Washington Freedom Defeated the Atlanta Beat, 2-0

The Atlanta Beat faced the Washington Freedom for the second time in a match at KSU Soccer Stadium, but lost the game 2-0.  Although the Beat did not win the overall game, they led once gain in the offensive categories.

In the first half of the match, a head-to-head collision between Atlanta Beat’s McCall Zerboni and Washington Freedom’s Sonia Bompastor caused both players to leave the match early.

The two players collided while in the air. Midfielder Zerboni was carried off the field, though she did regain consciousness, and was taken to the hospital for precautionary measures.

Midfielder Bompastor left the match for almost twenty minutes to receive stitches, but later came back into the game.

Freedom goalkeeper Erin McCleod stated, “ Personally, I think I could have done better with Sonia throughout the game. That’s when we just have to have more composure and keep the ball. Everyone worked really hard, and we worked through it.”

The Freedom’s Lene Mykland made a goal in the 28^th minute of play with an assist from Abby Wambach, which led the ball into the bottom left corner of the goal.  

After the goal, the Beat came back with several chances. Atlanta ended the first half of the game with five shots on goal, six corners to Washington’s one and 11 shots to Washington’s four.

The Freedom’s Wambach made the second goal of the match in the 18^th minute of play with an assist from Bompastor.

Abby Wambach said of the Beat, “ If they can start scoring goals, I think they will be a force to be reckoned with. They just can’t find the back of the net. I think once Tobin (Heath) gets back and healthy, it will really help the offense for Atlanta. Bachmann will have a lot more chances on goal.”

“We’re still struggling from the final pass, to the final touch, to the final cross,” said Beat head coach Gareth O’Sullivan.

“It’s all about putting the ball in the net and we have been struggling to do that. We know that we’re going to give goals to top teams, but we have to score goals. We played a good game, but a lot of the shots we took were rushed.”

The Atlanta Beat’s next match is against Saint Louis Athletica on May 29 at KSU Stadium. It will take place at 7:00 p.m. ET.

*Photo courtesy of theatlantabeat.com