Beat Take on Sky Blue FC for Season's Second Rematch
May 20, 2011 - Women's Professional Soccer (WPS)
Atlanta Beat News Release
KENNESAW, GA. (May 19, 2011) - The Atlanta Beat (1-4-1) of Women's Professional Soccer head to Yurcak Field in Piscataway, N.J., to take on Sky Blue FC, for the second time this season, at 7:00 p.m. on Saturday, May 21.
The Beat are coming off Sunday's tough loss to the Philadelphia Independence, a 2-1 final after leading at halftime. The Beat's lone goal came from a Lori Chalupny finish off a Meghan Lenczyk assist. The Beat also set a 2011 WPS record for league attendance with an announced crowd of 6,125 fans at KSU Soccer Stadium.
On April 16, the Beat first faced Sky Blue FC and came away with their first win and a 1-0 result off a goal from Lenczyk in the 50th minute. Beat goalkeeper Alli Lipsher recorded a stunning 11 saves to keep the shutout and earn her second straight WPS Player of the Week honor.
Four Beat players will be returning to their 2010 season home field for this match up as defender Keely Dowling and midfielders Angela Salem, India Trotter and Carl Lloyd all played for Sky Blue last season. On the Sky Blue side, there were also four players that played for the Beat in 2010 with forward Eniola Aluko and midfielders Carolyn Blank, Tobin Heath and Angie Kerr.
Lloyd will return from her National Team duties to rejoin the Beat. She is tied with Chalupny for most goals scored this season with two, and she was recently honored for earning her 100th career cap (international appearance) with the USWNT prior to last weekend's games against Japan. In recognition of this honor, National Team head coach Pia Sundhage rewarded Lloyd with the captain's armband for the first time in her international career. Lloyd assisted the second goal Wednesday night, in what became a 2-0 U.S. victory.
The Beat waived forward Kristina Larsen and midfielder Vendula Strnadova on Tuesday, May 17, 2011. Below is the midweek coaching report provided by Atlanta Beat head coach James Galanis.
Injury Report:
Lauren Sesselmann (probable)
Lyndsey Patterson (probable)
Colleen Flanagan (probable)
Heather Mitts (questionable)
National Team
None
Transactions
Waived - Kristina Larsen
Waived - Vendula Strnadova
The Beat finally returned home last week to a great crowd. Coach, what are your thoughts heading into another road match'
We are looking forward to playing away. It presents us with another challenge. We didn't do well in our last away trip, so we look forward to trying to reverse that.
Describe Lori Chalupny's leadership on and off the field. How are Chalupny, Cat Whitehill and Keeley Dowling leading this team back on track'
Lori is a true professional. She leads by actions. Cat and Keeley have also been inspirational from day one. They both communicate, organize and inspire their teammates.
What are the positives you take out of last week's loss'
We played an outstanding first half. We moved off the ball really well and played with no fear.
The Beat defeated Sky Blue FC in the second game of the season. How will we match up with them this time around. How has the team improved since the last meeting'
Because we beat them the last time, this game will present us with a different challenge. I am positive they will come out for revenge. Our team has improved in all areas since the last game.
Talk about setting a season-high for record attendance for the WPS last week. What was your impression' What was the team's impression' How will this help the league and women's soccer'
It was a fantastic environment. The crowd was loud and into the game. I'm proud of how our stadium staff handled the big crowd. After the game, I got nothing but positive comments about our stadium, our staff, and our young team. The team definitely loved playing in front of the big crowd. I hope the crowd that showed up continues to show up and support our team. We really appreciate their support.
You said the team deserved to lose last week, how will you bring back a winning mentality'
We did deserve to lose because we didn't work as hard as we should have in the second half. The team knows what made us unsuccessful, and the players learned from it. We took a lot from the game, and we have a lot of positives that we can build off of. If we can string two good halves of soccer together, with play similar to what we produced in the first half last week, we will win.
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Women's Professional Soccer Stories from May 20, 2011
- Beat Take on Sky Blue FC for Season's Second Rematch - Atlanta Beat
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