Schoepfer’s Hat Trick Lifts Breakers Over Flash

Katie Schoepfer's three goals helped lead the Breakers to their fourth straight win on Saturday. (Photo: Chris Aduama/aduama.com)

SOMERVILLE, Mass. – When Katie Schoepfer was substituted out of the game in the 70^th minute of Saturday night’s 3-2 Breakers victory over the Western New York Flash, the sellout crowd at Dilboy Stadium erupted in applause.

Thanks to Schoepfer’s three goals, the Breakers solidified their place as the top team in WPSL Elite and extended their unbeaten streak to four.

“That’s my first [hat trick] since my senior year in college,” said Schoepfer, who now leads the league with six goals. “My teammates actually did most of the work. The ball was just landing for me in the right spot and I was just there to finish it up.”

Loose balls and poor passes defined the first half hour for the Breakers. But Schoepfer bolstered the Breakers with a goal in the 33^rd minute after she claimed a deflected pass from Kyah Simon and fired into the back of the net.

The Breakers made it into halftime with the lead, though the Flash came out in the second half and dominated the opening minutes. Omolyn Davis hit the crossbar on a 20-yard freekick in the 46^th minute. Four minutes later, Angela Salem chipped a feed from Adriana Martin Santa Maria over the head of Alice Binns and into the goal to level the game.

Boston resumed its attack following the early-half hiccup. In the 54^th minute, Simon was taken down in the penalty area by McCall Zarboni and was awarded a penalty kick. Schoepfer stepped up to take the penalty and converted, restoring the Breakers’ lead by going to the lower right corner past Allison Lipsher.

“I practice them all the time,” said Schoepfer. “I just have confidence in myself. I turned around and Osbourne let me take it. I think she had the confidence in me so I went out there and did it like I always do.”

Simon helped Schoepfer complete her hat trick in the 67^th minute. Schoepfer slid onto a loose pass from Simon in the penalty area and tucked the ball inside the far post with a toe poke. The hat trick was the team’s since 2002.

“Simon did a lot of fancy footwork in there and I was behind her waiting to see where I could go,” said Schoepfer.  “All of a sudden it popped out at me and I saw a defender closing in so the only thing I could get on it was my toe. It worked out perfectly.”

Down by two goals and with the final whistle approaching, the Flash showed no signs of backing down. Alice Binns made four saves on shots from Davis, Adriana, and Salem between the 79^th and 83^rd minutes. Adriana eventually broke through in the 82^nd minute, finding herself with time and space in the penalty area to slide a loose ball past Binns to make it 3-2.

The Breakers didn’t allow any more action in front of goal and were able to preserve the victory and keep their record (4-0-0) unblemished.

After the game, Schoepfer said that earning the win against a title favorite like the Flash shows that the Breakers aren’t afraid to go after any team.

“I think it’s a sign of a good team,” said Schoepfer. “(And) that we’ve won in many different ways. We’ve had blowouts, we’ve had teams that are a lot more physical, we’ve had teams that are a lot more organized. Figuring out how the Flash played, we kind of talked it out, and we made the adjustments we needed to make and took it to them.”