Mutiny Advance Past Fury

Down Long Island, 4-2, on Late Goals

July 26, 2008

The New England Mutiny defeated the Long Island Fury, 4-2, in the WPSL Eastern Conference semifinal match Friday night in Long Island.

The Mutiny (11-2-0) now go on to visit the Connecticut Reds (13-0-0), which defeated the Lancaster Inferno Friday.

Mary-Frances Monroe dominated for the New England Mutiny. (Photo source: WPSL)

The Mutiny's Mary Frances-Monroe returned to Long Island and was the star of the match. The WPSL East region’s Player of the Year was a level above everybody else, scoring one goal and providing one assist. The WPSL's leading scorer also drew two fouls which led to goals on free kicks.

The Fury dominated the opening 10 minutes of the game and scored on a 15-yard shot by Lorraine Quinn in the 3rd minute which ricocheted off a Mutiny defender. The Mutiny knotted it up in the 16th minute on a 12-yard shot by Monroe off a cross by Erin Clark. Megan Schnur put the Mutiny ahead in the 36th minute with a 20-yard free kick.

After no goals for most of the second half, three goals at the end decided the match. A Fury free kick in the 89th minute, taken by 15-year-old Karin Simonian, was deflected and Marie Curtin blasted it into the net from five yards. The Mutiny responded with a Monroe corner kick in stoppage time which resulted in a goal mouth scramble and Karen Gurnon scoring what proved to be the winning goal. Erin Clark added an insurance goal a minute later just before the final whistle of this end-to-end match.

"If you live by youth, you die by youth," commented Fury head coach Paul Riley. "We were up 1-0 and should have been up by three goals with all the chances we had but let them back into the match.

"We played well and the Mutiny is a good team and a top-class organization. I thought that we were a bit naive tonight and it wound up costing us."

Despite the six goals, both keepers played well and made saves to keep their team in the game. The Fury's Becky Wachsberger made seven saves while New England's Chloe Bezier made five saves.

This sets the stage for a third meeting between the Reds and the Mutiny on Sunday, July 27 at 2:00 in New Britain. To the winner goes the title of Eastern Conference Champion and a berth in the WPSL Final Four in Sacramento, California.

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