Saint Louis Athletica Hands Breakers First Home Loss of Season

Eniola Aluko scored the game’s only goal in the 44th minute as Saint Louis Athletica defeated the Boston Breakers, 1-0, in Women’s Professional Soccer (WPS) action on Sunday evening at Harvard Stadium in Cambridge, Mass.
   
The game winner was scored against the run of play when Saint Louis midfielder Kendall Fletcher sent a through ball to Aluko, who burst in behind the Breakers defense, and hit the ball low in a one-on-one past goalkeeper Kristin Luckenbill. Aluko’s goal marked her team-high third for the season.

“I was proud of the way we responded,” said Boston head coach Tony DiCicco about the team’s effort after giving up the goal. “We defended well, but today we had a breakdown and it cost us. Give Saint Louis credit; they got the goal and defended it well”

The Breakers owned a commanding 17-7 advantage in shots on goal, and an 8-1 edge in corners.  Boston also enjoyed the majority of the possession throughout the game, but were unable to score.

“We are creating the chances, we just need to score,” said DiCicco.

The Breakers (3-3-3, 11 points) dropped into a three-way tie for fourth place with Wednesday night’s opponent, FC Gold Pride, and the Chicago Red Stars, and are still one point behind the Washington Freedom. Athletica (4-3-2, 14 points), meanwhile, moves into second place.

Despite controlling the majority of the game, Saint Louis proved to be effective on the counter.  Athletica had a 17th-minute goal by Amanda Cinalli that was called offside, one of five offside calls on Saint Louis for the game.

Immediately following Saint Louis’ goal, Breaker forward Amy Rodriguez had an opportunity to tie just before the halftime when she ran onto a ball from Alex Scott, but shot the ball wide across the goal.

The Breakers came out into the second half with momentum, and had three scoring opportunities in the first five minutes. Kristine Lilly got two shots off, one which was saved by Saint Louis goalkeeper Hope Solo at the near post, and another that went just wide of the net. Alex Scott also sent a cross right across the goal line, but no teammates were on the end of it to finish.

Boston continued to generate numerous chances throughout the rest of the match, but the Athletica defense held their ground.

The Breakers are back in action at home on Wednesday to face FC Gold Pride at 7 p.m. It will be the second match of a run of four games in 11 days for Boston.

Box Score
June 14, 2009
Harvard Stadium – Cambridge, Mass.

GOALS    1  2  – Total
Saint Louis:    1  0    1
Boston:          0  0    0

Scoring Summary
First Half:
1 - STL: Aluko 3 (Fletcher 2), 43rd minute.

Second Half:
None.

Stats
Shots: STL 7 BOS 17; Shots on Goal: STL 2 BOS 4; Saves: Hope Solo (STL) 4, Kristin Luckenbill (BOS) 1; Corners: STL 1 BOS 8; Fouls: STL 5 BOS 1.

Lineups
SAINT LOUIS: Hope Solo; Stephanie Logterman, Kia Mcneill, Tina Ellertson, Elisa Weber; Amanda Cinalli, Angie Woznuk, Lori Chalupny (Sara Larson, 75th), Kendall Fletcher; Eniola Aluko, Christie Welsh (Ashless Pistorious, 89th min).

BOSTON: Kristin Luckenbill; Alex Scott, Candace Chapman, Amy LePeilbet, Heather Mitts; Kelly Schmedes, Angela Hucles, Kristine Lilly, Kelly Smith (Kasey Moore, 71st); Amy Rodriguez, Jennifer Nobis (Maggie Tomecka, 67th min).

Misconduct Summary                                                                                              
Cautions:
Boston – Smith, 28th minute; Nobis, 35th minute.
Saint Louis – None

Ejections: None.
Attendance: 4,502
Weather – 61, partly cloudy
Officials – R: Daniel Fitzgerald; A1: Amy Willing; A2: Jan Halaska; FO: Daniel Hristov.

The previous story is excerpted from a press release by the Boston Breakers. Photo Credit Katsampes | isiphotos.net.