Beat to Face 2nd Place Courage Saturday

Published on July 23, 2002 under Women's United Soccer Association (WUSA)
Atlanta Beat News Release


The Beat went into the match versus the Breakers expecting to play without three of its biggest stars, including Cindy Parlow, Briana Scurry and Kylie Bivens. By a stroke of good/bad luck Bivens was released from the National Team and flew in to Atlanta Saturday morning and was available for the match.

It turned out that even without Parlow and Scurry, and with the help of Bivens, the Beat defeated the Breakers 3-1. Atlanta got on the board first in the 27th minute when Homare Sawa notched her 5th goal of the season and third in as many games. The play developed when Nikki Serlenga passed a ball out to the left wing for Julie Augustyniak, who dribbled by a defender and crossed the ball to Sawa for the easy put away.

The Breakers equalized in the 40th minute when Kristine Lilly jumped and headed in a Maren Meinert corner kick to the near post past Beat goalkeeper Melanie Wilson. The goal, Lilly's 7th of the season, was all the Breakers would get in the game.

Charmaine Hooper extended her scoring streak when she notched the game winner in the 66th minute. The play began with Marci Miller dropping a ball back on the right wing for Bivens, who raced by a Breakers defender and crossed to the back post. Emily Burt jumped and headed the ball off the crossbar and it landed at the feet of Hooper, who shot it in for her team leading 8th goal of the season and second in as many games. Burt connected with Hooper for Hooper's 7th goal in the win versus New York on July 13.

The Beat put the final nail in the coffin in the 89th minute. This time it was Serlenga notching her second goal of the season. Hooper was pulled down about 22 yards out from goal and a free kick was awarded to the Beat. Serlenga stepped to the kick and unleashed a rocket into the upper right corner of the goal.

Game Notes:

The Beat had the same three players score goals in consecutive games. Hooper, Sawa and Serlenga all scored goals in the Beat's win over New York on July 13 and each scored another goal in the win over Boston.

Melanie Wilson earned her third career win and second of the 2002 WUSA season. She's started and played the full 90 minutes in three straight games and has a record of 2-1-0 on the season and 3-2-1 in her career.

Tom Stone Quotes on Match versus the Boston: "The emergence of our attack has been great. We scored four last week and three tonight. It's something we've been hoping would happen, and we've told our offense all year, 'It's a disaster if you don't get the chances.' Lately we've been creating all these chances and they had to fall sooner or later. In the last two games they have fallen."

"Nikki was our captain, she was great. I pulled her aside and told her that her personality had to grow in this game and about eight minutes later she scored the killer goal."

Week 16 Preview
Atlanta Beat (8-7-1, 25 pts) vs. Carolina Courage (10-3-3, 33 pts)
Saturday, July 27, 2002 , 7 p.m.
Atlanta Broadcast: Fox Sports Net
All-time Regular Season Series record (Atlanta Beat 0-4-1) Key Players Out: None

The Atlanta Beat faces its biggest WUSA nemesis, the Carolina Courage, on Saturday, July 27 at 7 p.m. at Herndon Stadium. The Courage has won both meetings this season and is the only WUSA team the Beat has never defeated. The Beat's all-time record versus Carolina stands at 0-4-1.

The Beat and Courage met on May 4, with Carolina prevailing 1-0 on a Tiffany Roberts goal. The teams met again on June 15 at Herndon Stadium and even though the Beat scored first, the Courage came back with three goals to take the victory. Danielle Fotopoulos, Unni Lehn and Brigit Prinz scored goals for Carolina in the win.

The Beat is on a two game winning streak while the Courage dropped its last game 2-0 to the Philadelphia Charge. The last time the Beat and Courage met, Atlanta had a 4-game winning streak snapped by Carolina. The Beat is looking, not only to extend its winning streak, but also to snap its three game losing streak to the Courage that dates back to the 2001 season.

The Courage has done a complete turnaround from last season, when the team finished in last place and gave up the most goals in the league. Currently the Courage sits in 2nd place in the standings and has the league's most productive offense and second best defense.

The Beat will have to contain two of the WUSA's hottest players in Courage forward Birgit Prinz and midfielder Hege Riise. Since joining the Courage nine games into the season, Prinz has notched 8 goals and leads the Courage in scoring. Riise is one of the top midfielders in the women's game and ranks second in the league in assists with 11.

Key matchup: Beat midfiedler Nikki Serlenga versus Courage midfielder Hege Riise. Riise ranks second in the league in assists with 11 and is one of the best playmakers in the game today. Without Riise in the lineup last week, the Courage failed to score a goal for the first time all season. Serlenga's play for the Beat continues to improve as she has scored in two straight matches and leads the team in assists. Serlenga will have to play tough defense on Riise and will have to make Hege do some defending of her own.

Head Coach Tom Stone quotes on match versus the Courage:

"All you have to do is look back at the last game versus Carolina to know what we have to do. We handed them goals with poor clearances in the final third. Right now they are scoring goals in buckets and not missing many chances, so when you make it easy for them, they'll make you pay for mistakes."

"The Courage is probably the most thorough team at finishing in the final third. We will have to play good all around defense and continue to put away chances, as we've been doing in the past two weeks."

Injury update:
Sun Wen - Probable (left adductor strain)
Liping Wang - Questionable (right knee contusion)

Atlanta Beat Training Schedule:
Wednesday July 24 - 9:30-11:15 a.m. (Tophat Soccer Club)
Thursday, July 25 - 9:30-11:15 a.m. (Herndon Stadium)
Friday, July 26 - 9-10 a.m. (Herndon Stadium)

Directions to Tophat Soccer Club

Tophat Soccer Club 500 Fairfield Rd., Northwest Atlanta
I-75 to Northside Dr exit(Exit #252A) Take Northside Dr.(US 41) north. Northside Dr splits with Northside Parkway(US 41). Stay on Northside Dr. about 3 miles. After crossing Nancy Creek look for Broadland Rd. Turn left on Broadland Rd. The turn left on Fairfield Rd. The Soccer Complex is on the Left on Fairfield Rd.

Atlanta Beat Notes:

Beat Midfielder Nikki Serlenga Named Player of the Week

Nikki Serlenga notched a goal and an assist in the Beat's 3-1 win over the Boston Breakers and in doing so earned WUSA Player of the Week honors in week 15 of the season. The honor was a first for Serlenga and for the Beat in 2002. The only other Beat player to win player of the week honors was Cindy Parlow in week 15 of the 2001 season.

Cindy Parlow Notches Two for the U.S.

Atlanta Beat forward Cindy Parlow was absent from the Beat's lineup versus Boston due to U.S. Women's National Team Duty and she made the most of her time away. In her 107th appearance for the U.S., Parlow notched two goals, the 47th and 48th, of her National Team career.

Briana Scurry Returns to Action

As the U.S. rolled to a 4-0 victory of Norway on Sunday, Briana Scurry returned to the team that made her a household name in the summer of 1999. Scurry, who had not competed for the U.S. since August 20, 2000, made her return to the U.S. Women's National Team. She played the entire second half of the game and helped preserve the shutout over Norway. The appearance was the 104th of her National Team career, by far the most of any goalkeeper in U.S. Women's National Team history.

NBA Star and Mascot Mania Highlight In Game Activities at Saturday's Match

Atlanta Hawks guard and up and coming NBA star Jason Terry will be on hand at Saturday's match versus the Carolina Courage. Terry, who had a banner year with the Hawks, will take the ceremonial first kick of the game. Terry is holding his annual All-Star Charity Hoops game Sunday, July 18 at Philips Arena at 2 p.m.

Fans in attendance at next Saturday's match will also be able to celebrate the 1st birthday of Rhythm the Hip Hop Soccer Dog. Local businesses and sports teams' mascots will face off in a mini-match at halftime of the game. Last season's Mascot Mania mini-match was highlighted by Sweet Tomatoes' tomato, scoring the game winner after dribbling by Atlanta Thrashers' mascot Thrash. This season's mini-match is sure to be more thrilling and hilarious, than the last.

Share: Facebook | Twitter/X | LinkedIn | Reddit | Email



Women's United Soccer Association Stories from July 23, 2002


The opinions expressed in this release are those of the organization issuing it, and do not necessarily reflect the thoughts or opinions of OurSports Central or its staff.

OurSports Central