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Boston Breakers Head to Chicago to Complete Two-Game Road Trip

May 8, 2015 - National Women's Soccer League (NWSL)
Boston Breakers News Release


HANOVER, Mass. (May 8, 2015) - After a 3-1 loss in Western New York last Saturday, the Boston Breakers return to the road, this time landing in Illinois to take on the Chicago Red Stars. Saturday's match takes place at Toyota Park (5 p.m. ET) as part of a NWSL/MLS doubleheader. The Chicago Fire will play Real Salt Lake prior to the Red Stars/Breakers game.

In last week's loss to the Western New York Flash, the Breakers took a 1-0 lead early off a goal from Morgan Marlborough, her first as a Breaker. But the Flash responded with three unanswered goals to take the three points. The Breakers (1-2-0, 3 points) look to return to the win column Saturday in Chicago against the second-place Red Stars (2-0-1, 7 points).

"The nice thing is we're going to play at Toyota Park, which is going to be a great venue," Boston Breakers head coach Tom Durkin said. "I think we're hopeful because Chicago lost some key players; Christen Press has been really, really good so far. So it's kind of a relief that she's not going to be there at this point in the season because we've been sort of hit with the injury bug."

The Red Stars lost five players to their respective country's World Cup rosters. That group includes goalkeeper Karina LeBlanc (Canada) as well as Press, Julie Johnston, Shannon Boxx and Lori Chalupny, all with the U.S. Women's National Team. Press has accounted for four of Chicago's six goals this season. LeBlanc, Chalupny, Boxx, Johnston, and Press played in all three of Chicago's games to start the year.

"I'm expecting them to play normally, put their young players in. They have some good, young players. They had a good draft," Durkin said. "They have sort of a makeshift defense, so I think that's a plus for us. The team had a really good week of training. We took a gigantic step backwards in the last game. I think they had some preconceived notions about how the game was going to go. It was a short week, they were tired, and (Western New York) had two weeks (off). We know how beneficial those two weeks can be. All credit to Western New York, but we really set out to change our mentality, and I think they've done really well this week and responded really well. So, now it's how high can we bounce back after last week."

The Breakers head to Chicago with the top-scoring rookie in the National Women's Soccer League: Stephanie McCaffrey. The crafty striker leads all NWSL rookies with one goal and two assists. McCaffrey is tied with seven other players for second in the league in the assist category.

With U.S. Women's National Team goalkeeper Alyssa Naeher now off with her World Cup teammates, training ahead of the 2015 FIFA Women's World Cup in Canada, the Breakers added former Northeastern University standout goalkeeper Paige Burnett to the roster as an amateur call-up. Burnett will serve as backup to second-year Breaker Jami Kranich, who looks to make her NWSL debut Saturday.

The Breakers return home May 16 for the first match of a three-game homestand. After playing Portland on May 16, the Breakers host Sky Blue FC on May 22 (Leslie Osborne jersey retirement night) and FC Kansas City on May 30. To purchase tickets, visit www.breakerstickets.com or call 617-945-1704.



National Women's Soccer League Stories from May 8, 2015


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.

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