Charge Gear Up for Busy Three Weeks
July 15, 2002 - Women's United Soccer Association (WUSA)
Philadelphia Charge News Release
For the first time all season, the Charge are now the hunters rather than the hunted. Thanks to a Carolina win and Philly's tie against the Washington Freedom this past weekend, the Charge find themselves beginning a week of practice in second place-looking up at the WUSA's top spot for the first time this year. League schedule-makers couldn't have drawn this weekend's lineup up any more appropriately then, as Philadelphia will host the Courage in a battle for the league lead.
The Charge closed out their three-game season series with the Freedom on Sunday, to the tune of a 1-1 tie. The game marked Mia Hamm's first appearance against Philadelphia this season and was the first time she has played all 90 minutes of contest this year. Her presence was felt immediately, as the U.S. National Team star lined up for a penalty kick in the 11th minute but fired a shot just wide of the left post. Neither team managed a goal in the first half.
Washington struck first in the second half, however, when rookie forward Abby Wambach gathered a loose ball in the middle of the box and ripped it past Charge keeper Melissa Moore for the 1-0 lead. Seeking the game's equalizer, Philly head coach Mark Krikorian began substituting defense for offense, replacing Kerry Connors with Mandy Clemens and Stacey Tullock with Liu Ailing. The latter proved a wise choice-as a foul suffered by Liu set up fellow Chinese star Zhao Lihong for a free kick in the 85th minute. Zhao's shot eluded a Washington wall, struck the crossbar and bounced straight down and just inside the goal line for the equalizer. The goal was Zhao's second of the season and first since the Charge's season opener. The midfielder now has a three-game point scoring streak with a goal and two assists over that span.
The tie meant that Philadelphia won the series with the Freedom 1-0-2. The point, however, was not enough to keep pace with Carolina whose 10-2-3 record (33pts) places it two points ahead of the Charge's 9-1-4 and sets up Saturday's showdown.
Melissa Moore turned in another solid performance, needing to make only one save and holding Hamm without a goal to run her and the team's unbeaten streak to a WUSA-season-best nine games (5-0-4).
Upcoming Opponent
Philadelphia next takes to the turf when it hosts WUSA-leading Carolina on Saturday at 4:00 p.m. in one of the most highly anticipated matches this season. The Courage, who lead the Charge by two points, will be in search of revenge over Philly's two wins at Carolina already this season.
The game will be the final of three meetings between the teams this year and first at Villanova Stadium. Philly handed the Courage their only two losses thus far this year, defeating Carolina with a pair of 3-1 decisions back on May 25 and June 19. Therefore, the Charge hold any possible tiebreaker against the Courage and has a game in hand over the Courage.
Philadelphia forward Marinette Pichon has been one of the most effective players against the Courage this season, scoring two goals in each of the Charge's wins. She is tied for the league lead in points with 25 and is first in goals with 12. The Courage are led offensively by a couple of Europeans in Hege Riise and Birgit Prinz. Riise, a Norwegian, was a first-team All-WUSA selection last season and is among the leaders in assists this year. Her uncanny knack for serving teammates perfect passes is characterized by her league-leading 11 assists this season. The German-born Prinz is often on the receiving end of many of those set-ups. Last year's German Player of the Year is fast becoming one of the WUSA's most exciting players and has gained opposing teams' attention with her eight goals thus far.
In goal, Carolina relies on Kristin Luckenbill, a native of Paoli, PA. "Lucky," as her teammates call her, is also among the leaders in every goalkeeping category. A graduate of Dartmouth College, she holds the school record for shutouts (31) and goals-against average (0.68).
Philadelphia owns a better all-time record against the Courage than against any other team in the league. With the two wins this season, the Charge hold a 4-1-0 series advantage with Carolina's only win coming on July 7th of last year by a score of 2-0. In the teams' five meetings, the Courage mustered just four goals as opposed to Philadelphia's total of 13. Despite this, Carolina has already eclipsed its total goal output from last season (27) and head coach Marcia McDermott is a leading candidate for WUSA Coach of the Year.
NEWS & NOTES
Crunch Time
Two-thirds of the way through its regular season schedule, Philadelphia will play its final seven games in a stretch of just 22 days. To put this in perspective, the Charge played their last seven-game stretch over the course of 36 days-a full two weeks more. This sudden increased frequency of games combined with the hot weather expected as July turns into August should make for an interesting final month of the schedule as Carolina and Philly duke it out for the regular-season championship.
Charge Put a Pair of Streaks on the Line
The Charge currently own an impressive nine-game unbeaten streak (5-0-4), which is the best in the WUSA this season and tied for second best in league history. The Charge's last, and only, loss this season came back on May 19 in San Diego. Since then the Charge have outscored their opponents by a total of 13-6 and have posted two shutouts. The longest unbeaten streak in league history is 10 games set last year by the then-Bay Area CyberRays (7-0-3), while the Charge are currently tied for the second-longest with the Atlanta Beat, who went 5-0-4 over nine games last season as well. Also, are 5-0-2 at Villanova Stadium this season, having outscored their opponents 15-6 at home. Dating back to last season, the Charge are 7-0-3 in their last 10 as the host, marking the longest home unbeaten streak in league history. All-time Philadelphia is 10-3-3 at home.
Zhao Records Point in Each of Last Three Games
Chinese national team start Zhao Lihong has registered a point in three consecutive games. Over that span she has a goal and two assists. Her tally on Sunday was her first since the Charge's season opener when they beat Atlanta, 2-0. With her club trailing 1-0 in the 85th minute against Washington, Zhao banged a free kick off the crossbar and just behind the goal line for the equalizer, salvaging her team a point.
Mitts Consecutive Assists Streak Ends
Defender Heather Mitts entered Sunday's contest looking to break the WUSA record for consecutive games with an assist, but she was held scoreless which leaves her in a tie for the all-time mark at four. The former University of Florida All-American's streak ran from 6/15 versus Boston through 7/7 against New York. She did not play in the Charge's 1-1 tie on 6/23 vs. San Diego, allowing the streak to continue. The assists are the only points for Mitts this season. Four other players had four-game streaks, but none extended her streak to a fifth game. They are: Julie Foudy (Aug. 9 2001 to Apr. 20, 2002), Nikki Serlenga (May 11 to June 1, 2002), and Hege Riise (May 25 to June 15, 2002), Tiffeny Milbrett (June 22, 2002 to July 7, 2002).
Women's United Soccer Association Stories from July 15, 2002
- Mitts Earns National Team Callup - Philadelphia Charge
- Possible Preview of Founders Cup II - WUSA
- Katia Named Player of the Week - WUSA
- Charge Gear Up for Busy Three Weeks - Philadelphia Charge
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