Stars Shine on Opening Weekend

Published on April 18, 2002 under Women's United Soccer Association (WUSA) News Release

ATLANTA (Monday, April 15, 2002) - Some of the world's most recognizable female athletes elevated their game during the opening weekend of the 2002 Women's United Soccer Association season and led their respective teams to victory. New York's Tiffeny Milbrett and San Jose's Brandi Chastain showed why they are two of the world's best with their opening day performances.

Milbrett reminded soccer fans why she was the 2001 WUSA Most Valuable Player by lighting up the Washington Freedom for two goals Saturday evening in 4-1 win at RFK Stadium. In both instances, Milbrett teamed up with Linda Ormen, a Norwegian international acquired during the offseason, to use her explosive speed and tricky dribbling to beat Washington's defense. Milbrett captured the WUSA Player of the Week award for her performance against Washington.

"If you'd asked me early in the week if we would win this game 4-1, I would have said you were crazy," Milbrett said after the match. "It was a total team effort, a great way to get off to this kind of start."

Last year it took New York four games to score four goals. Saturday's four-goal performance equaled a team record for the Power, which scored four goals on three different occasions in 2001. Milbrett finished the 2001 campaign with a WUSA-high 16 goals. Next in line for the Power is the San Diego Spirit in a nationally televised match on PAX on Saturday, April 20 at 4 p.m. ET.

"After New York's first win of the season, and with Milbrett scoring two goals, they got a great start to the season," San Diego Head Coach Carlos Juarez said. "Milbrett is always dangerous. She may not score for a couple of games and then explode for two or three. Obviously, she's in form right away and she's going to cause us problems."

Defender turned forward Brandi Chastain's spectacular full volley in the 88th minute gave the San Jose CyberRays a 2-1 victory over the Boston Breakers Saturday afternoon at Spartan Stadium. Chastain ran onto a pretty ball from Sissi to beat the Boston defense and Breaker's goalkeeper Karina LeBlanc with a well-timed blast from eight yards. It was the first time the CyberRays captain had played up front in a WUSA regular season match. Chastain was a forward in college at Santa Clara and with the U.S. national team before converting to defense prior to the 1996 Olympic Games. She was a member of the All-WUSA first team in 2001 as a defender.

Chastain actually went from goat to hero for San Jose, having missed on a penalty kick in the 67th minute when her shot went wide left. In an odd twist, Chastain's missed PK kept her from being removed from the game. She tore knee cartilage in February and had played only 40 minutes of the CyberRays' final exhibition match since coming back from surgery.

"We knew Brandi was tired,'' Head Coach Ian Sawyers said. "We were debating whether to leave her in as someone capable of being a game-changer, or get somebody else in with fresh legs. We were just playing a hunch, but after the PK, we wanted to give her an opportunity to be a game-changer even though she was struggling physically."

"We decided to go with Brandi as forward and it worked,'' Sawyers added. "She knows how to get in dangerous scoring positions."

Chastain credited Brazilian midfielder Sissi's perfect pass for making the play happen.

"Sissi is one of the few players in the world who can put the ball exactly where it needs to be,'' said Chastain when describing the winning goal. "She just set it in there, just perfect height. You don't even think. It's not a conscious thought. When you have a ball that perfect you just react. Your instincts take over at that point and my instinct was to swing and just hit it."

In addition to Milbrett and Chastain's heroics, some of the other top performances from Saturday's WUSA action included:

Kristin Luckenbill: The Carolina goalkeeper faced seven shots on goal and made six outstanding saves in a 2-1 win at San Diego. In one instance she stonewalled Shannon MacMillan from point-blank range. Another time her quick reflexes allowed her to snare Mercy Akide's breakaway attempt. She also was able to get her fingertips on Akide's 30-yard blast in the 17th minute, pushing it up against the crossbar. This did not get registered as a save, but was vitally important in preserving the victory.

Zhang Ouying: San Diego's speedy and crafty Chinese forward scored her first WUSA goal in the Spirit's 2-1 heartbreaking loss to Carolina on Saturday. On several occasions throughout the 61 minutes that she played, Zhang showed the dangerous offensive ability that she possesses.

Karina LeBlanc: Despite the Breakers 2-1 loss, the Boston goalkeeper kept her team in the game. LeBlanc had five saves and came up with a big save in the 41st minute on a shot by Tisha Venturini-Hoch. In the second half, LeBlanc made a point blank save on Pretinha in the 75th minute to keep the game tied.

''She played great ... no doubt about it,'' Boston Head Coach Jay Hoffman said about LeBlanc. ''She came up with big stops when she had to and gave us a chance.''

Sissi: San Jose's playmaker controlled the midfield all day and was the key reason San Jose outshot Boston 23-10. Her creative passes, including the game-winning assist to Brandi Chastain, were the catalyst behind the CyberRays' attack.

Kelly Smith and Zhao Lihong: Philadelphia's international tandem scored in the second half on brilliant individual plays as Philadelphia defeated Atlanta 2-0 Saturday evening at Herndon Stadium. In the 60th minute, Smith and Zhao executed the free kick to perfection as the latter ran over the ball, faking the shot, and Smith curled a left footed shot into the right upper corner.

"When Kelly gets the ball, sometimes magic happens," Philadelphia Head Coach Mark Krikorian said. "She's somebody people have to pay attention to."

The Charge widened the margin only twelve minutes later on a defensive miscue by the Beat. Two Beat defenders failed to clear the ball out of the penalty area. Zhao intercepted a missed clearance, put the ball on her left foot, and curled a ball into the left upper corner of the goal past a diving Briana Scurry. The goal was the first of Zhao's WUSA career.

ROOKIES MAKE THEIR MARK:: With the first weekend of the 2002 WUSA season in the books, this year's crop of rookies made a sudden impact of the league's landscape. The top three picks in the 2002 Draft made paid off immediate dividends for their clubs last Saturday. Carolina's Danielle Slaton played a spectacular match which was capped off with a hand in her team's game-winning goal (an own goal by Joy Fawcett in the 87th minute). Washington's Abby Wambach recorded her first career assist on a 9th minute goal that gave the Freedom an early 1-0 lead versus New York. Boston's Jena Kluegel played solidly in defense for the Breakers despite falling 2-1 to the defending WUSA Champion San Jose CyberRays on April 13. Below is a breakdown of the how the 2002 rookie class did in their first weekend of WUSA action:

Rookie Breakdown

* 555 Totals Minutes Played
* Five players played a full 90 for their squads: Abby Wambach (WAS); Danielle Borgman (SJ); Jena Kluegel (BOS); Danielle Slaton (CAR); Monica Gonzelez (BOS).
* 5 Total Shots Taken: Abby Wambach (WAS) 2; Danielle Borgman (SJ) 1; Jena Kluegel (BOS) 1; Shauna Rohbock (SD) 1.
* 1 Shot on Goal: Abby Wambach (WAS) 1
1 Assist: Abby Wambach (WAS) 1

HOME-SWEET-HOME???: In the first week of WUSA action, three of the four home team lost. In fact in the two seasons of WUSA action the home team has finished 2-5-1 during the opening weekend of action. This past weekend, San Jose was the only team to defend their turf as the CyberRays defeated the Breakers 2-1. San Diego fell to a visiting Carolina, who remained undefeated at Torero Stadium. Atlanta was stunned by Philadelphia 2-0 in the team's first match a Herndon Stadium. Washington was unable to contain the New York Power 4-1. Teams finished with an overall record of 35-31-18 at home in 2001.

CAROLINA AND PORTLAND TOP LIST OF PROLIFIC GOAL-SCORING SCHOOLS: The University of North Carolina and the University of Portland have produced the most WUSA goals than any other schools with 34. With 18 players from UNC in the WUSA, it is no wonder the Tar Heels lead the pack. However, the University of Portland may surprise some people. There are two big reasons why the Pilots are tied with the Heels and their names are Tiffeny Milbrett (New York) and Shannon MacMillan (San Diego). Below is a listing of the top 10 schools that have produced the most WUSA goals:

School # of Goals
1. Univ. North Carolina 34
Portland Univ. 34
2. North Carolina State 12
3. Santa Clara Univ. 11
4. Univ. of Florida 9
5. Notre Dame Univ. 8
6. Univ. of Virginia 4
Seton Hall
8. George Mason Univ. 3
UCLA
Univ. of Maryland
Stanford Univ.
Univ. of Connecticut
Duke University

RESERVE PLAYERS: With each team's 18-player rosters set, two spots remain for the reserve players. Each team is required for on of those players to be a goalkeeper unless three are on an active roster (as in the case of Washington). Below is a team-by-team listing of the reserve players in the league:

Atlanta Beat
No. Player Pos.
19 Cromwell, Amanda D
13 DePlachett, Kristin GK

Boston Breakers
No. Player Pos.
10 Rooney, Michaella D
18 Slater, Kristin GK

Carolina Courage
No. Player Pos.
20 Grose, Tracey F

New York Power
No. Player Pos.
12 Davey, Krista M
21 Williams, Nicole GK

Philadelphia Charge
No. Player Pos.
9 Demko, Michelle M
18 Schillig, Janel GK

San Diego Spirit
No. Player Pos.
1 Finger, Shelley GK
20 Omagbemi, Florence D

San Jose CyberRays
No. Player Pos.
18 Horvath, Megan F
14 Quiñones, Linnea GK

Washington Freedom
No. Player Pos.
26 Beard, Meredith F
20 Rigamat, Stephanie F

WUSA Game Previews (Week Two)

Saturday, April 20, 2002 - New York Power at San Diego Spirit - 4:00 p.m. (ET) - PAX TV (National Broadcast) (All-time Series History: New York leads 1-0-2)
New York holds a 1-0-2 edge in the series history between the two teams with the only victory taking place at Torero Stadium on May 20, 2001. This will be New York's third trip to San Diego, holding a 1-0-1 record there. The Power holds a slight edge over the Spirit in goals scored in this series, 2-1. The last meeting between these two teams took place at Torero on June 30, 2001. In that match midfielder Shannon Boxx notched an 86th minute equalizer for San Diego to draw the Spirit even with first place New York. New York defender Tammy Pearman has recorded both goals for the Power in this series while Boxx is credited with the only score for the Spirit.

Key Players to Watch: Coming off a 4-1 thrashing of Washington, New York's Tiffeny Milbrett (this week's WUSA Player of the Week) and Norwegian international Linda Ormen combined for three of the four Power goals. The Spirit's Shannon MacMillan looks to earn her first points of the 2002 season this week. The ever-dangerous San Diego forward came close to notching her first goal of 2002 against Carolina on April 13. MacMillan nailed the crossbar and continued to pressure Courage 'keeper Kristin Luckenbill in San Diego's 2-1 loss. Merci Akide will also be looking to get on the scoreboard. The 5-11 Nigerian also caused havoc to the Carolina defense, causing a number of scoring opportunities with the aid of MacMillan. Newcomer Zhang Ouying made her presence felt in the WUSA, notching the Spirits only goal in her first league match.

The "Inside Scoop": This matchup features two of the league's leading scorers last season (Milbrett and MacMillan). Of the 28 total goals registered by the two, none have come against each other. In a series dominated by defense, both teams have combined for a total three goals. However, New York scored four goals in the Power's 2002 opener. Gao Hong recorded three of her six shutouts versus the Spirit. However, due to offseason wrist surgery, she will not be in action this weekend, leaving Saskia Weber, who has never faced San Diego, in net for the Power.

They Said it: "We have to battle back after this disappointing loss. We know that New York is tough, but we will just have to play harder and get the result. Last year, we had success against Tiffeny Milbrett (not allowing a goal to her), but we can not rest on our laurels." - Margaret Tietjen - San Diego Spirit defender on the Power.

Referee: Sandra Hunt. Assistant Referees: Bryan Elliott, Sandra Belmont. 4th Official: Kia Dehpaneh.

Saturday, April 20, 2002 - Atlanta Beat at Boston Breakers - 7:00 p.m. (ET) - AT&T 3 (Boston); WB36 (Atlanta) (All-time Series History: Series tied 1-1-1)
With the series tied and both teams looking for their first points of the 2002 season, the Breakers play host to the Beat for the third time is both teams' short history. The Breakers hold a 0-1-1 record at Nickerson Field versus the Beat and will open their 2002 campaign at home versus the 2001 regular season champions. The Beat recorded the club's first-ever victory at the expense of the Breakers at Nickerson Field on May 5, 2001. Homare Sawa, one of only two Beat player to register goals versus Boston in 2001, scored the game-winner in that match. In the last meeting between these two teams (August 1, 2001), Boston defeated Atlanta 1-0 at Bobby Dodd Stadium to give the Beat its second and final home loss of the season. Maren Meinert scored the only goal of the match, to give Boston its first two-game winning streak.

Key Players to Watch: With the return of national team midfielder Lilly, who missed last week's match, at San Jose with back spasms, Boston looks to boost their offensive output. Meinert, who scored the lone goal for the Breakers versus the CyberRays last week, will look to continue to produce for Boston as well as feed the ball to a struggling Dagny Mellgren. Mellgren, whose 11 goals ranked fourth in the WUSA in 2001, did not score during the preseason and her only threat against San Jose was a shot off the post. Goalkeeper Karina LeBlanc (five saves versus San Jose) will need to continue her stellar play in net with Atlanta's potent offense coming to town. The second-highest scoring WUSA team in 2001, Atlanta struggled offensively versus Philadelphia recording only three shots on goal on the night. Canadian international Charmiane Hooper registered only two shots versus Philadelphia. If Hooper, who recorded 12 goals in 2001, can find the back of the net, she could have an enormous impact on the match. The ever-dangerous Cindy Parlow was held to just one shot last weekend and will look to make more of an impact on this weekend's match.

The "Inside Scoop": Meinert, the Breakers leading scorer (1goal, 2 points) is the only member of Boston's squad to record a goal versus the Beat (two goals - June 6, 2001; August 1, 2001). The first-ever meeting on between these two squads was also the home opener for Boston and the first road game of the season for Atlanta (May 5, 2001). Atlanta won that match 1-0. Boston's LeBlanc, who was actually born in Atlanta but plays for the Canadian national team, should get the start against the Beat. Her second career start last season was against Atlanta (June 6, 2001) in a 1-1 tie in which the she recorded five saves.

They Said it: "We must exhibit the fight and hunger that was our trademark style last year. Our forwards must be more mobile and make better decisions on the ball in the final third if we are to create more chances against Boston. Turnovers in the middle third will be punished by Boston's counterattack. We must get more players around the ball on attack and be very aware of where Meinert and Dagny are at all times if we hope to get points on the road in this game." - Atlanta Head Coach Tom Stone on Boston.

Referee: Arnold Baldeaux. Assistant Referees: Bahij A. Salman, Diane Driggers. 4th Official: Claudiu Badea.

Sunday, April 21, 2002 - San Jose CyberRays at Washington Freedom - 4:00 p.m. (ET) - CSN-DC (Washington); Fox Sports Bay Area (San Jose) (All-time Series History: San Jose leads 2-1-0)
In a rematch of the WUSA's Inaugural Game (April 14, 2001), the San Jose CyberRays will head to RFK Stadium to face the Washington Freedom. San Jose holds a 2-1-0 lead in the series, including a 1-1-0 mark in the nation's capital. The CyberRays hold an edge in goals scored at 4-3. In their last meeting at RFK, San Jose defeated Washington 3-2 with a goal by Katia in stoppage time to give the CyberRays the victory on July 12, 2001. Mia Hamm ended LaKeysia Beene's 624-minute scoreless streak with an eighth minute goal on a free kick.

Key Players to Watch: San Jose's Brandi Chastain made the move to forward and recorded the game-winning goal last week versus Boston. After missing a 70th minute penalty kick, Chastain became the hero with an 88th minute goal to give the CyberRays a 2-1 season opening win. All three Brazilian players (Katia, Sissi and Pretinha) gave Boston's defense a hard time, tallying 14 shots, a goal and an assist. Sissi's game-winning assist was the sixth of her WUSA career (a league record). Washington rookie Abby Wambach set the tone for her WUSA career with her first assist on Monica Gerardo's 9th minute goal versus New York. The goal gave Washington an early 1-0 lead. However, New York scored four unanswered to take that match. Dawn Greathouse is likely to make her second straight start for Washington with injuries to both Siri Mullinix and Erin Fahey.

The "Inside Scoop": Chastian leads all players in assists (3) in this series while San Jose's Katia and Washington's Hamm both lead in goals scored with two each. Pretinha returns to RFK where she scored the league's first-ever goal during the WUSA Inaugural Match in front of 34,148 while playing for Washington. This time she is a member of the San Jose CyberRays and will face her former team for the first time. Ann Cook and Jacqui Little will face their former CyberRay teammates since being acquired by the Freedom during the offseason.

They Said it: ``That's OK because now I'm on the other side. I will be better against Washington than for them.''- Pretinha, traded from Washington to the CyberRays, on the fact she'll face her old teammates.

Referee: Terry Vaughn. Referee Assistants: Bill P. Dittmar, Sarah Kraus. 4th Official: John E. Schmitz.

TEAM INJURY REPORTS AS OF 4/15/02

ATLANTA BEAT: IR - D Nancy Augustyniak (R knee patellar tendonitis).

BOSTON BREAKER: OUT - GK Tracy Ducar (R knee articular cartilage lesion); D Kate Sobrero (L knee meniscus tear). PROBABLE - F Kristine Lilly (back spasms).

CAROLINA COURAGE: None

NEW YORK POWER: OUT - GK Gao Hong (R wrist surgery); D Jenn O'Sullivan (L knee ACL/PCL tear); D/M Sara Whalen (Broken ribs). PROBABLE - F Rachel Hoffman (R foot sprain)

PHILADELPHIA CHARGE: QUESTIONABLE - F Rakel Karvelsson (R knee sprain); M Rebekah McDowell (L knee sprain). PROBABLE - F Kerry Connors (L knee sprain).

SAN DIEGO SPIRIT: DOUBTFUL - F Tara Koleski (R knee sprain).

SAN JOSE CYBERRAYS: None

WASHINGTON FREEDOM: OUT - F Mia Hamm (L knee thigh bone lesion); D Casey Zimny (recuperation from surgery). QUESTIONABLE - GK Siri Mullinix (R shoulder surgery); GK Erin Fahey (R hip flexor pull).

TEAM-BY-TEAM NOTES

The Beat dropped its season opener 2-0 to the Philadelphia Charge April 13 in what was a rematch of the 2001 WUSA semifinals ... The Charge gained redemption for last season's loss as Kelly Smith and Zhao Lihong notched beautiful goals in Saturday's win ... It was the second consecutive season Atlanta opened at home without scoring ... Atlanta, regarded as one of the most physical teams in the WUSA, committed 18 fouls to the Charge's 23 ... The Beat also did not receive a yellow card, as the Charge was given two ... Head Coach Tom Stone after Saturday's loss, "We've been beaten before, but we've never been outplayed. Today we, we got outplayed."

The Breakers arrived in San Jose without their three allocated players - Kristine Lilly (back), Kate Sobrero (knee) and Tracy Ducar (knee) - all out with injuries ... The Breakers suffered a 2-1 to San Jose on April 13 with Maren Meinert scoring the lone goal ... Karina LeBlanc kept the Breakers alive making five saves ... Jena Kluegel, Angela Hulces, Heather Aldama, Kristin Slater and Karina LeBlanc will be signing autographs before the NSYNC Concerts on Monday and Tuesday ... Kristine Lilly, Chrisy McCann, Monica Gonzalez and Dagny Mellgren will help the New England Aquarium kick off the Ultimate Reading Program ... They will also participate in two sea lion shows at the Aquarium ... Breakers Media Day will take place on Thursday ... The media will have lunch and participate in a penalty kick shootout with the Breakers.

Carolina fielded a team with five new faces in the starting 11 in Saturday's 2-1 win at San Diego ... Danielle Slaton's crossing pass in the 87th minute deflected off Joy Fawcett for an own goal for the game winner ... Danielle Fotopoulos scored the other goal ... Among the new additions in the starting 11 was Norwegian midfielder Unni Lehn ... Lehn had been with the team for less than one week prior to kickoff ... Nel Fettig, whom the Courage claimed off waivers from New York, played 90 minutes in midfield for her new club ... The Courage's #1 draft pick, Danielle Slaton made her professional debut despite a tender left ankle, which she sprained in practice earlier in the week, and a chest cold that has plagued several members of the Courage ... With FFC Frankfurt's 2-1 victory over Toulouse in the away leg of its UEFA Women's Cup semifinal matchup on Sunday, it looks like the Courage may be waiting until after the May 23 final before German Player of the Year Birgit Prinz will don a Courage uniform ... Prinz's contract with the Courage begins at the conclusion of her German club's involvement in the first-ever European club championship tournament.

Tiffeny Milbrett, the 2001 WUSA Most Valuable Player and Offensive Player of the Year, picked up where she left off last year, scoring in the 33rd and 54th minutes as the Power defeated Washington on April 13 ... The Norwegian national team tandem of Linda Ormen (1 goal, 2 assists) and Anita Rapp (1 goal) provided the other two goals ... Last year it took the Power four games to score four goals ... New York was without starting goalkeeper Gao Hong and defender/midfielder Sara Whalen ... Saskia Webber started in place of Gao and made eight saves on the evening ... Tammy Pearman filled in for Whalen.

On Saturday night, Kelly Smith scored in the 60th minute to break a scoreless tie and Zhao Lihong added another goal as the Philadelphia Charge defeated the Atlanta Beat 2-0 at Herndon Stadium in the season opener for both clubs ... The Charge avenged last season's playoff loss to Beat, while also defeating the club for the first time in four regular-season contests ... Smith has now scored a goal in each of the Charge's two season openers ... Saturday was the second straight 2-0 season-opening win for the Charge, who beat San Diego last season by the same score ... Philadelphia is off this week and will resume play on Saturday, April 27 against the New York Power at Mitchel Athletic Complex ... The off week will allow International players Zhao Lihong (China), Liu Ailing (China) and Marinette Pichon (China) to spend more time learning English as all three are being tutored at Villanova University.

The San Diego Spirit dropped its second home season opener, ending a 6 game unbeaten streak. With the lose the Spirit remains unable to defeat the Carolina Courage. The heartbreaking loss was a result of an own goal off of defender Joy Fawcett in the 87th minute. Spirit Captain Julie Foudy addressed the crowd after the match saying, "We said that we were going to score more for you the fans this year, look we did we scored three today." The third goal the Spirit "scored" being a shot that hit off Spirit defender Margaret Tietjen. The Spirit will play host to the New York Power next weekend as the PAX Game of the Week. The Spirit will be looking for their first win against the Power. The nationally televised game will coincide with the Spirit giving away Spirit logo t-shirts to fans. Also, Shannon MacMillian and Kim Pickup return to the airwaves as their popular radio show Mac & Cheese readies for another season every Friday on XTRA Sports 690 at 9:00 p.m. (PT)

With the CyberRays' 2-1 victory Saturday over the Boston Breakers, they have now won seven of their last 10 matches dating back to the 2001 season. Over that stretch they have tied once and lost twice, mostly recently in the final game of the 2001 regular season to the Atlanta Beat. The game against Boston marked the third comeback victory in CyberRays history. The team's first-ever victory in last season's fourth game was a 2-1 decision over the Carolina Courage. The CyberRays twice overcame one-goal deficits in last season's WUSA Championship Game to force overtime and defeat the Atlanta Beat on penalty kicks. Offense heats up: All 10 starting field players had shots against Boston, led by Pretinha, who took seven with three on goal. Once again, Thori Bryan played the full 90 minutes for the CyberRays on Saturday. She has never missed a minute of any of the CyberRays' 24 matches, which gives her the league record for playing time. Her record now stands at 22 regular season and two playoff games for a total of 2,180 minutes. That includes 15 minutes of overtime in the 2001 WUSA Championship Game.

The Washington Freedom dropped its home opener to the New York Power 4-1. The Freedom's lone goal came in the 9th minute when Monica Gerardo found the upper left corner of the goal. The Freedom will square off next Sunday the 21st with the San Jose CyberRays. The Freedom is currently behind in the overall series and will be looking for its first home win of the 2002 season. The Freedom will donate $1 from every ticket sold to Sunday's game to the National Race for the Cure.

Women's United Soccer Association Stories from April 18, 2002

• Stars Shine on Opening Weekend - WUSA
• New York Comes to Town with Offensive Firepower - San Diego Spirit

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