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Focus on Founders Cup Begins in Earnest

June 10, 2003 - Women's United Soccer Association (WUSA)
San Diego Spirit News Release


The Spirit hosted a WUSA press conference on Monday June 9 to kick off hoopla about Founders Cup III, the WUSA championship game, which will be held at Torero Stadium on Sunday August 24. Tickets for the championship game will go on sale to the general pubic beginning June 15, with prices ranging from $23 to $150. In the past two weeks, 1,200 seats were sold to Spirit season ticket holders, who had the first chance to purchase the title match tickets. Despite being one of the smallest venues in the league, Torero Stadium was chosen as the host venue for several factors including community support, local weather and the stadium itself. "Every time we walk up the hill to the locker rooms after a game the other teams players say that it is so amazing here and that we wish we could play here all the time," said Spirit forward Shannon MacMillan. The Spirit hopes to become the first team to have home-field advantage in the Founders Cup, as in the previous two WUSA seasons the host city has not made it into the championship game. For more ticket information fans can call 1-877-476-2237.

NEXT ON THE SLATE: Philadelphia Charge, Saturday, June 14, 1 p.m. PT, Villanova Stadium

The Spirit faces the Philadelphia Charge on June 14 in what will be the second meeting between the two teams this season. The Spirit will be looking for revenge on the Charge as they hit the road for the second half of a home-and-home series. The match kicks off live at 1 p.m. PT on PAX TV. The Spirit will be without three U.S. National Team players Julie Foudy, Joy Fawcett and Aly Wagner. The trio will be with the USA in Salt Lake City on Saturday to play against Ireland.

FLEETING NAMED TO WUSA WORLD ALL-STAR TEAM FOR JUNE 19 MATCH

Julie Fleeting, who scored five goals for Scotland against Portugal over the weekend in a European Championship qualifying match, was named as a reserve to the WUSA World Stars roster for the Hyundai WUSA All-Star Game. The Hyundai WUSA All-Star Game, featuring the World All-Stars against the WUSA All-Stars with Spirit players Joy Fawcett, Julie Foudy and Aly Wagner will take place June 19 in Cary, NC and will be televised live on ESPN2 at 7:30 pm ET. The broadcast will give fans a good look at all of the top female players expected to shine in the 2003 FIFA Women's World Cup. Tickets are now available through ticketmaster at (919)-573-7262 or www.ticketmaster.com . The individual tickets for the All-Star game are priced from $13-$35.

FREE ALY WAGNER BOBBLEHEAD TO FIRST 4,000 FANS ON JUNE 29!

The San Diego Spirit will feature their second bobblehead giveaway of the season as the first 4,000 fans attending the game on June 29 will receive one FREE Aly Wagner Bobblehead when the Spirit take on Brandi Chastain and the San Jose CyberRays. The club previously gave away a bobblehead of the team mascot, San D. Panda, to fans who purchased four tickets to any home game in April. On July 23, the team will giveaway its third and final bobblehead of the season, a Shannon MacMillan bobblehead.

SPIRIT PLAYERS WILL BE AT THE GIN BLOSSOMS CONCERT IN JUNE!

Gin Blossoms Reunite for Summer Tour! With their timeless harmonies & power-pop driven songs, the band unleashed a string of hits that included: "Hey Jealousy," "Found Out About You," and the #1 hit, "Til I Hear It From You." Don't miss the Spirit players as they introduce the Gin Blossoms on stage on Thursday, June 19, 2003 at 4th & B. For information or tickets to the concert call 619-231-4343 or visit 345 B Street, Downtown, San Diego. The Spirit will also be giving away some Gin Blossoms concert packages at their home game on June 7th. Come early to the Fun Zone and enter to win!

SPIRIT SNAPSHOTS

Fleeting will rejoin the team in Philadelphia on Friday in preparation for Saturday's match against Philadelphia...Pagliarulo's six-game unbeaten streak was snapped on Saturday in the 2-1 loss to Philadelphia ...Pagliarulo was called into U.S National Team training camp this week, however she will be available for duty on Saturday in Philadelphia...San Diego is 2-2-4 all-time without MacMillan in the lineup...Foudy has eight career goals and penalty kick goals in three consecutive games, is now 4-for-5 on penalty kick attempts in her WUSA career... San Diego's club record seven-game unbeaten streak (3-0-4) came to an end with the 2-1 loss to Philadelphia...San Diego has allowed a goal within the first 10 minutes of the game in its last five outings...San Diego had a three-game home-unbeaten streak until Saturday night...If goalkeeper Jenni Branam plays on Saturday, she will become the fifth starting goalkeeper in club history, a WUSA record... San Diego ranks seventh in team offense (1.33 goals per game) and third in team defense (1.11 goals per game).

SAN DIEGO SPIRIT WINGS PAGE TWO SAN DIEGO SPIRIT WINGS

UPCOMING SCHEDULE

The Spirit will play one away match in June on the 14th at Philadelphia as Spirit head coach Omid Namazi returns to the town where he coached the Philadelphia Kixx to an indoor NPSL championship. The match will be a challenging for the Spirit, as they will be without all of their national team players as the USA faces Ireland that day in Salt Lake City.

QUOTES

WUSA President and CEO Lynn Morgan statement at press conference Monday, June 9, announcing Founders Cup. "One of the reasons we brought the game here is that I was assured it is always sunny in San Diego. I have been here since Friday, and I haven't seen the sun yet. So I don't know."

SPIRIT PLAYER SHORTS

Kim Pickup, #16 , Defender
* She has played in 31 WUSA games, starting 20 of them.
* The master of " Pick-Flip" throw-in. * She is one of the Spirits most superstitious players, always boarding a plane with her left foot first and the need to be associated with even numbers.
* Always plays in a game wearing Full 90 headgear.



Women's United Soccer Association Stories from June 10, 2003


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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