Breakers Welcome Back Fans with 4-goal Win
- Updated: May 19, 2012
SOMERVILLE, Mass. – The Boston Breakers welcomed back a sellout crowd at Dilboy Stadium with a 4-1 thumping of FC Indiana on Friday night. The Australian combination of Kyah Simon and Tameka Butt combined for three goals while Katie Schoepfer scored once to give the Breakers their third straight victory.
Schoepfer scored first, in just the ninth minute, poking in the remnants of a long-range blast from Cat Whitehill. Whitehill fired a shot from thirty-five yards that deflected off Gerarda Saintilus before clanging off the crossbar. Schoepfer, who was alone in the penalty area, put away the gift-wrapped chance for her second score of the season.
“I wasn’t surprised [my shot] led to a goal because I know how awesome our forwards are at following the ball,” said Whitehill. “They gave me too much space and from long range, my eyes get really wide. I was like, ‘I’m going to shoot this ball.’ It had a wicked curve on it and the keeper wasn’t able to control it and Schoepfer was able to finish it.”
Boston lost focus in the immediate aftermath of the goal. Seconds after taking the lead, Indiana struck back through Nadia Libertini, who snuck in behind the defense off a feed from Sophia Batard and finished past Alice Binns.
“Those first five minutes after any kind of stoppage or goal you have to refocus, and we didn’t,” added Whitehill, who was often involved in the attack in addition to fulfilling her role as a defender. “I’m disappointed that we allowed the goal. But it’s something we’ll have to work on in training.”
“You take an early lead, that’s great, but you have to keep the lead,” said Lisa Cole, who captured her first home win as head coach of the Breakers. “But they’re competitive and one little challenge isn’t going to take them off their game. I think giving up the goal pissed them off actually. It made them mad, it made me mad.”
Ticked about allowing Indiana to equalizer, the Breakers didn’t take long to resume their offensive style. And once the Breakers pushed forward, they never looked back. In the 13th minute, Kyah Simon restored the Breakers’ lead by slotting a pass from Schoepfer inside the far post.
In the 22nd minute, Jess Luscinski helped Simon double her tally. Luscinski found herself in space on the left flank and crossed into the penalty area looking for Simon, who read the pass perfectly and headed the ball into the goal.
“When they score a goal, it makes you really want to get one back and equalize if not get ahead of them,” said Simon. “It gives you that hunger.”
“I’m pleased to have two goals, but I’m a hard critic of myself so I definitely think I should have had a few more if not the team has a whole, had a few more.”
Two shots hit the woodwork to keep Boston from running away with the lead. The first was a twenty yard free kick by Whitehill in the 24th minute that hit the left post. Next was a drive from Tameka Butt, who hit the crossbar in the 53rd minute after picking up a loose all in the penalty area.
Butt had to wait just four minutes to get another crack. In the 57th minute, she ran through the midfield before outletting the ball wide to Simon. Simon returned the ball to Butt, who volleyed a shot into the goal from the penalty mark for her first career goal.
“My first goal for the Breakers, so it’s a memorable one,” said Butt. “My teammate from Australia set me up, so it was a good goal to get. It was a counter-attack we worked on during training, getting players forward quickly. [Simon] and I were able to combine because we know how each other plays.”
The Breakers got a fresh look once the WPS folded this spring and most of its players left for other opportunities in soccer. But the current group of Breakers have been encouraging, putting together three consecutive wins and emerging as a front-runner in the newly-established WPSL Elite League.
“Just to be back in a Breakers’ uniform and be back in front of our fans, that’s a good day for us,” said captain Leslie Osbourne, one of the few players from last year’s Breakers team who returned for the 2012 season.
“We can’t step off the gas,” said Osbourne. “We just have to keep going, we have a lot of potential. Each game we play, we can get better and better.”
Julian Cardillo can be reached at juliancardillo@snenet.com
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