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Spirit and Boston Open Season Saturday at USD

April 4, 2003 - Women's United Soccer Association (WUSA)
San Diego Spirit News Release


The Spirit opens the WUSA season at home for the third consecutive year on Saturday as the Boston Breakers visit the pool-table smooth pitch of Torero Stadium. The game is the first official match for the Spirit's Omid Namazi and Boston's Pia Sundhage, a former Swedish National Team player, as WUSA head coaches.

The Spirit returns Julie Foudy, coming off a career high in both goals and points, earning All-WUSA 2nd team and All-Star honors. Joy Fawcett, one of the best attacking defenders in the WUSA and the 2002 Spirit MVP. Kim Pickup, who notched her first career WUSA assist against Atlanta last season, and Jamie Pagliarulo, the starting goalkeeper, a team-high 15 games last season. Zhang Ouying, the Chinese international who tallied 12 points in her first WUSA season. Shannon MacMillan, the team scoring leader for the past two seasons, the club's triple crown winner, leading in goals, assists, and points, and recipient of the Spirit's Fan Favorite player. Julie Fleeting, the top Scottish forward, scoring three goals in only eight games last season. Amy Sauer, coming off her rookie season of solid performances against some of the league's top offensive stars.

San Diego welcomes seven new players to the roster, including draft picks midfielder Aly Wagner and goalkeeper Jenni Branam, two international players in Brazilian midfielder Daniela and Canadian forward Christine Latham, and three WUSA veterans in midfielders Kerry Connors and Jen Nielsen, and defender Ronnie Fair. Connors and Nielsen were acquired in offseason trades; while Fair, the twin sister of U.S. National Team member Lorrie Fair, earned a roster spot in the defense, and was the only free agent to make the 16-player roster. Krzykowski, 26, a hard-nosed defender, played two seasons as a left marking back for the Beat, compiling one goal and four assists from the back. She played her collegiate career at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, where she holds career records in goals scored (57), assists (27) and points (141). Prior to joining Atlanta, Krzykowski played five seasons for the Chicago Cobras of the W-League, winning the W-League title in 2000.

Despite an abundance of talent, the Breakers finished sixth in the WUSA last season and will be looking to climb into the league's elite. They certainly have the players to achieve that goal. The Spirit will have to deal with one of the league's best attacking teams, as Boston will send the trio of Kristine Lilly, German Maren Meinert and Norwegian Dagny Mellgren storming at the San Diego net. The three combined for 26 goals last season (the rest of team scored nine) while both Lilly (13) and Meinert (15) broke double digits in assists.



Women's United Soccer Association Stories from April 4, 2003


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