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San Diego Spirit Game Plan vs. Washington

August 8, 2003 - Women's United Soccer Association (WUSA)
San Diego Spirit News Release


OPPONENTS' NOTES:

* Mia Hamm recorded her first WUSA career hat trick against San Jose on Saturday, the fifth player to do so this season.

* Abby Wambach, the 2002 Rookie of the Year leads the league in goals scored (13) and has combined with Hamm to be the most potent duo in the league this season.

THE OUTLOOK

The Spirit face the Washington Freedom in the regular season finale Saturday in a match that will be broadcast live nationally on PAX TV, hence the change in kickoff time from 6 p.m. to 1 p.m. Saturday's game will determine in which order the teams will finish, thus determining their playoff opponents. A San Diego win would put them in a third place tie with Washington, but the Spirit would hold the tiebreaker, 2-1 in the season series. The Spirit and Freedom have split the two matches so far this year, with the Spirit winning at home, 2-1, on July 16 and the Freedom taking a 2-0 win on July 26 as Mia Hamm added the second goal in stoppage time of the second half on a free-kick. Saturday's match may not only decide a playoff spot, but also who wins the season series, the first tie-breaker should two teams be tied on points at the end of the season. The Spirit did a find job keeping tabs on 5-foot-11 striker Abby Wambach in the first meeting at Torero Stadium, and will have to do so again to have a chance to beat the talented Washington team, which also features Germans Sandra Minnert, who scored a world class goal on July 16, and midfielder ball-winner Steffi Jones. Julie Fleeting will get one last chance to try to catch Shannon MacMillan's team-record of 12 goals in a season while Christine Latham needs just one goal to register the third-highest goal-scoring season in club history behind MacMillan and Fleeting. The Spirit have been blessed with one of the top goaltending tandems in the league in Jaime Pagliarulo and Jenni Branam, with "Pags" handling most of the workload in the early season and Branam coming on strong recently. Whichever goalkeeper gets the nod Saturday will have to play quality match to help the Spirit get a crucial win.

STAT BREAKDOWN Spirit Washington
GOALS FOR: 25 39
GOALS AGAINST: 25 29
SHOTS: 277
244
LEADING SCORER: Fleeting, 24 pts. Hamm, 33 pts.
STREAK: Won 1 Lost 1

SPIRIT QUICK SHOTS...A victory would:
* Put SD in third place.
* Give SD a six-game home-unbeaten streak.
* Give SD the season series over Washington.
* Set club record for wins in a season, 8.
* Give the team a record over .500.
* Set club record for points, 31.



Women's United Soccer Association Stories from August 8, 2003


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