CyberRays still in charge of their own playoff fate

Published on July 28, 2003 under Women's United Soccer Association (WUSA)
San Jose CyberRays News Release


SAN JOSE (July 28, 2003) – Despite Sunday's 1-1 tie with the Boston Breakers, the CyberRays remain in control of their own destiny in terms of qualifying for the WUSA playoffs.

The seventh-place CyberRays can clinch a playoff berth by winning their remaining four regular-season games. But as tight as the WUSA standings are, that playoff position could be any one of the top four spots in the standings. The least the CyberRays need to qualify for the post-season is five points – a win and two ties, for example – but such a scenario is highly unlikely and depends on the outcome of other games.

The CyberRays will be without captain Brandi Chastain for the fourth consecutive game Wednesday at Carolina. Chastain was placed on the injury list today, which makes her ineligible for play in the game. She will be reevaluated Thursday for possible action Saturday at Washington (see injury report at the bottom of these notes).

Week 17 in review: Disappointing tie After taking a 1-0 lead over the second-place Boston Breakers on a Tisha Venturini-Hoch goal in the 48th minute, Boston managed to salvage a tie Sunday and deny the CyberRays two points.

Coming in Week 18: Two for the road The CyberRays play twice this week, both games on the road. First up is the Carolina Courage on Wednesday at Cary, N.C., then the Washington Freedom at 1 p.m. Saturday in Washington in the WUSA's nationally televised PAX game of the week.

AT CAROLINA:

Season series: 2-0-0. All-time series: 5-3-0, (0-2-0 in SAS Stadium, 1-2-0 at Carolina). Top scorers: CyberRays – Sissi (3g + 5a = 11 pts); Carolina – Birgit Prinz (10g + 3a = 23pts). Training schedule: The CyberRays are on the road all week and will return Sunday to San Jose.

CyberRays-Carolina series notes: The season series between these two teams has always been a sweep, the CyberRays winning all three in 2001 and Carolina winning all three last season. The CyberRays have won both previous games this season, and both were played at Spartan Stadium. The CyberRays have never won nor led at SAS Stadium although they won 2-1 at Fetzer Field in Chapel Hill in 2001. M Venus James, Carolina's third-leading scorer (5g + 1a = 11pts) was a CyberRay in 2001. Her team has won the Founders Cup each of her WUSA seasons.

AT WASHINGTON:

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); 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

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

Opponent's current Day Opponent standings position

Wednesday @ Carolina 6th

Saturday @ Washington 3rd

Aug. 6 Atlanta 1st

Aug. 10 Boston 2nd

What will the Beat be doing Wednesday night? Undoubtedly they'll be keeping up with the CyberRays-Carolina Courage game on WUSA.com. Should Carolina defeat the CyberRays or the match end in a tie, the Atlanta Beat will become the first WUSA team to clinch a playoff berth this season.

Brazilian streak broken: Sunday's only CyberRays goal was by Tisha Venturini-Hoch on an assist from Keri Sanchez. It was the only 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.

Playing shorthanded: The CyberRays played their second consecutive game Sunday without injured team captain Brandi Chastain and leading scorer Pretinha. It is the first time the team has been without either player two games in a row, yet the CyberRays were 1-0-1 on the stretch. In particular it has been difficult for the CyberRays to win without Chastain. This was the eighth time in their three-year history that the CyberRays have begun a match with her on the bench, and the fourth time this season. The CyberRays are 1-2-1 in games this season without their captain and 2-4-2 overall in games she has missed. Both victories came in Spartan Stadium. 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

Series sweeps: The CyberRays-Carolina Courage series is a history of sweeps. The CyberRays won all three matches in 2001, and Carolina took all three last season. With a pair of victories earlier this season at Spartan Stadium, the CyberRays are on the verge of sweeping the 2003 series Wednesday in Cary, N.C. 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. The CyberRays swept Philadelphia earlier this season, the third time they have swept a series. They were 3-0-0 against the New York Power in 2002. Carolina is the only team to sweep the CyberRays. 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 2-0-0 CyberRays win

New York Power 0-3-0 New York wins

Philadelphia Charge 3-0-0 CyberRays win

San Diego Spirit 0-2-1 San Diego wins

Washington Freedom 0-1-1 Undecided

CyberRays sign Patrick: The CyberRays have signed forward Kim Patrick of Pleasanton as a developmental player. Patrick, 22, led Tennessee the last two seasons in goals, points, shots and shots on goal. A high school all-American at Foothill High, she originally went to North Carolina where she led the Atlantic Coast Conference in goals and scoring her freshman season and played for two national championship teams. She had a goal and an assist in the 1999 NCAA semifinal game played at Spartan Stadium in which UNC defeated Penn State 2-0, and she assisted on the game-winning goal in North Carolina's 2-0 victory over Notre Dame for the championship.

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 the next time the CyberRays play Boston, here in Spartan Stadium on Aug. 10, the final regular season game of the season.

CyberRays injury update

F Pretinha (ACL surgery) and D Brandi Chastain (L quad strain) are out, F Katia (R hamstring), D Kelly Lindsey (R knee sprain) and M Keri Sanchez (R hamstring) are probable.

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