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Spirit Players Called to National Team Duty

April 15, 2003 - Women's United Soccer Association (WUSA)
San Diego Spirit News Release


Julie Foudy, Joy Fawcett, Shannon MacMillan and Aly Wagner were called into action for the April 26 U.S. game against Nigeria in the nation's capital. They will join the U.S. team for four days of training prior to the match. The four are expected to be available to play for the Spirit against the CyberRays on April 27 at Torero Stadium. Along with the four U.S. Women's National Team players, two more Spirit players will be playing for their countries this month. Forward Christine Latham was called to the Canadian National Team for two games against Nigeria on April 18 and 20 in Spartanburg, South Carolina, while 19-year-old midfielder Daniela will play for Brazil in South American Qualifying, which runs from April 23-27 in Lima, Peru. The top two teams from the four-team qualifying tournament will earn berths to the 2003 Women's World Cup in China.

QUICK GLANCE AT THE SPIRIT SEASON

NEXT MATCH: Saturday, April 19, 1 p.m. PT, vs. New York Power, Mitchel Athletic Complex, Uniondale, N.Y., PAX TV, Live

LAST MATCH: Saturday, April 5, 2-1 loss to Boston, Torero Stadium, San Diego, Calif.

RECORD: 0-1-0, 0 pts.

LEADIERS: POINTS - Christine Latham, 2 GOALS -Latham, 1 ASSISTS-Sullivan, Zhang, 1

INJURIES: Fawcett, Ankle Surgery, Out; Sauer, Ankle Sprain, Out

NEXT ON THE SLATE: GAME #2 @ New York Power, Saturday, April 19, 1 p.m. PT, PAX-TV, Live

The all-time series history between these two teams is tied at 2-2-2. San Diego had more success in the 2002 series with a 2-1-0 mark in three matches, including a 6-1 victory at Torero Stadium on April 20, 2002. The six goals scored by San Diego set the WUSA mark for goals scored in a single match (tied by Atlanta on April 15, 2003). This match will mark the first meeting between Power midfielders Shannon Boxx and Margaret Tietjen and goalkeeper Carly Smolak and their former team (San Diego), as well as Spirit midfielder Jen Nielsen and defender Ronnie Fair versus their former club (New York).

KEY NOTE: Power forward Tiffeny Milbrett has not scored a goal against the Spirit in her WUSA career. San Diego is the only team to have blanked the high-scoring forward in the league's history.

CHANNEL 4 SAN DIEGO TELECAST EARNS A 1.4 RATING

Channel 4 San Diego's telecast of the Spirit's season opening game against the Boston Breakers on April 5 earned a 1.4 rating and a 3 share of the TV viewing audience. The tape-delayed broadcast was first of 11 games to be shown on Channel 4 San Diego throughout the season. In two years, San Diego has averaged a league-high local telecast rating of 1.1 and a 2 share.

SPIRIT DEFEAT U.S. U-21's IN EXHIBITION MATCH

The Spirit returned to action Tuesday morning by defeating the U.S. U-21 National Team, 3-1, in an exhibition game at the U.S. Olympic Training Center in Chula Vista, Calif. San Diego was led by Scottish international forward Julie Fleeting's two goals and an additional goal from Chinese forward Zhang Ouying. The club will train in San Diego for two more days, before leaving for New York early Friday morning.

DUST OFF THE BOWLING SHOES AND CLEAR THE GUTTERS

The club's second annual bowling tournament will be held on Tuesday evening. The event features the entire Spirit organization, as the players and staff get together to see who are the kings/queens of the lanes. Defending champions Julie Foudy, communications manager Jon Greene and corporate sales executive Tony King return to try to keep their title.

BOBBLEHEAD MANIA

The Spirit are giving away a San D. Panda mascot bobblehead to any fan which purchases four tickets to the April 27 home game against the San Jose CyberRays. The popular bobblehead promotion, which was also used for the season opener, is the club's first in its history.

SPOTLIGHT SHINES ON SPIRIT

The national spotlight shines on the Spirit this Saturday as San Diego returns to play the Power before a national television audience on PAX TV. In two seasons, San Diego has compiled a 4-3-2 record in front of national TV cameras. The Spirit split two games on national television last year against the Power, winning 6-1 in San Diego and losing 2-1 in New York. San Diego will make four more appearances on PAX TV this season.

SAN DIEGO SPIRIT WINGS PAGE TWO SAN DIEGO SPIRIT WINGS

SPIRIT SNAPSHOTS

A VICTORY THIS WEEK would be the first win of the 2003 season...the first win for head coach Omid Namazi...bring San Diego to the .500 mark for the 8th time in club history...be the first against Tom Sermanni...be the second consecutive against New York.

JULIE FOUDY will move into a tie as the club's all-time games played leader with an appearance in Saturday's match against New York. Foudy, who has appeared in 40 games, is currently one game behind leader Shannon Boxx, who now plays for the Power. Foudy is the current all-time games started leader for the Spirit at 40.

QUOTE SHEET

Namazi on Fawcett..."Joy is progressing quite well and may even be ready to make the trip to New York this week."

Namazi on the Foreign Legion..."Daniela, Fleeting and Zhang are rested and will benefit from having two weeks of training with the team. I expect them to see more playing time in the game against New York."

SPIRIT PLAYER SHORTS - ALLIE SULLIVAN, #22, Forward

Formerly Allison Kemp.

Played with the Boston Breakers for two seasons. Was a first grad teacher for almost three years before playing in the WUSA.

Played soccer and ran track at San Dieguito High, where she was also the 1992 San Diego Union-Tribune Athlete of the Year.

All Pac-10 Conference selection at California as a senior.



Women's United Soccer Association Stories from April 15, 2003


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