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Spirit Falls, 3-2, in Boston Despite Goals from Foudy, MacMillan

July 10, 2002 - Women's United Soccer Association (WUSA)
San Diego Spirit News Release


BOSTON (Wednesday, July 10, 2002) - The San Diego Spirit spotted the Boston Breakers three goals before coming back in the second half with two of their own, but could not create a third, and fell 3-2 at Nickerson Field in the Spirit's first Wednesday night game of the season.

The Spirit dropped 3-8-3 (12 points) on the season while Boston moved to 4-6-5 (17 points) and put valuable distance between themselves and the Spirit in the race for a playoff spot.

Julie Foudy's goal, a dynamic header in the 79th minute, made it three goals in the last two games for the Spirit captain, and four on the season, after not scoring at all last year. Shannon MacMillan's strike in the 58th minute was also her fourth of the season, but first since May 25.

The Spirit started the same lineup as in the previous game for the first time this season coming off a 5-4 win over Boston last Saturday. San Diego did not get the goal explosion this time playing against an energetic Breaker team fighting for their playoff lives.

The match started badly for the Spirit and even worse for goalkeeper Jaime Pagliarulo, who after making two glaring errors last match, once again let a ball slip through her hands, this time just three minutes into the game. Breaker midfielder Angela Hucles worked her way free at the top of the penalty area and fired a shot that slipped under Pagliarulo at the right post and bounced into the net.

"These mistakes have been very unlike Pags," said Spirit interim head coach Kevin Crow. "After being so consistent in the past, it just very uncharacteristic of her. We've got to sit down and figure out what is going on."

"I didn't see the ball well," said Pagliarulo. "It got caught in the sun, but that's no excuse. I should have got it. It didn't rattle me, but I know I need to make that save no matter what."

Pagliarulo would redeem herself with several good saves in the first half, including an 11th minute smother of a Bettina Weigmann dribble, and a flying stop of a Kristine Lilly drive in the 30th minute, but was removed at halftime for the second straight game and replaced by Carly Smolak, who played a solid match and made one save with a diving snag of a Kerri Sanchez shot in the 71st minute.

The Breakers went up 2-0 after just 12 minutes through a nice combination of passes in the attacking third as Maren Meinert played a pass square in the penalty area. Lilly redirected the ball, freezing Pagliarulo, and Dagny Mellgren tapped the rolling ball it into the open net from close range.

"We've been playing close games all season," said Pagliarulo. "We had some momentum going after last game and anyone who knows this team knows we are a positive group. We just have to come back on Sunday and find a way to win. We're the underdogs in every game now so maybe that will help us settle down a bit."

After a rough 30 minutes in which the Spirit gave away far too many passes, the Spirit settled down and put together some good attacks, getting the best chance of the half in the 43rd minute when MacMillan bent an early ball behind the Breakers defense, but with only goalkeeper Tracey Ducar to beat, rookie midfielder Lori Lindsey miss-hit her shot wide right.

The Breakers went up 3-0 in the 52nd minute as Meinert put Mellgren behind defense on quick pass over the Spirit defense. The Norwegian forward out-ran Amy Sauer and rolled ball past the stranded Smolak from 16 yards.

The match marked the Spirit debut of Scottish international forward Julie Fleeting, who entered the game in 54th minute, and had an immediate impact, playing MacMillan on right flank with open space in front of her. MacMillan took a touch and slammed a shot at Ducar that knuckled and handcuffed the Breaker 'keeper, who batted the ball into the net. Fleeting played a solid 36 minutes in her first WUSA game.

"I looked up and saw nothing but net, so I tried to hit it hard on frame see what happened," said MacMillan. "We created some chances and Foudy got a great header, but need to finish. We have a great chance in the first half that we missed and that could have made it a different game."

The Spirit pulled another goal back in the 79th minute as MacMillan bent a free kick into the penalty area from right side and Foudy rose above defenders to head ball off Ducar's hands and into the net.

Kim Pickup entered the game in the 80th minute and launched a couple flip-throws that were dangerous, but the Spirit couldn't convert. The Spirit had one last chance to tie the game in the 90th minute as the tireless Fawcett, who moved to the midfield when Pickup entered the game, crossed from the right side, but Pickup got only a small piece of the ball and it bounced harmlessly to Ducar.

"At the end of the day, who wins the game simply comes down to what you do with your three or four good chances, which goalkeeper are going to come up with big saves and which forwards are going to put in their chances," added Crow.

The Spirit returns home for a Sunday afternoon encounter with the San Jose CyberRays on July 14 at Torero Stadium. The match kicks off at 5 p.m. PT and will feature a "Day of Champions" theme with the 1999 Women's World Cup Trophy and the Founders Cup Trophy on display among other events.



Women's United Soccer Association Stories from July 10, 2002


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