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USISL W-LEAGUE

Springfield Sirens lift 2000 W-2 Championship with 2-1 win over Charlotte Lady Eagles

Sunday, August 06, 2000

2,511 fans gathered at Fred Berte Stadium for the W-2 National Championship.

Geraldine O'Shea and Saurin connected on a corner kick to open the scoring in the eighth minute, but Kreidel helped the Charlotte defense keep the Sirens from adding to the one-goal lead. And as the teams headed to the locker room at halftime, Lady Eagles Coach Lee Horton was pleased with his team's performance.

Charlotte had tied the game in the 52nd minute when Deanna Kreidel and Tiffany Tisdale connected for the second time in the tournament on a corner kick. Tisdale's free kick found Kreidel six yards out at the far post and the 5-11 defender easily headed the ball past Springfield 'keeper Kim Bridge.

Just six minutes after the third-seeded Charlotte Lady Eagles evened the game Woodson redirected a header past goalkeeper Raleigh Tillman after Margaret Saurin sent a shot into the penalty area from about 20 yards. The goal proved to be the game-winner as the Springfield Sirens held on for a 2-1 victory, avenging last year's 5-1 loss to North Texas in the final.

After Erin Fluck left the game in the 83rd minute with an injury, the Lady Eagles began to mount their comeback effort. The teams finished even in shots, but Charlotte was never able to produce another serious scoring chance against Bridge and the Sirens.

Post game quotes

Woodson
"Usually I sit in front of the goal on corner kicks and pray for someone to hit it to me," Woodson said. "When I saw (Saurin), I said 'Come on Mags, just hit it to my head.' We knew we needed to pick up the intensity and we knew we needed the next goal."

Coach Derek Shea
"We talked about getting that first goal in the dressing room," said Springfield Coach Derek Shea. "But,Charlotte came right back at us and when they tied it, I thought to myself, 'We're going to have a dogfight here.'"

Coach Horton
"If you had asked me before the game if I'd be comfortable down 1-0 at halftime in their stadium, I'd say yes," Horton said. "I felt if we could tie it up, they might start to panic a little because of what happened to them last year. But to their credit, they came right back and got one."

Indiana Blaze beat the Oklahoma Outrage 2-1 in overtime to take Third place

A pair of substitutes scored goals to help the Indiana Blaze overcome a one-goal deficit and defeat the Oklahoma Outrage, 2-1, in the 2000 W-2 National Championship Third Place game.

Kara Bryan, who came on in the 65th minute, slotted the ball into the far corner eight minutes into overtime to give Indiana the victory. Halftime substitute Alisa Pykett had tied the game at 1-1 in the 72nd minute on a spectacular diving header at the far post on a cross from Lori Lindsey.

The Outrage, despite playing with only one eligible substitute, took the lead midway through the first half when Cami Bybee finished on a corner kick taken by Andi Lute in the 22nd minute.

Indiana outshot the Outrage, 18-9, but couldn't manage to knock one past Oklahoma goalkeeper Amanda Smith and the tight defense in front of her. Finally, Lindsey broke free on the right side and sent a cross to the back post where Pykett was streaking in. Fully stretched, the 25-year-old midfielder knocked the ball off the far post and in to tie the game.

Charlotte Lady Eagles knock Indiana Blaze out of W-2 Finals in overtime

The Charlotte Lady Eagles and Indiana Blaze battled through a complete game and into overtime before the Lady Eagles put Indiana Blaze out of championship contention with a 2-1 victory in the 2000 W-2 playoffs Friday night at Fred Berte Stadium in Springfield, Massachusetts.

The Lady Eagles scored first in the 49th minute when Deanna Kreidel headed in a corner kick by Tiffany Tisdale. Continuing to increase the pressure, the Blaze evened up the score with a goal by Tracy Grose in the 80th minute off a deflection.

In the sixth minute of the sudden death overtime, Rebecca McDowell placed the golden goal into the side netting out of the reach of Blaze goalkeeper Heather Combs after a flick pass by Nkiru Okosieme.

The Eagles will play the Springfield Sirens for the W-2 Championship, and the Blaze Oklahoma Outrage in the consolation match at 3:00 p.m. Eastern Time on Sunday, August 6.

Scoring
Charlotte Lady Eagles 0 1 1 -2
Indiana Blaze 0 1 0 -1

CHR-Kreidel (Tisdale) 49'
IND-Grose (unassisted) 80'
CHR-McDowell (Okosieme) 96+

W-1 and W-2 league results

W-1 League
Friday July, 21
Raleigh Wings	8	Delaware Genies	0
Fort Collins Force	4	Austin Lady Lone Stars	0
Denver Diamonds	0	Chicago Cobras	1
Saturday, July 22
North Texas Heat v Oklahoma Outragepostphoned to July, 30
Long Island Lady Riders	2	Boston Renegades	5
New Hampshire Lady Phantomsnlg	0	Laval Dynamites	6
New Jersey Lady Stallions	0	Maryland Pride	2
Raleigh Wings v Hampton Roads Piranhas- Postphoned because of weather
Tampa Bay Extreme	2	Atlanta Classics	3
Sunday, July 23
New Hampshire Lady Phantoms	1	Ottawa Fury	8
Toronto Inferno	2	Laval Dynamites	1
Cleveland Eclipse	0	Rochester Ravens	5
Fort Collins Force	6	Houston Tornados	1
Tampa Bay Extreme	4	Jacksonville Jade	0

W-2 League
Friday July, 21
Fort Collins Force	4	Austin Lady Lone Stars
Cincinnati Ladyhawks	3	Piedmont Spark	6
Springfield Sirens v Rhode Island Rays postphoned
Rockford Dactyls	0	Kentucky Fillies	5
Saturday July, 22
North Texas Heat versus Oklahoma Outrage postphoned to July, 30
Houston Tornados	2	Austin Lady Lone Stars	1
New York Magic	1	New Jersey Wildcats	2
Cincinnati Ladyhawksnlg	2	Charlotte Lady Eagles	3
Indiana Blaze	3	Cleveland Eclipse	1
New Hampshire Lady Phantomsnlg	0	Laval Dynamites	6
Tampa Bay Extreme	2	Atlanta Classics	3
Rockford Dactyls	0	Kentucky Fillies	6
Sunday July, 23
New Hampshire Lady Phantoms	1	Ottawa Fury	8
Cleveland Eclipse	0	Rochester Ravens	5
Fort Collins Force	6	Houston Tornados	1
New Brunswick Power	3	Springfield Sirens	4