|
July 15, 2001
Freedom tops New York 2-1
By Rick Crow
In one of
their most crucial matches of the season, a determined Washington
Freedom used a goal in each half to edge the New York Power 2-1
at RFK Stadium on Sunday afternoon. With the win the Freedom (6-7-2)
broke a two game losing streak and jumped back into the playoff
race, while the slumping Power is 0-3-1 in its last four games.
Cheered on by a screaming crowd, Washington outshot New York 14-2
in the first half. The pressure paid off at the 17th minute when
Mia Hamm ran on to a long pass from Anne Makinen and headed the
ball past Chinese National Team goalkeeper Gao Hong from seven yards.
It was Hamm's third goal in two games.
After intermission, Tiffeney Milbrett evened things up at the 53rd
minute with her 11th goal of the season. Nel Fettig set up the play
when she headed a goal kick from Freedom goalkeeper Siri Mullinix
back into the Freedom end. Milbrett let the ball bounce once and
ripped a booming volley that dipped inside the right post.
Needing a victory, Washington pushed forward in search of the second
goal, but were frustrated by a trap that consistently caught Pretinha
offside. Pretinha, however, set up the game-winner with a lovely
pass to an overlapping Bai Jie, who took a ball on the left side
of the penalty area and found the right corner with a low shot that
brought the Freedom faithful to their feet.
Washington will try to make it two-in-a-row next Sunday when the
team meets the Bay Area CyberRays on the road. The Freedom defeated
Bay Area 1-0 in the inaugural WUSA match, but dropped a dramatic
last-second 3-2 decision to the CyberRays last Thursday.
New York will try to get back on the winning track on Sunday when
they visit the league leading Atlanta Beat.
Quick Kicks
In his weekly
Saturday soccer column, Washington Times writer John Haydon called
the Washington Freedom and D.C. United "two of a kind" for all of
the wrong reasons. While Haydon acknowledged that the Freedom and
United lead their respective leagues in attendance, he also noted
that each team is: -
Struggling to get into the playoffs.-
Notorious for outshooting their opponents and losing on defensive
breakdowns and late goals.-
Shuffling their lineups like a pack of cards and trying endless
formations.-
Making excuses for losing games they should have won.
And the list
goes on.
|
