Sky Blue Does It To Breakers Again

Penalty In 92nd Minute Leaves Boston Empty-Handed

By Mark Goodman

June 14, 2010

BOSTON, Mass. -- In six tries, the Boston Breakers still haven’t beaten Sky Blue FC in WPS play.

Brazilian midfielder Rosana drew and subsequently converted a penalty kick in the 92nd minute as Sky Blue FC snatched a 2-1 win over the Boston Breakers Sunday night at Harvard Stadium.

Jordan Angeli - pictured above in action against FC Gold Pride - scored her first career WPS goal in Sunday night's 2-1 loss to Sky Blue FC. (Photo by CHRIS ADUAMA/aduama.com)

With the ball on the left side of the box and her face to goal, Rosana took a hit from behind from Breakers striker Lauren Cheney. Rosana went to ground, and referee Michael Donovan pointed to the spot.

Rosana stepped up and fired it to the right of Boston keeper Ashley Phillips, who was rooted to her spot in the middle of the net.

While he didn’t fault Donovan for making the call, Boston head coach Tony DiCicco said the Sky Blue player may have embellished the foul to ensure she got the penalty.

“(Rosana) is going to make that look like a penalty. Whether she was hit hard or not, she’s going down, and now the referee has to make a decision,” DiCicco said. “There’s a level of sophistication in this game,. and American players - especially female players - don’t have it yet…There is a level of sophistication that this team needs to grow into, whether it’s finding the pass in the penalty area or knowing when to go down to draw the call.”

Down 1-0 at the half on Jordan Angeli’s first career WPS goal, Sky Blue equalized in the 52nd minute on a rather fluky play. Rosana threaded a through ball to Natasha Kai, forcing Phillips to come well off her line for the clearance. The ball went right to winger Heather O’Reilly, however, and the U.S. international lofted the ball from 30 yards out into an empty net for the goal.

“[Phillips] was out of the box and the ball was pretty much bouncing straight towards me. There was no spin on the ball, it was just very straight. That’s something you do at practice all the time,” O’Reilly said. “It’s about keeping good technique. This was my first goal this season so I’m thrilled about getting one in the back of the net. I’m glad I could contribute to the win.”

Those two plays erased a first half that Boston dominated, out-shooting Sky Blue 12-1 and controlling the majority of possession.

Angeli scored a scrappy goal in the 14th minute off a corner kick to give the Breakers the lead. Kasey Moore’s delivery fell into a sea of blue and orange, with Kristine Lilly’s initial shot deflecting off a Sky Blue defender.

But the ball bounced right to Angeli in the left side of the penalty area, and her left-footed shot from 12 yards sailed past Sky Blue keeper Karen Bardsley and a Sky Blue defender into the net.

The Breakers forced Bardsley into five saves in the half.

The best of those chances for the Breakers came in the 34th minute, as Lauren Cheney shielded a 50-50 ball from her mark and left it for new strike partner Lindsay Tarpley at the edge of the box. Tarpley, making her debut for Boston after joining the club from recently defunct Saint Louis Athletica, fired her shot high and down the middle, where Bardsley was positioned to make the save.

“We should’ve come out of the first half 2-0 or 3-0,” Angeli said. “We played a very good first half, and those are just the little opportunities we need to put away to get us those three points. I think we’re getting there. I still feel like we’re playing good soccer.”

Breakers keeper Ashley Phillips was rarely forced into action in the first half, but made a great stop in the 19th minute to keep the visitors off the board. Sky Blue right back India Trotter played a long ball up the wing to striker Kai, who took it to the byline and crossed to O’Reilly at the corner of the six-yard box, where Phillips got a body to O’Reilly’s one-timer to keep the ball out of the net.

The loss extended Boston’s winless streak to seven, and the Breakers have just seven points through eight matches and are currently seven points out of the playoff spots. Should the club narrowly miss out on the postseason as it did in 2009, it may look back at the three potential points it dropped in this game with regret.

“This is probably the best we’ve played since the start of the season,” said Boston midfielder Kelly Smith. “It just didn’t happen for us tonight in front of goal, something that obviously we need to address…we’re definitely frustrated and disappointed with the result tonight.”

ADD TO YOUR SOCIAL BOOKMARKS: Blink Del.icio.us Digg
Furl Google Simpy Spurl Technorati Y! MyWeb