CyberRays go to Washington with bright playoff hopes

Published on July 31, 2003 under Women's United Soccer Association (WUSA)
San Jose CyberRays News Release


SAN JOSE (July 31, 2003) – With a 2-1 victory Wednesday over the Carolina Courage, the CyberRays climbed into sixth place in the WUSA and squarely in the middle of the hunt for one of four playoff berths. They are just two points out of a spot with three games to go.

The CyberRays need to pass both the New York Power and San Diego Spirit in their three remaining games to clinch a post-season spot. New York and San Diego each have only two matches left.

The CyberRays' late-season surge has been heroic – leading scorer Pretinha and team captain Brandi Chastain have missed the last three games with injuries yet the team has gone undefeated, winning twice and tying once. Wednesday's victory came with a first-ever goal from Australian defender Dianne Alagich and the game-winner from Katia in the 63rd minute.

Saturday's 1 p.m. nationally televised game on PAX TV against the Washington Freedom is the CyberRays' final road game of the regular season. They return to Spartan Stadium to play the Atlanta Beat and Boston Breakers next week and still have a shot at first place by season's end with three victories.

Season series: 0-1-1. All-time series: 3-4-1, (1-2-1 in RFK Stadium). Top scorers: CyberRays – Sissi (3g + 5a = 11 pts), Katia (4g + 2a = 10 pts); Washington – Mia Hamm (8g + 11a = 27pts), Abby Wambach (11g + 4a = 26pts.

CyberRays-Washington series notes: The CyberRays are yet to defeat Washington this season and have only one victory at Washington, a 3-2 win on July 12, 2001 when Katia scored in second-half stoppage time. ... In this season's previous CyberRays-Washington game in Washington, Pretinha scored the second of her two goals for the match in the 48th minute for a 2-2 tie, the only tie in series history. It was the second two-goal game of the season for Pretinha, a former Washington player.

Game notes

Series sweeps: As a result of the CyberRays' 2-1 victory over the Carolina Courage on Wednesday, the three-game CyberRays-Carolina Courage season series has been a sweep in all three years of the WUSA's existence. The CyberRays won all three matches in 2001; Carolina took all three last season. Here's the kicker: The winner of this series in both previous WUSA seasons has gone on to win the Founders Cup. This was the fourth series sweep in CyberRays' history. The CyberRays swept Philadelphia earlier this season. They were 4-0-0 against the New York Power, including a WUSA semifinal victory, in 2002. Carolina is the only team to sweep the CyberRays. As tight as the points race is for the playoffs, the victor in head-to-head play is likely to be critical in deciding playoff berths. Head-to-head competition is the first tiebreaker for standings ties. Note that the two teams the CyberRays are chasing for a playoff berth, the New York Power and San Diego Spirit, have already won their series with the CyberRays this season, so the CyberRays must beat them on points to pass them in the playoff race. Here's the 2003 series rundown for the CyberRays:

Opponent 2003 series Status

Atlanta Beat 1-1-0 Undecided

Boston Breakers 0-1-1 Undecided

Carolina Courage 3-0-0 CyberRays sweep

New York Power 0-3-0 New York wins

Philadelphia Charge 3-0-0 CyberRays sweep

San Diego Spirit 0-2-1 San Diego wins

Washington Freedom 0-1-1 Undecided

Playoff hopes: After missing the 2002 playoffs, the CyberRays are hoping to return to the post-season in 2003. They are sixth in the WUSA, but the league race is so tight that the CyberRays could still finish as high as first if they win their remaining three games. Three victories would clinch a playoff spot, but depending on what happens elsewhere in the league, the CyberRays could finish as low as fourth with three victories. All three remaining games are against teams higher in the standings. The schedule:

Opponent's current Day Opponent standings position

Saturday @ Washington 3rd

Wednesday Atlanta 1st

Aug. 10 Boston 2nd

Purple power: The CyberRays will be wearing their home purple uniforms – in which they have never been beaten – Saturday when they play the Washington Freedom at RFK Stadium. PAX TV, which will televise the game nationally, requested the uniform change to increase the contrast between the two teams' uniforms. Normally the CyberRays would wear orange on the road and Washington would be in its home light blue, but this change will put Washington in white. The CyberRays signed a historic equipment deal just prior to their April 5 season opener with Kelme that included, among other things, the first custom-designed purple uniforms for the team to wear at home games. The design process, which involved considerable player input, took much of the early season and the CyberRays wore their Kelme road orange kits at home and on the road. The purple uniforms debuted Wednesday, June 25 in a Spartan Stadium match against the Carolina Courage, which the CyberRays won 2-0. Since then, the CyberRays are undefeated in purple, going 2-0-1.

Brazilian streak broken: Sunday's only CyberRays goal against the Boston Breakers was by Tisha Venturini-Hoch on an assist from Keri Sanchez. It was the first goal of 21 this season by the CyberRays in which a Brazilian player did not take part, and the first such goal in exactly one year. The total streak of consecutive goals with Brazilian participation was 27. The previous goal without Brazilian input was July 27, 2002, when Lisa Nañez scored the first goal unassisted in a 4-1 victory over New York. The non-Brazilian streak was stretched to two consecutive goals Wednesday against Carolina when Australian Dianne Alagich scored unassisted for her first WUSA-career points, and then that, too, was snapped. Brazilian Katia got the game winner against Carolina and a new streak may be underway.

Playing shorthanded: The CyberRays played their third consecutive game Wednesday without injured team captain Brandi Chastain and leading scorer Pretinha. It is the first time the team has been without either player three games in a row, yet the CyberRays are undefeated during the stretch at 2-0-1. The victory over Carolina was only the third in team history in the nine games Chastain has missed, and the first on the road. The CyberRays are 2-2-1 in games this season without their captain and 3-4-2 overall in games she has missed. Pretinha is out for the remainder of the season following ACL surgery on her right knee. Chastain, who was on the injury list for the Carolina game, has been reactivated for Saturday's game in Washington and is listed as questionable with a left quad strain (complete injury report below). The rundown:

Date Opponent Result Reason out

6/10/01 @ New York Power 0-0 T yellow card suspension

8/9/01 @ Atlanta Beat 0-4 L coach's decision

6/9/02 vs. San Diego Spirit 3-1 W injury

7/21/02 vs. Washington Freedom 2-3 L national team duty

6/14/03 @ New York Power 1-3 L national team duty

7/5/03 @ New York Power 1-2 L coach's decision

7/20/03 vs. Philadelphia Charge 2-1 W coach's decision

7/27/03 vs. Boston Breakers 1-1 T injury

7/30/03 @ Carolina Courage 2-1 W injury

Venturini-Hoch to be honored: Tisha Venturini-Hoch, a founding player of the WUSA, announced her retirement May 30, the day before the CyberRays played the Breakers the first time this season in Boston. Tish will be honored following the regular-season finale Aug. 10 against the Boston Breakers in Spartan Stadium when her No.15 jersey will be retired. She was the first woman to win NCAA, world, Olympic and WUSA championships, and she is the first active Founding Player of the WUSA to retire.

New AARP members: Three of the original CyberRays, each of whom played in the WUSA's Inaugural Game on April 14, 2001 and in the inaugural WUSA championship Aug. 25, 2001, will be retiring at the end of this season: midfielder Ann Cook, defender Kelly Lindsey and midfielder Tisha Venturini-Hoch.

Cook, 28, from Springfield, Mo., was traded to the Washington Freedom in 2002 but returned to the CyberRays this season as a free agent. She plans to enter graduate school in public policy. Each team Cook has played for has advanced to the Founders Cup.

Lindsey, 23, from Omaha, Neb., was the CyberRays' first pick in the 2001 college draft and was named to the All-WUSA Second Team as a rookie. She will become an assistant soccer coach at Colorado University. Lindsey's only career WUSA point came in Founders Cup I when she assisted on the Brandi Chastain goal that gave the CyberRays an early 1-0 lead.

Born in Modesto, Tish, 30, is the first of the WUSA's Founding Players to retire. She played on four NCAA championship teams at North Carolina, on the U.S. gold medal team in the 1996 Atlanta Olympics, on the U.S. championship team in the 1999 Women's World Cup and on the 2001 Founders Cup champion San Jose CyberRays. Her goal in the 86th minute sent the first Founders Cup final to overtime, and her penalty kick was the first of four the CyberRays scored to defeat the Atlanta Beat for the trophy.

CyberRays injury update

F Pretinha (R ACL surgery) and D Amanda Cromwell (personal leave to attend Michelle Akers' wedding) are out; D Brandi Chastain (L quad strain) is questionable; F Katia (R hamstring), D Kelly Lindsey (R knee sprain) and F/M Keri Sanchez (R hamstring) are probable.

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Women's United Soccer Association Stories from July 31, 2003


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