Sol End Breakers' Season

Boston Fails to Make Playoffs After 2-1 Loss in Regular Season Finale

By Mark Goodman

August 10, 2009

BOSTON, Mass. -- A ball from Los Angeles Sol midfielder Aly Wagner dribbled into the penalty area in the 60th minute - a season hung in the balance.

Coming after it were Boston Breakers keeper Kristin Luckenbill - playing her first match since June 14 - and Sol superstar Marta. It was the Brazilian, having just sped past Breakers defender Candace Chapman, who got to it first, poking it past Luckenbill and tying Sunday�s Women�s Professional Soccer showdown at Harvard Stadium, 1-1.

Kristin Luckenbill

Kristin Luckenbill came up with this ball in the first half, but her hesitation on a similar play in the 60th minute cost the Breakers a crucial goal. (Photo by CHRIS ADUAMA/aduama.com)

Had Luckenbill - who hesitated for a second before coming off her line to claim the ball - gotten to it, the Breakers would have still been ahead in a game from which they needed three points to qualify for the playoffs.

The equalizer was scored instead, and after a half hour of throwing bodies forward in search of a season-saving goal, the Breakers conceded an injury time penalty (converted by L.A. midfielder Shannon Boxx) and lost their season finale, 2-1.

A season that started in April with many predicting the Breakers to win it all ended in early August with Boston (7-9-4, 25 points) finishing fifth out of seven teams in the inaugural WPS season.

Luckenbill - starting in place of Alli Lipsher, who has played through a groin injury the last couple weeks - said afterward she felt she �played a pretty good game� overall, but admitted she could have reacted a little quicker to that ball from Wagner.

�If I had it over again, yeah, I�d have started a step quicker�I had a good angle on her,� Luckenbill said. �Even half a step quicker, I�d have closed her down. But it was Marta, too, let�s not forget that. We gave her one too many chances.�

Breakers head coach Tony DiCicco refused to criticize his keeper, who handled just about every other ball that came her way over the course of 90 minutes.

�Luck looked pretty sharp today,� DiCicco said. �I�m not sure if she could�ve gotten to it or not. Marta covers a lot of ground in a short period of time.�

And it�s not like the match came down to that one play, either. After a goal in the 17th minute from Kelly Smith - who ran onto a perfect ball over the top by Kristine Lilly and slotted it home past Sol keeper Karina LeBlanc - the Breakers had opportunities to put this one away. Boston had 10 corner kicks in the game, but none of them resulted in anything remotely resembling a shot on goal.

In the 56th minute, Lilly had a decent chance from the left side of the penalty area after a pass from Smith, but the veteran�s shot went right at LeBlanc. Smith had the ball in a good spot, centrally located just outside the box two minutes later, but hesitated and never got her shot off. In the 64th minute, Smith was slow to shoot again after some nice interplay with Lilly.

Kelly Smith

Kelly Smith finishes the season as the Breakers' leading scorer with six goals. (Photo by CHRIS ADUAMA/aduama.com)

In the 70th, after being fouled just a couple yards outside the box on the left side of the pitch, Smith sent a free kick just inches over the bar. In the 78th, striker Amy Rodriguez - having just come onto the field four minutes earlier - put a shot from 20 yards over the bar after fellow substitute Christine Latham had done well to work her way into the area and play it back to Rodriguez.

Lilly had a volley in the 83rd minute blocked by Sol defender Allison Falk, and a header three minutes later deflected by Wagner. Neither were clear-cut chances, but Lilly took responsibility for not coming away with a goal.

�I had looks on goal and I needed to do better; there are no more excuses on my front,� Lilly said. �But we fought to end, if there�s anything positive to be taken away from this, and we came up short.�

Referee Ted Unkel put the Breakers� season to rest in the second minute of injury time, calling defender Alex Scott for a trip on Marta in the box. Replays were inconclusive, but it mattered little as Boxx banged the ball into the upper-right corner of the net to give L.A. the three points.

The missed chances served as a microcosm of the Breakers� season. Another couple goals here and there would have turned losses into ties, ties into wins, and Boston would be preparing for a playoff game.

�We certainly didn�t score enough goals,� DiCicco said. �We don�t have the players with the pedigree to put it away, except for Kelly Smith.

�I expected more goals from certain players - international players and high draft picks. The adjustment to playing professionally was greater than some people expected, and greater than I expected.�

The win will serve as a major boost for the Sol (12-3-5, 41 points), who will host the WPS championship game Aug. 22 at the Home Depot Center in Carson, Calif. L.A. had gone 0-2-1 in its last three matches and didn�t want to dwell on another poor result in the two weeks leading up to the title clash.

�I think results always help confidence,� said Sol head coach Abner Rogers. �If you�re playing well and losing games, and keep telling players they�re doing well, after a while they don�t believe you. Today, in an especially tough place to play, to come back and win is huge for us.�

Mark Goodman can be reached at newsdesk@soccernewengland.com.