Passion Draw in First W-League Game

New CT Club Knots New York

May 12, 2008

The Connecticut Passion, playing their inaugural season in the USL W-League, got a penalty kick goal from Fortuna Velaj in the 80th minute to force a 2-2 draw with the New York Magic Saturday in the team’s first-ever regular season game.

CFC Passion

"It was a good start,” said Passion coach and SNE guest writer Dave Clarke. “Our inexperienced show a bit, but we are happy to come away with a point on the road."

Velaj, a senior at Westhill High School (Stamford, CT) and headed to play at Clarke-coached Quinnipiac in the fall, put the Passion in front in the 6th minute firing a shot into the left corner past Magic goalkeeper Suzanne Baldissard.

Trailing 1-0 at the break, New York countered with two second half goals from Robin McCullough (59th minute) and Henry Donna-Kay (74th minute) to give the Magic a 2-1 advantage before Velaj's penalty brought CFC back even in the closing minutes.

Kelly Boudreau (Farmington, CT) played the first half in goal for CFC stopping five shots and Nikki Weiss (Redding, CT) made 3 saves in the net in the second half for the Passion.

The Passion (0-0-1) will play their inaugural USL W-League home game next Saturday night, May 17th when they host Jersey Sky Blue (1-0) at Yale University's Reese Stadium.

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