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May 18, 2002
Freedom
and Courage battle to a draw
Rick Crow
The Washington Freedom
and the Carolina Courage battled to a 1-1 draw in the nation's capital
on Saturday. The Washington-Carolina showdown was the first match
of a WUSA-MLS doubleheader at RFK Stadium. In the nightcap, D.C.
United downed the New York/New Jersey MetroStars 4-2. Cheered on
by an enthusiastic crowd of youth players and their families, the
Freedom pushed for the first goal from the opening kickoff. The
pressure paid off when Abby Wambach put the Freedom ahead at the
31st minute. Jaqui Little set up the score when she sent a hard-low
cross into the penalty area that bounced off Courage goalkeeper
Kristin Luckenbill. Wambach pounced on the loose ball and slipped
it past Luckenbill. Wambach has now scored in each of the Freedom's
last three games and has registered a goal or an assist in all four
games she has appeared in this season. A resilient Carolina squad
evened things up just five minutes after the break when Norwegian
international Hege Riise scored her second goal of the 2002 campaign.
Washington goalkeeper could only watch as Unni Lehn sent a centering
pass that Riise redirected into the goal with the outside of her
foot. In a wild finish, both teams had a chance to grab three points.
Carolina's Danielle Fotopoulus hit the post at the 76th minute.
Six minutes later, Wambach countered with a header that Luckenbill
tipped off the crossbar. Mullinix saved the day for Washington by
turning back a point-blank blast from Nel Fettig in the first minute
of stoppage time, and with 30 seconds remaining, Luckenbill smothered
the Freedom's final threat when she dove to save a header from Pu
Wei. With the draw Carolina remains undefeated at 3-0-2 (11 pts.)
while Washington sits at 2-3-1 (7 pts.) on the year.
Scoring
Washington -
Abby Wambach (Jacqui
Little), 31st minute.
Carolina - Hege Riise (Unni Lehn, Danielle Fotopoulos), 52.
Carolina Courage -
Kristin Luckenbill,
Staci Burt, Erin Baxter (Venus James 92+), Staci Wilson, Danielle
Slaton, Tiffany Roberts, Nel Fettig, Hege Riise, Kim Yankowski (Katie
Barnes 56), Danielle Fotopoulos, Unni Lehn (Brooke O'Hanley 81).
Shots on goal: 7 (Danielle
Slaton 3 )
Fouls: 16 (Staci Burt 3)
Offside: 2
Corner kicks: 8
Saves: 6 (Kristin Luckenbill 6)
Cautions: (Staci Burt, 64)
Washington Freedom --
Siri Mullinix, Emmy Barr, Jen Grubb, Casey Zimny, Skylar Little,
Pu Wei, Monica Gerardo (Ann Cook 68), Lindsay Stoecker, Bai Jie
(Tracey Milburn 60), Jacqui Little, Abby Wambach.
Shots on goal: 8 (3 27 tied with 1)
Fouls: 24 (Lindsay Stoecker 6 w 6)
Offside: 2
Corner kicks: 3
Saves: 6 (Siri Mullinix 6)
Cautions: (Lindsay Stoecker 78)
Referee: Peter Kokolski
Referee's Assistants: Sandra Serafini; Kelly Lee.
4th Official: Mike Stutt
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