Breakers silence Beat

KENNESAW, Ga. – The Boston Breakers opened the 2011 WPS season with a comprehensive 4-1 victory over the Atlanta Beat Saturday night at KSU Soccer Stadium.

Jordan Angeli, Keelin Winters, Kelly O’Hara, and Kasey Moore all scored for the Breakers (1-0-0), while keeper Alyssa Naeher stopped eight shots to aid the Boston’s cause. Atlanta (0-0-1) found their only measure of success came from a late Carli Lloyd penalty.

Although the Beat outshot the Breakers (14-9) on the eventing, the guests proved to be far more accurate with their efforts. And in the 18th minute, Angeli displayed that accuracy after she took a pass from Moore and slotted it through for the opening goal.

Boston doubled their lead five minutes later when Winters, making her WPS debut in the midfield, scored the first goal of her professional career in the 23rd minute to make it 2-0.

While the Breakers clearly enjoyed their early lead, it wasn’t all peaches for Tony DiCicco’s players. At the half hour, Angeli suffered a knee injury that forced her to the sidelines for the remainder of the match, with O’Hara, in her Breakers debut, coming on to take Angeli’s spot.

O’Hara made quite the first impression in the 72nd minute when she scored goal number three to give the Breakers a commanding lead with less than twenty minutes remaining.

Despite the number of shots they put on goal, the Beat didn’t counter until the 78th minute when Lloyd took a penalty that sailed past Naeher to cut the deficit to two.

But, any remaining doubt, however small, that the Breakers weren’t on their way to an easy victory was essentially erased in stoppage time when Moore blasted a 25-yard rocket into the back of the net as the guests claimed an impressive victory on the road.

The Breakers return to the pitch on  Sunday, April 17th when they open up their home schedule against expansion side Western New York Flash at Harvard Stadium at 6:00pm.