Target: Playoffs

May 5, 2003 - Women's United Soccer Association (WUSA)
San Diego Spirit News Release


In the two-year history of the WUSA, teams that have earned 33 points during the regular season have made the playoffs. It is still early in the Spirit's third campaign, but the goal of 33 points is possible when you break down the season into thirds. The common belief is that you need to average 11 points every seven games to reach the magic number for the 21-game schedule (3 points for a win, 1 point for a tie). San Diego is on pace to reach the goal in the first third of the season, compiling seven points in their first four games. Gaining the final four points will be a challenge as the Spirit play two of their next three games on the road, with dates in Atlanta on May 10 and on May 24 against defending Founders Cup champion Carolina. San Diego's lone home game in this stretch will be on May 18 when the Boston Breakers visit Torero Stadium. As a point of reference, 37 points has earned home-field advantage in the playoffs during the league's first two seasons.

QUICK GLANCE AT THE SPIRIT

NEXT MATCH: Saturday, May 10, 4 p.m. PT, @ Atlanta Beat, Herndon Stadium,
Live telecast on Channel 4 SD
LAST MATCH: Saturday, May 3, 1-1 tie with Boston, Gillette Stadium, Boston, Mass.
RECORD: 2-1-1, 7 pts.
LEADING SCORER: Julie Fleeting, 3 goals, 6 points
INJURIES: Jen Nielsen, Broken Toe

NEXT ON THE SLATE: Atlanta Beat, Saturday, May 10, 4 p.m. PT, Herndon Stadium, Atlanta, Ga.
The Spirit will travel to red-hot Atlanta for a Saturday, May 10, battle with the league-leading Beat. The game will be broadcast live on Channel 4 San Diego & Channel 3 Orange County at 4 p.m. PT.

FLEETING CHASING RECORDS Spirit forward Julie Fleeting is chasing two team scoring records, consecutive games with a goal and consecutive games with a point. "Air Scotland" has scored goals in three straight games, two of them coming off headers. Fleeting has been down this road before, she tallied points in three consecutive games and goals in two consecutive games during her first three appearances with the Spirit in July 2002. Consecutive Games with a Goal:
4 7/29-8/9/01 Tara Koleski
3 4/19-5/3/03 Julie Fleeting
2 7/10-7/20/02 Julie Fleeting, tied with 2 others

Consecutive Games with a Point:
5 7/29-8/12/01 Tara Koleski
3 4/19-5/3/05 Julie Fleeting
3 7/10-7/20/02 Julie Fleeting, tied with 2 others

BEST START TO A SEASON

The Spirit are off the best start in team history with a 2-1-1 record and seven points. In 2001, the team began the inaugural season with a 1-1-2 mark, while starting last year with a 1-2-1 record. San Diego is currently has a three-game unbeaten streak; the longest streak in club history is six games recorded between July 25-August 12, 2001.

COMEBACK QUEENS, BUT WE WOULD PREFER SCORING FIRST

In three of the Spirit's first four games, the team has given up the first goal to their opponents. However, the team has comeback from the deficits to compile a 1-1-1 record. The only game the Spirit scored first in was during their 2-0 win over New York on April 19. San Diego is dangerous if they score first; they have an all-time record of 11-1-4. A trend the club needs to turn around is that two of the goals allowed in the match came within the first eight minutes of the game. Trailing & Coming Back April 5 vs. Boston, goal scored against in the 8th minute, lost game. April 27 vs. San Jose, goal scored against in the 49th minute, won game 2-1 May 3 @ Boston, goal scored against in the 4th minute, tied game 1-1

SPIRIT GAME VS SAN JOSE MOVED TO JULY 2

The San Diego Spirit-San Jose CyberRays WUSA match at Spartan Stadium, originally scheduled for July 13, has been rescheduled for 7 p.m. Wednesday, July 2. Full release was issued today at 2 p.m. PT.

SPIRIT SNAPSHOTS

Daniela captained Brazil for the first two games in WWC qualifying in Peru, but was suspended for the third game due to receiving yellow cards in the first two games...It was the first time she had captained the senior team...She did captain her country's U-19s in the last Youth World Cup...Julie Foudy scored her first point of the season with an assist on Saturday...GK Jenni Branam made her WUSA debut on Saturday, becoming the fifth starting goalkeeper in Spirit history, a WUSA record...San Diego played before 13,722 on Saturday, the second largest away crowd in team history.

UPCOMING SCHEDULE

The Spirit return home for a May 18 contest against Boston that will finish the season series against the Breakers after only six games of the season. The match kicks off at 5 p.m. PT at Torero Stadium. Promotions include the Spirit will honor all military personnel on Military Day and the first 4,000 fans will receive a free Spirit T-shirt, complements of adidas and USYSA.

GRASSROOTS EVENTS

5/10 - Spirit Away Game Viewing Party - Oggi's Mission Valley - 4 p.m. All times are Pacific

QUOTES

Omid Namazi on the match vs. Boston... "This was a good result for us, but I felt we were unlucky not to come away with the win. I thought in the second half we played a little better than them. In the second half, we were able to put more pressure on the ball and able to hold the ball better because we went to three up front which gave us more options."

Omid Namazi on next week's match at Atlanta... "Atlanta is going to be hungry after losing to San Jose. I know they are going to come out hard, especially at home. We just have to absorb their pressure and try to dictate the pace that we want to play. They are a very talented team with a lot of speed and it will be a very tough game on the road. But we are starting to come together as a team, getting much better in our possession, and hopefully that will get even better next week."



Women's United Soccer Association Stories from May 5, 2003


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