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Breakers Face Atlanta Beat on Saturday in New Britain, CT

August 17, 2010 - Women's Professional Soccer (WPS)
Boston Breakers News Release


The Boston Breakers will face the Atlanta beat in their final home game of the 2010 regular season this Saturday, August 21 at Veterans Memorial Stadium in New Britain, CT.

The Breakers scheduled the match in New Britain due to the scheduling conflicts at Harvard and to bring the Breakers and WPS to new fans in the Connecticut and Western Massachusetts regions.

Boston and Atlanta have met two times prior this season with the Breakers winning both contests. The first victory was on July 11, when the Breakers came back from a 1-0 deficit and strung together three goals in a five-minute span for a 3-1 win. The team's met again at Harvard Stadium on August 4th. Boston did not waste any time getting on the scoreboard. Less than a minute after kick off, Kelly Smith got her foot on the end of a cross from Lindsay Tarpley to put Boston up 1-0. Smith struck again in the 61st minute when she ran onto a loose ball in the box and sealed the victory 2-0.

Boston has gone undefeated in the last five games and has tallied 14 goals in that time. They are hot in the play-off race as they sit seven points ahead of fourth place Washington and New Jersey. The Atlanta Beat sit in last place and head to Connecticut with hopes to snap a three-game losing streak. Most recently, they gave up a 1-0 lead against the Philadelphia Independence last Sunday and fell 3-2.

Both teams are without key players due to National Team duty. Boston will be without defenders Ifeoma Dieke and Alex Scott and midfielder Kelly Smith. The Breakers will also be without midfielder and co-captain Leslie Osborne who suffered a season-ending broken collar bone as the result of a blindside foul inflicted by Sky Blue FC forward Patricia Panico in this past Sunday's 4-0 victory over Sky Blue. The Beat will be likely be without forwards Eniola Aluko, Johanna Rasmussen and Ramona Bachmann. Atlanta also heads into Saturday with a new coach as Gareth O'Sullivan and assistant coach Robbie Nicholson were relieved of their coaching duties this week. Acting as interim head coach is James Galanis.

The first 500 fans of all ages will receive a limited edition Kristine Lilly trading card courtesy of Stonyfield Farms. Gates open at 4 p.m.

Breakers Dismantle Sky Blue FC 4-0

In front of a season-high crowd of 6,108 on their last night at Harvard Stadium for the regular season, the Boston Breakers defeated Sky Blue FC for the first time in franchise history, blanking them 4-0 on Sunday, August 15.

Lauren Cheney triggered the scoring for Boston early in the ninth minute when Jordan Angeli headed a ball from Amy LePeilbet down toward the back post. Cheney ran onto it and tucked a header inside the goal for her fifth goal of the season.

July WPS Player of the Month Angeli notched the second Breakers goal in the 37th minute when she volleyed home a shot over the gloves of Sky Blue goalkeeper Jenni Branam.

Sky Blue subbed in Tasha Kai and Rosana at the start of the second half for a boost of offense but Boston maintained their relentless pressure. Lindsay Tarpley joined the action in the 58th minute, putting the Breakers up 3-0 and notching her first goal since joining the team in June.

Coming off the bench for Kelly Smith, Spanish National Team forward Laura del Rio finished out the scoring in the 85th minute when she hustled for a loose ball near the right corner of the box and blasted a shot into the opposite corner of the net for her first career WPS goal.

The win marked the Breakers' first four-goal game in the two year history of the club and also the club's largest margin of victory in a WPS match.

With two saves on Sunday, Breakers goalkeeper Alyssa Naeher also earned her second shutout of the season. Boston did not allow a shot on goal until the 27th minute, when New Jersey's Kendall Fletcher beat the defense around the left corner, but Naeher was there for the nice save to keep Sky Blue off the scoreboard.

The Breakers did suffer one major loss on Sunday, when co-captain Leslie Osborne was forced out of the game after being fouled by Sky Blue forward Patrizia Panico in the 87th minute. Panico drew a yellow card on the play. Subsequent x-rays revealed a broken collar bone for Osborne, which will require the Breakers midfield stalwart to miss the remainder of the 2010 season.

Vote Breakers' Partner iB-LIEVE for Pepsi Refresh Challenge

Breakers coaches Tony DiCicco and Lisa Cole went looking for an outside organization that would help his new 2010 team build deeper and stronger bonds, both on the field and off. In March, the Breakers hired Boston-based leadership and team-building organization iB-LIEVE (www.goibelieve.com).

Starting in training camp, iB-LIEVE trainers met with the Breakers every month to work on various aspects of leadership and team building. From the start, iB-LIEVE has focused on the three critical pieces relating to building the Breakers' team dynamic- building team culture, setting a clear and unified team vision, and building team pride. In each training session, iB-LIEVE mixes neuroscience, psychology, and various leadership theories and practices to provide a fun, high impact, and high energy program. The training sessions have made a considerable and noticeable positive impact on the team's chemistry & resiliency, as the Breakers second half surge in the standings can attest.

iB-LIEVE is a team comprised of coaches, professionals, and educators who have worked with many universities and athletic programs across the country. Their main focus is to join the neuroscience and psychology of belief and resiliency with aspects of team dynamism, leadership, and empowerment. In 2011, iB-LIEVE plans on bringing this message across the country by launching the iB-LIEVE Express (http://goibelieve.com/express.asp). On the Express, iB-LIEVE will be traveling to all 50 states in 50 weeks for 300 days of youth empowerment. They will deliver 100 days of leadership workshops, coordinate 100 days of community service events and host 100 days of live interviews with key leaders of the nation.

The iB-LIEVE Express initiative is now in the running for the Pepsi Refresh Challenge! Pepsi has created a campaign called Pepsi Refresh which will grant millions of dollars each month to fund refreshing ideas that will have a positive impact on the world. iB-LIEVE requests the help of all Breakers fans to help fuel the Express! Here's three easy ways you can help:

1. VOTE everyday in August for iB-LIEVE from Pepsi's website: http://www.refresheverything.com/goibelieve

2. VOTE everyday in August for iB-LIEVE from facebook: (Install the Pepsi Refresh App) http://apps.facebook.com/pepsirefresh/idea, search "ibelieve", and vote. This is the best way to share your support with friends!

3. VOTE everyday in August for iB-LIEVE from your phone: Text* 101681 to Pepsi (73774). Standard text rates apply.



Women's Professional Soccer Stories from August 17, 2010


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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