San Diego downs CyberRays in card-marred match
June 29, 2003 - Women's United Soccer Association (WUSA)
San Jose CyberRays News Release
SAN DIEGO (June 29, 2003) â Six cards, two ejections and half the match played 10-on-10. It wasn't the beautiful game, and in the end it wasn't good for the CyberRays, who fell today to the San Diego Spirit 2-1 for the second time this season.
A victory for either team would have produced a jump from sixth to third place, and it was San Diego, on goals by Aly Wagner and Julie Fleeting, that made the leap. The CyberRays, now 5-7-1 with 16 standings points, remain sixth and two points from playoff position.
``It was frustrating,'' CyberRays coach Ian Sawyers said both of the type of match and the outcome.
The CyberRays capitalized on the first referee's decision â a red card on San Diego defender Joy Fawcett for grabbing Keri Sanchez from behind as she was about to shoot â with a free kick goal from Sissi in the match's sixth minute. It was Sissi's second goal of the season and the first on a free kick in her three-year career.
But in first-half stoppage time, the CyberRays got hit by the first ejection in team history when leading scorer Pretinha got her second yellow of the match for delaying a restart. Wagner, a San Jose native whose mother, Vicki, is the CyberRays' volunteer coordinator, made the CyberRays pay for that mistake with the tying goal.
Just seven minutes into the second half, Scottish international Julie Fleeting fired a shot that deflected off a defender's leg in front of the CyberRays goal and dribbled in for San Diego's game-winner.
``Our problem was when we went a man up, we didn't possess the ball very well, which is unusual for us,'' Sawyers said. ``We panicked and tried to score again too quickly. It cost us in the end.''
Both teams now come to Spartan Stadium at 7 p.m. Wednesday for a rematch without key players, who must sit out the game because of their ejections today.
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Women's United Soccer Association Stories from June 29, 2003
- San Diego downs CyberRays in card-marred match - San Jose CyberRays
- Fleeting Scores Winner for Spirit in Wild 2-1 Over CyberRays - San Diego Spirit
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