Sports stats



Road trip ends Saturday against Boston

May 27, 2003 - Women's United Soccer Association (WUSA)
San Jose CyberRays News Release


SAN JOSE (May 27, 2003) – The CyberRays wrap up their three-week road swing Saturday against the Boston Breakers in the WUSA's nationally televised game on PAX at 1 p.m. PDT. A victory would give the CyberRays a 2-1 record on the road trip and set the team up to return to Spartan Stadium at 3 p.m. Sunday, June 8 against the New York Power and former CyberRays assistant coach Tom Sermanni.

Week 8 in review: Pretinha has first 2-goal game Brazilian midfielder Pretinha erupted for both CyberRays goals in their 2-0 victory Saturday over the Philadelphia Charge. The game moved the CyberRays into fourth place in the WUSA, and Pretinha is leading the team in scoring with three goals, one assist and seven points.

Coming in Week 9: Getting points on the road The CyberRays won only one game on the road in 2002, but after beating Philadelphia on Saturday, the team is 2-2 away from home this season, a key reason for its climb in the standings. Until its Sunday loss to the Atlanta Beat, Boston had a 13-game unbeaten streak on the artificial turf at Nickerson Field at Boston University. It will be a tough – but essential – place for the CyberRays to get some more road points. Season series: First meeting. All-time series: 2-2-2, (1-1-1 in Boston). Top scorers: CyberRays – Pretinha (3g, 1a = 7pts); Boston – Maren Meinert (6g, 2a = 14pts). This week's training schedule at West Valley College: Today at 1:30 p.m., Wednesday at 10 a.m., Thursday at 1:30 p.m., Friday travel to Boston, Saturday game at Boston at 1 p.m. PDT.

CyberRays-Boston series notes: The CyberRays' only victory in Boston was July 15, 2001 – their first visit to Nickerson Field – when they won 2-0 on goals by Julie Murray and Tisha Venturini-Hoch (when her last name was just Venturini). ... Boston holds the distinction of scoring more goals in a single game against the CyberRays in a Spartan Stadium match than any team (4) and holding the largest lead over the CyberRays in Spartan than any team (4-0). ... This series is even regardless of site, 1-1-1 in each city. ... The series is also even in goals with eight per team. Last season each team scored three goals in the series.

Key matchup: Boston forward Maren Meinert vs. defender Brandi Chastain. Meinert is tied for second in the WUSA in goals with six and third in points with 14. Neither of the players ranked ahead of her, Washington F Mia Hamm and Atlanta F Maribel Dominguez, has scored this season against the CyberRays in the run of play.

Ian Sawyers on Boston: ``I think Boston is a very talented team. They can attack you from all over field. We want to try to build some momentum with this game, but it will be a very, very physical game for us on artificial turf.''

Game notes

Beene gets another shutout: Saturday's shutout of Philadelphia was the third this season for GK LaKeysia Beene, tying her for the WUSA lead with Atlanta's Brianna Scurry. Scurry and Beene now rank 1-2, respectively, in WUSA career shutouts with Scurry's 16 leading Beene by one. Beene is on pace to erase her WUSA single-season shutout record of eight, set in 2001. Her third shutout this season came in the seventh game while the seventh game marked her first shutout of the inaugural season. Beene leads the league with 33 saves, ranks second in save percentage at 84.6 and is third in goals-against average at 0.86.

Tight defense: The CyberRays are tied for third in standings points despite being tied for last in scoring because of exceptional defense. The team has giving up only six goals this season, second fewest to Atlanta.

Pretinha breaks out: Pretinha had the first multi-goal game of her WUSA career Saturday when she scored both goals in the CyberRays 2-0 defeat of Philadelphia. The goals were her second and third of the season making her the CyberRays' team leader in goals and points (3g+1a=7pts). She is the only player on the team with more than one goal.

Viva Brazil: As was the case in 2002, the CyberRays' Brazilian trio of Katia, Pretinha and Sissi are dominating the team's offensive production, accounting for more than half the team's goals and total points. Here's the breakdown:

Players G % total A % total pts % total

Brazilians 5 62.5 7 50.0 17 56.7

Everybody else 3 37.5 7 50.0 13 43.3

Yellow card jeopardy: By playing Philadelphia without drawing any cards, Betsy Barr eased the suspension pressure she faced after being booked in two consecutive games. WUSA players who draw yellow cards in three straight games must serve a one-game suspension. Katia also had drawn yellow cards in her two previous games. However, her season total of three yellows still leaves her in a precarious situation. She must play three more games without a booking to clear her yellow-card slate, or she will face a one-game suspension for accumulating four cards. CyberRays players have been booked 11 times this season, most in the league.



Women's United Soccer Association Stories from May 27, 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.

Other Recent San Jose CyberRays Stories



Sports Statistics from the Stats Crew
OurSports Central