23 to Oct. 11, but was moved out of the country by FIFA on May 3 because of the threat of Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome. FIFA chose the United States over Sweden, the only other country besides the USA to make a formal bid to host the tournament.

The Beat has up to six players that will potentially play in this year's tournament. Goalkeeper Briana Scurry and forward Cindy Parlow are regular starters for the U.S. Women's National Team, while forward Charmaine Hooper and defender Sharolta Nonen are regular starters for the Canadian Women's National Team. Both the U.S. and Canada qualified for the tournament with, respectively, a first and second place finish at the 2002 Women's Gold Cup. Forward Maribel Dominguez is the Mexican National Team's captain. Mexico, the third place team in the 2002 Gold Cup will play an Asian Football Confederation team in a playoff upon completion of the AFC qualifying tournament being held in late June. Homare Sawa, the Japanese National Team captain will compete with Japan in the tournament being held June 10-22 in Thailand.

Rookies Helping Lead the Way Two Beat rookies are among the Beat's top four leading scorers. Rookie forward Maribel Dominguez leads the team and ranks second in the league in scoring with six goals and three assists for 15 points. Rookie Abby Crumpton ranks 4th in scoring with two goals and two assists for six points. Dominguez has notched at least one point in five of the Beat's seven matches this season.

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