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Jordan Angeli was again an integral part of a Breakers victory Sunday night. (Photo by CHRIS ADUAMA/aduama.com) |
The four goals were a club record in WPS play, and four different players figured into the scoring: Lauren Cheney, Jordan Angeli, Lindsay Tarpley and Laura del Rio.
And for the first time in seven tries, the Breakers defeated their arch-nemesis. Sky Blue took 10 out of 12 points from Boston last year in edging out the Breakers by a point for the league�s final playoff berth. The Jersey-based team then ran off three straight wins in the playoffs to win the inaugural WPS championship.
After a tie and a loss in this year�s series, the Breakers have finally broken through. And while the four-goal outburst will get most of the attention, the team�s back four of Stephanie Cox, Ifeoma Dieke, Amy LePeilbet and Alex Scott held Sky Blue to just four shots on target.
Putting it altogether, Breakers head coach Tony DiCicco said it was his team�s best performance of the season.
�That�s a pretty good team with some pretty dangerous players, and we didn�t let them play,� said DiCicco. �On the other side of the ball, we were very dangerous. Because they�re good they scraped some half chances together, but I was real proud that we got the shutout.�
The only sour note for the Breakers was an injury to holding midfielder Leslie Osborne just three minutes from time. Sky Blue substitute Patrizia Panico bowled into Osborne on a 50-50 ball in midfield, with Osborne landing awkwardly on her right shoulder. After laying on the turf for a couple minutes, Osborne got up and walked off the field holding her shoulder.
DiCicco said after the game the shoulder is separated, and that Osborne is out for at least Saturday�s game against the Atlanta Beat.
�My guess is she will not be available for next weekend,� DiCicco said. �But I�m hoping it�s not that serious. I�m hoping it�s a first-degree (separation), but we don�t know yet. It would be a real bonus if she�s available next weekend, but I think we have to plan that she won�t be.�
Of the Breakers� four goals, del Rio scored the last and the best. In the 80th minute, the Spanish international�s cross from the right wing was blocked right back to her feet. At the corner of the penalty area, del Rio sent a left-footed shot over Sky Blue keeper Jenni Branam and into the top corner of the net at the far post.
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Alyssa Naeher kept her second clean sheet in three games. (Photo by CHRIS ADUAMA/aduama.com) |
After Cheney and Angeli had given Boston a 2-0 halftime lead, Tarpley scored her first goal in a Breakers uniform four minutes into the second half. Kristine Lilly sent in a corner from the left side toward the far post, where LePeilbet headed it back toward the middle of the penalty area. Angeli�s header was well saved by Branam, but the rebound came right to Tarpley, whose first touch sent it into the net past a stranded Branam for a three-goal lead.
The Breakers dominated the game from the outset and got two deserved first half goals as a result. The first came just over eight minutes in, after Boston had already earned three corner kicks and Angeli brought a good save out of Branam in the third minute.
In the eighth minute, LePeilbet whipped in a free kick from the left wing 40 yards from goal. Angeli headed it down in the box to an unmarked Cheney, who guided it into the net with her head for her fifth goal of the season.
The rookie from UCLA has been working on her heading throughout the season after admitting it was a weak part of her game at the beginning of the season.
�It�s such a relief that I scored with my head. I work on it all the time and to know that it�s paying off is a huge weight off my shoulders,� Cheney said.
Cheney had another great opportunity in the 15th minute, taking a long ball from Cox in the penalty area and turning past her mark toward her goal. Cheney�s shot from 18 yards on the left side of the box was saved by Branam.
Cox and Cheney played a role in Angeli�s goal in the 41st minute. The left back sent in an early cross that was heading for Cheney at the top of the box. She let it go and shielded her defender in the process, leaving Angeli to come in and attempt a left-footed volley that looped over Branam and into the net.
It was Angeli�s sixth goal of the season, as her emergence has been a big part of Boston�s 7-1-1 run in its last nine games. With just five matches to go in the season, the Breakers will hope that continues.
�Every game for us now is a big game, and that was one of them, and we performed,� Angeli said. �We still have some more to go, and hopefully we�ll keep going in the right direction.�
Boston will �host� Atlanta Saturday at 5 p.m. at Veterans Stadium in New Britain, Conn. The team will be without Kelly Smith, Scott and Dieke, who will be on international duty for their countries� World Cup qualifiers (Smith and Scott for England, Dieke for Scotland).
Mark Goodman can be reached at newsdesk@soccernewengland.com.
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