New England Soccer Today

Breakers’ Summer Swoon Continues

Photo credit: Chris Aduama/aduamaphotography.com

Photo credit: Chris Aduama/aduamaphotography.com

Kristie Mewis put the Breakers on level terms before halftime, but a Kim Little penalty strike near the hour allowed the Seattle Reign to stake a 2-1 win on Saturday at Soldiers Field Soccer Stadium.

Mewis scored in the 34th minute, allowing the Breakers to respond to Beverly Yanez’s 24th minute goal. But after Little was brought down in the box by Julie King, the Reign midfielder sent it through from the spot in the 59th minute.

The Breakers finished with 10 players after King was issued a second caution in the 82nd minute.

“We rarely get scored on, on a corner kick, so that was tough,” Breakers coach Tom Durin said in a team release, “we conceded the other goal on a penalty.”

The Reign opened the scoring midway through the first half when Little whipped a corner kick into the box for Yanez, who beat keeper Alyssa Naeher to the ball and buried it to put the Breakers into an early deficit.

But the Breakers didn’t wait long to file a reply. Suzanne Pires went down the left and crossed it into the area for Mewis, who headed it over the reach of keeper Caroline Stanley to put the match on level terms.

The hosts entered the second half intent on getting the go-ahead. That proved to be difficult, though, when Little burst into the box and King hauled her down, giving Seattle a chance to reclaim the lead from the spot right before the hour. Little took it herself, and did well to convert it to put the guests ahead in the 59th minute.

King nearly made up for the defensive mistake in the 77th minute when she nodded a corner kick just over the bar. Minutes after, King, who was issued a caution on the foul that led to Little’s penalty strike, earned her second caution in the 84th minute to leave the Breakers shorthanded for the duration.

“We tried to sit in and see if we could respond on the counter,” Durkin said. “Once we were able to start building up, we were able to turn the game a little bit because we [make] them defend.”

The Breakers will attempt to snap their summertime swoon on Wednesday when they face the Portland Thorns at Providence Park. Kickoff is set for 10:00pm ET.

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