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CyberRays head to San Diego on wings of shutout of Carolina

June 26, 2003 - Women's United Soccer Association (WUSA)
San Jose CyberRays News Release


SAN JOSE (June 26, 2003) – The CyberRays snapped their four-game winless streak and the Carolina Courage's four-game unbeaten streak with a 2-0 victory Wednesday night.

Now they travel to San Diego on Sunday for the first of two back-to-back games against the Spirit. The return match will be 7 p.m. Wednesday in Spartan Stadium, a game originally scheduled for July 13 but changed because of a conflict with the USA-Brazil friendly the same day in New Orleans.

Wednesday's victory gave the CyberRays 16 points, putting them in a three-way tie for fourth in the WUSA and only four points behind leader Boston Breakers. The CyberRays have only one fewer victory than league-leader Boston.

Season series: 0-1-0. All-time series: 2-2-3, (1-1-2 in San Diego). Top scorers: CyberRays – Pretinha (5g+4a=14pts); San Diego – Julie Fleeting (6g+2a=14pts). Practice schedule at West Valley College: Today off, 1:30 p.m. Friday on football field, travel Saturday.

CyberRays-San Diego series notes: The CyberRays' 2-1 loss in San Diego's Torero Stadium on April 27 was their first loss in San Diego. ... The own goal surrendered by the CyberRays in that game was one of only two in CyberRays history. ... Sunday's game is the first of two in a row against San Diego. The CyberRays have played twice in a row against the same team only one previous time in their history, and that was earlier this season when they played the New York Power on June 8 and 14. ... The first game of the CyberRays-San Diego series last season featured the latest goal ever surrendered by the CyberRays – San Diego's Sherrill Kester scored in the 93rd minute to clinch a 1-1 tie at Spartan Stadium.

Looking ahead to the Women's World Cup: As many as 13 players in Sunday's match could be playing in the World Cup this fall for their respective home countries:

CyberRays (home country) San Diego Spirit (home country) D Dianne Alagich (Australia) M Daniela (Brazil)

GK LaKeysia Beene (USA) D Joy Fawcett (USA)

D Thori Bryan (USA) M Julie Foudy (USA)

D Brandi Chastain (USA) F Christine Latham (Canada)

F Katia (Brazil) M Aly Wagner (USA)

F/M Pretinha (Brazil) F Zhang Ouying (China)

M Sissi (Brazil)

Blame it on the bossa nova: Pretinha's two assists against Carolina kept alive the streak of at least one of the CyberRays' Brazilians being involved (scoring or assisting) on every goal of 2003. The last goal scored by the CyberRays without Brazilian input was July 27, 2002, when Lisa Nañez scored the first goal unassisted in a 4-1 victory over New York. That was 19 goals ago.

Pretinha's on a roll: Pretinha didn't score a goal against Carolina, but she had the primary assist on both goals in the game raising her season points total to 14 (5g + 4a = 14pts), tied for seventh most in the WUSA. It was the second two-assist game by a CyberRay this season. Her five goals rank her 10th in the WUSA in goals and make her the only CyberRay with more than one goal this season. Sunday's game against Washington was her second two-goal game of this season and the second of her WUSA career. Both came on the road; her first was May 24 against the Philadelphia Charge in a 2-0 victory. In both she scored all the CyberRays' goals. Pretinha's first goal this season came May 10 against the Carolina Courage, which means she has scored five goals in the last eight games.

Another Beene blanking: Goalkeeper LaKeysia Beene recorded her WUSA-leading fourth shutout of the season Wednesday, lowering her goals-against average to 1.00, second best in the league to Atlanta's Brianna Scurry. Defender Amanda Cromwell played a key role in preserving the shutout when she blocked a Marcia Wallis shot in the 49th minute. The shutout was the 16th of Beene's WUSA career, tying Scurry as the all-time shutout queen.

Series clincher: Wednesday's victory was the second over Carolina this season, clinching the series between the teams with one game left to play. Although the CyberRays have not completed any of the three-game series they have against their WUSA opponents, three of their series have already been decided. Winning season series is critical in the WUSA, because that is the first tiebreaker should teams be even in standings points at the end of the regular season. Here are the CyberRays' season series to date:

Opponent 2003 series Status

Atlanta Beat 1-1-0 Undecided

Boston Breakers 0-1-0 Undecided

Carolina Courage 2-0-0 CyberRays win

New York Power 0-2-0 New York wins

Philadelphia Charge 2-0-0 CyberRays win

San Diego Spirit 0-1-0 Undecided

Washington Freedom 0-1-1 Undecided

Home, sweet home: Wednesday's victory came on the CyberRays first game in Spartan Stadium after a stretch in which they played seven of nine games on the road. They went 3-5-1. Six of their last 10 games are in Spartan Stadium, and they have the WUSA's second-best home record.

Winless streak snapped: The four games without a victory before defeating Carolina was the longest winless streak in CyberRays history. The previous longest stretch was the first three games of 2001 when they opened 0-2-1. That ended with a 2-1 victory over the Carolina Courage.

En fuego: The temperature at kickoff of Wednesday's game was 95 degrees, the hottest conditions the CyberRays have ever played in. They played twice in 92-degree heat last season, July 10 in Spartan Stadium against the Atlanta Beat and Aug. 3 against the Carolina Courage at SAS Stadium in Cary, N.C.

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