Cambridge, MA- With their playoff hopes on the line, the Breakers wasted no time asserting themselves in their final regular season game against Sky Blue FC. Lauren Cheney was instrumental in her second straight start after being out with an ankle injury, and scored in the first minute to give the Breakers the lead. Cheney scored again midway through the first half, helping Boston shut down Sky Blue and close out a crucial 2-0 victory in front of 4,289 fans.

The Breakers’ energy on the field was unmatched by any other of their performances this season. There was however added pressure on Boston, who were in a must-win situation if they wanted to clinch the final spot in the WPS playoffs. The result was a let-off for Sky Blue, who entered the match tied with Boston on points but had a better goal differential and only needed a draw to make the playoffs.

“It was a really good win, it shows the pride in the team,” said Coach Tony DiCicco. “I like where we are right now, I’m really pleased with the effort. Sky Blue is a very good attacking team with lots of options, but our defense really limited their opportunities. We didn’t want to go out with a loss at home.”

Boston has arguably been better on paper than on the field, as their roster boasts plenty of talent including nine World Cup veterans. But due to injuries and absences caused by the World Cup last month, the Breakers were unable to train their full team on a consistent basis. But the Breakers trained together last week and used six World Cup veterans in their starting lineup against Sky Blue.

“When we got back from the World Cup we had five games in fourteen days, so there’s no training in that,” added DiCicco. “Finally we had a week to train, and try to get people back on the same page.”

The Breakers proved that their training paid off, scoring the fastest goal in WPS history just fourteen seconds into the match. Rachel Buehler sent the ball forward to Keelin Winters, who then played the ball into the penalty area for Cheney. Cheney collected Winters’ pass with her chest and volleyed a shot into the back of the net.

“That was actually a play, and it finally worked,” said DiCicco. “Play it back, find Keelin Winters, she flicks it on and we’re in behind the defense. It wasn’t clean but it was something we designed. And today it worked.”

“Winters crossed the ball and I don’t think the goalkeeper was expecting me to hit it one time,” said Cheney. “ I just got a piece of it.”

Cheney then doubled her tally in the 18th minute, slotting a feed from Meghan Klingenberg past goalkeeper Jenni Branam for her third goal of the season.

“The defender lost me a little bit,” said Cheney. “Klingenberg crossed the ball, I beat the defender and then I just hit it in. We changed our formation. We played a 4-4-2, and I think we just had more options forward, and we played more of an attacking style.”

“Cheney was healthier today than she’s been,” added DiCicco. “She’s getting stronger, and you saw today with her two goals. And that’s huge for us.”

In the 38th minute, Kelley O’Hara found herself on a breakaway off a Cheney feed and hit the crossbar with her right footed shot. Sky Blue cleared the danger and were able to generate their first meaningful attempt of the match, a left footed shot from outside the penalty area by Therese Sjogran that goalkeeper Alyssa Naeher tipped over the crossbar. Naeher, who was named Breakers’ player of the year before the match, finished the game with seven saves.

The Breakers will travel to Boca Raton, Florida to take on magicjack in the first round of the playoffs on August 17. The winner of Wednesday’s game will then go on to play Philadelphia in the semi-final. Western New York Flash, who finished the regular season in first place, clinches an automatic place in the final match and will play the winner of the semi-final.

“It’s a tough game,” said DiCicco of the Breakers’ first playoff game. “[Magicjack] have Abby Wambach, but we’ll come up with a tactic. We were embarrassed last time we were there, they beat us 4-0. We played a better game against them last week here, but they still beat us. We’ll be better down there again, and we’re getting healthier and that’s important.”

By Julian Cardillo

Boston, MA – The Boston Breakers welcomed back all eight of their World Cup competitors last night against the Western New York Flash, but only Alex Scott of England and Kelley O’Hara of the USA played. And even though the Breakers rested many of their world cup stars, the team rallied behind O’Hara’s brace to tie the Flash 2-2 in front of a record crowd of 6,222.

The Breakers average crowd is 3,800- the highest in Women’s Professional Soccer. So from a neutral perspective, having double the fans see a total of four goals scored by three of the best scorers in the world is a small victory. But the Breakers, who are now in a three-way tie for third place after this result, surrendered 1-0 and 2-1 leads against the Flash, which makes their race for a playoff berth even more stressful with just five games remaining.

Said captain Leslie Osbourne: “Aw darn! I was hoping for eight [thousand]. It was awesome the Red Sox recognized a lot of the players last night. I still think we can get more people out here. I think that everyone does come wants to come back.”

Neither team could maintain possession long enough to consistently create offensive chances, leading to a stalemate for most of the match. The Breakers’ engine in midfield, Keelin Winters, struggled for support because midfielder Leslie Osbourne often had to track back to help the defense contend with the Flash’s potent offensive players.

But Boston caught a break in the 19th minute, when Meghan Klingenberg collected possession outside the penalty area and found Katie Schoepfer in space. Schoepfer then played O’Hara, who darted into the box and slid the ball into the net for the opening score.

Becky Edwards found Marta with five yards of space outside the penalty area in the 38th minute. Scott tried to track back and hold off Marta, but the Brazilian controlled the ball and fired a low drive past Alyssa Naeher to level the game.

“For the first goal, we want her shooting from there because we think we can handle that. But that’s the player Marta is,” said Scott. “They have top quality players and they can score goals like that.”

Alex Morgan was substituted in at halftime for the Flash and nearly scored within minutes of coming on. In the 59th Morgan took hold of possession on the right flank and drove past four defenders before shooting a slow rolling shot at Naeher, who had to stop it from going over the goal line after fumbling the save.

Then, Yael Auerbuch hit the joint of the crossbar after finding herself in space on the left wing off a defensive giveaway in the 61st minute.

Boston managed to weather the storm after nearly conceding twice and began launching a series of attacks. DiCicco brought on Nikki Marshall to help support the offense, a move which paid dividends for the Breakers. In the 85th minute, Marshall found O’Hara with space in the penalty area. O’Hara then set up a give and go with Claire Zimmeck and finished the play by finding the back of the net with a shot to the far post.

“That was a great build-up by everyone,” said O’Hara. “Marshall tracked the ball down and played a great ball in. I was able to turn and find Zimmeck and she played in a split pass through inside the box. I was thankfully able to get on the end of it and finish it.”

But the Breakers were unable to see the game out and failed to clear the remnants of a Marta freekick in the 87th minute. The gaffe led to a defensive giveaway that found Morgan in the penalty area, who left-footed a volley off of the crossbar and into the back of the net.

“She has one chance and she scores a goal and that’s the difference at this level,” said Scott. “You get one opportunity and you need to put it away, and that’s the player she is.”

“You hate to give up a late goal like that,” said DiCicco. “Their experience got them that goal late. Alex Morgan had a goal scorer’s goal, got a foot on it and put it in the corner. We had a chance to clear it and we didn’t clear it well and she was wide open in the penalty area.”

“Scoring the 84th minute, you shouldn’t give up a goal before the end of the game.”

Allston, MA- An early second half goal by Lauren Cheney salvaged a point for the Breakers in yesterday’s 1-1 draw against the Philadelphia Independence. The Breakers had the better of the play for most of the game, but a defensive lapse late in the first half caused a goal and forced them to fight for a tie before trying for the win.

“First half we got in behind them before they got in behind us,” said Cheney. “We were dominating at times, but that’s where we had opportunities. That’s where we have to finish, we all had opportunities.”

Against the run of play, Natasha Kai put Philadelphia up 1-0 in the 44th minute. Lianne Sanderson stole the ball from Leslie Osbourne in midfield and played a diagonal ball to Kai, who rounded Amy LePeilbet and fired a low drive past Alyssa Naeher for her second goal of the season.

Kelly O’Hara was one of the biggest offensive catalysts in the second half, setting up the tying goal and chances that nearly gave the Breakers the lead. O’Hara’s cross in the 47th minute found the head of Keelin Winters, who out-jumped her marker and powered a header on frame. Nicole Barnhart got a hand to Winters’ header, but the rebound fell to Cheney right in front of goal, who headed the ball in for the tying score.

“It could have been in before I headed it in,” said Cheney. “I just wanted to make sure it got into the back of the net. It was a great header by [Winters].

“[Scott] brought the ball down and she engaged their outside back and that left me open,” said O’Hara. “I was able to put a cross in and [Winters] did a great job winning that ball and getting the header on goal. [Barnhart] made the save and Cheney was there to finish it up. It was a great all-around play.”

O’Hara was on the left side in the first half but switched with Cheney to the right after halftime which gave the Breakers more chances at goal in the second half.

In the 70th minute, O’Hara cut by Gina DiMartino and fired a shot off the crossbar.

Osbourne had a shot in the six-yard box smothered by Barnhart off an O’Hara lay-off in the 73rd minute.

“I’m happy with the team. We’re still getting there, we’re still developing some of the younger players that need to give us a boost down the stretch. It was a good performance especially in the second half for us, coming back and getting a goal. I’m just disappointed that we didn’t get a win.”

Boston, MA- The Boston Breakers cruised to their first home victory of the season on Sunday night, beating Sky Blue FC 1-0 off a second half goal by Rachel Buehler.  Buehler, who played the entire match in central defense, also helped the Breakers grab their first shutout of the season.

“I thought the defense played well for the whole 90 minutes,” said goalkeeper Alyssa Naeher, who made three saves on the night.  “They’ve got a lot of great attacking personalities.  I thought the defense did a really good job of containing them and did well to keep their chances at a minimum and shutting them down.”

The Breakers (2-2-0, 6 points) played a 4-4-2 formation with Lauren Cheney playing in front of the defense and Kelly Smith as the high striker.  But the Breakers were unable to create any clear cut chances in the first half and changed the formation at halftime. 

A congested and incoherent midfield in the first half gave way to a more organized style of play in the second half.  Tony DeCicco switched Smith and Cheney in the formation, which gave the Breakers more space on the field.

“We switched it around,” said Smith.  “We felt like we weren’t really holding the ball up front.  It seemed to work, playing it in behind and laying it off to Cheney and then she was playmaking from the middle.  I don’t think I did a very good job of doing that in the first half.  I was holding on to the ball too much and I think that’s why [DiCicco] made the change.”

Buehler put the Breakers ahead in the 52nd minute, collecting the remnants of a freekick by Smith.  Smith’s cross deflected off of Osbourne and found Buehler, who fired a shot in off the crossbar past Jenni Branam.

“I like to get in and try to see if I can make something happen,” said Buehler.  “I was just in the right place at the right time.  It bounced a round a little bit and it fell to me.  It was kind of an instinctual moment, you just go for it and hope it goes in.”

Then the Breakers had several chances to widen the lead.  Rookie midfielder Keelin Winter missed a pair of chances within a three minute period.  In the 67th minute, Smith played a ball across the penalty area to Lauren Cheney.  Cheney dribbled toward goal before laying the ball off to Winters whose first time shot narrowly sailed wide of goal.

Kelly O’Hara found Winters open in the penalty area in the 69th minute, but Winters’ shot wasn’t strong enough to beat Branam, who made the save by diving to her left.

Sky Blue FC tried to push numbers forward in stoppage time in search of a late-match goal that would salvage a point.  Branam launched a goal kick 15 yards off her line that Cheney intercepted.  Cheney took one touch, shot, and hit the post as she nearly caught Branam off her line.

“I thought we were much better in the second half,” said DiCicco.  “We were just a little bit out of sync, holding the ball too much just not being able to pass.  I think we dodged a flurry they had in the first half.  Overall, I thought we deserved the three points.”

“It’s important, said DiCicco of the win.  “We’ve been close.  Last week I thought we should have gotten a result.  We’ve got to keep improving.  We have veterans, but we have a lot of young players.  Those young players have to keep evolving.”

Cambridge – the Boston Breakers defeated the Washington Freedom 3-1 last night in front of 4,468 fans at Harvard Stadium, moving into third place in the WPS standings just five points behind the second place Philadelphia Independence.

Entering the match, the Breakers had dominated the Freedom this season, winning twice and drawing once against the DC soccer club. It only took 19 minutes for Boston to begin dominating the Freedom again when English International Kelly Smith scored to put the home team up. On a 35-yard freekick from Amy LePeilbet Smith headed in a loose header that deflected off of Jordan Angeli in front of goal, scoring her team leading seventh goal of the season.

Lindsay Tarpley nearly doubled the Breakers’ advantage going into halftime in the 36th minute, but her shot sailed over the cross bar after a give-and-go with Kristine Lilly.

Boston would eventually capitalize against the Freedom again, Jordan Angeli scoring her fifth of the season just nine minutes into the second half. Lauren Cheney laid the ball off for Angeli who shot a low, first time strike past the Freedom’s Ashlyn Harris to double the lead.

“I just want to get it on frame and hope it will go in,” said Jordan Angeli, “On that play Cheney [Lauren] did all the hard work. I just scooped it up and put it away.”

The Breakers scored a third goal in the 85th minute off of a short corner from Brazilian international Fabiana. Breakers’ defender Amy LePeilbet fired a bullet from outside the penalty area that connected with the foot of Lauren Cheney. Cheney’s touch into the back of the net was her third tally of the season.

“It feels good to score, I’m a forward and it’s my job,” Cheney said of her first goal scored at home this season.

Despite the Breakers’ dominance over the Freedom this season, one player the Breakers were unable to keep at bay was USA International Abby Wambach. Wambach was contained by the Breakers’ defense throughout the first half but scored the Freedom’s lone goal in the 67th minute. Wambach headed in a cross from Freedom teammate and French International Sonia Bompastor that bounced in the penalty area for her seventh goal of the season.

Wambach’s finish was only a consolation strike after the Breakers capitalized thrice on the Freedom backline. “This is probably my longest losing streak,” Wambach went on to say later about her team that is now winless in 9 attempts.

Though the Breakers let in a goal off of a defensive lapse, the team’s offense has been prolific as of late, scoring 9 goals in four matches. The Breakers’ momentum on the attack will face the last place Atlanta Beat on Wednesday and attempt to further solidify their place in the playoffs.

“It’s a good win for us,” said Breakers’ head coach Tony DeCicco. “It’s tough because there are 5 teams within 2 points of each other going into the week, but things are going well for us. We have to keep working hard.”

The Breakers on the other hand are in the thick of the pack, currently second to last in the league standings but just 1 point from the playoffs.

“We’re still in the hunt,” said Breakers Head Coach Tony DiCicco, “but I think this is a game we really could have gotten a result from. We felt confident going in and we’re disappointed.”

Boston didn’t show their confidence in the beginning stages of the game again yet managed to score first, a reversal of recent scoring patterns that would eventually backfire on them.

The team nearly allowed Marta an early goal for FC Gold Pride in just the 10th minute, letting the Brazilian International roam into the penalty area and attempt to dribble her way around Boston’s Alyssa Naeher. Naeher kept her composure, smothering Marta’s chance to keep the Breakers from surrendering the early tally.

In the 29th minute, Alex Scott dribbled down the right flank from the Breakers’ defense and into the penalty area. Scott cut to the outside and delivered a hard drive through the heart of the penalty area into the path of Jordan Angeli who scored her fourth goal of the season, powering a low shot past Nicole Barnhart to give the Breakers a 1-0 lead.

“I was trailing the play and thinking that I just had to be in the right spot,” Angeli said. “I got a great cross and I didn’t even think about it- I just put it away.”

After taking the one goal lead midway through the first half, the Breakers had difficulties getting forward after Gold Pride began closing down space in midfield. For the remainder of the half, Boston scrambled to keep possession in midfield and struggled to communicate between the backline and the keeper Naeher.

Gold Pride capitalized on Boston’s poor defending after a miss-kick in the 35th minute by Naeher. The ball fell right on the foot of Ali Riley who immediately passed to the wide open Kristine Sinclair. Sinclair made no mistake on the chance, leveling the game with a hard shot into the open net for her 8th goal of the season.

Seconds before halftime, Marta finally broke through to score her league-leading 11th goal of the season to give Gold Pride the 2-1 lead. Marta intercepted a loose ball, took one touch, and unloaded a curling shot that sailed past Naeher and into the goal. “It’s tough because I think there were only about 10 seconds left in stoppage time,” added Tony DeCicco about Marta’s finish, “we should have closed out the first half and regrouped at the break level 1-1.”

Marta nearly scored again in the second half, this time on a breakaway in the 61st minute. Marta dribbled towards goal and fired, but saw her effort parried away by Naeher who would make 3 saves in the game.

DeCicco brought on Lauren Cheney and Tiffany Weimer to add more depth to the Breakers attack. Cheney lofted a shot over Barnhart’s crossbar for her first touch of the match while Weimer’s first contribution consisted of a header off the post from a Kristine Lilly cross in the 73rd minute. Lilly also had a chance to tie the game in the 55th minute, splitting the defense but sending a low, harmless shot straight into the arms of Nicole Barnhart who finished the evening with 5 saves.

“I didn’t hit it well,” Lilly later said, “You have to finish the chances you have.“ Lilly finished, “For us it’s still positive that we’re still creating chances and moving forward. We’re still playing well. Our momentum is in the right direction. We need the same mentality for the game Saturday so we can snag some points on the road.”

Lilly and Breakers will travel to Bridgeview, Illinois just outside Chicago for a match with the Red Stars. The Red Stars currently sit one point above the Breakers in a tie for the fourth and final playoff spot.

CAMBRIDGE- the Boston Breakers claimed their third straight victory by defeating the Washington Freedom 2-1 in front of 4,561 home crowd. Though the Breakers fell behind early off a Nikki Marshall goal in the 3rd minute, Liz Bogus and Jordan Angeli both scored to propel Boston forward for the come-from-behind win.

The result gives the Breakers 16 total points in the overall WPS Standings as they sit second to last in front of the Atlanta Beat. But despite their current position on the standings, the Breakers are still in the hunt for the third and fourth playoff spots, just one point from the outside looking in.

“Wednesday, Gold Pride, Sunday, Chicago. If we can get results we’ll really be in the thick of it,” said Breakers Head Coach Tony DiCicco, “It’s a big week for us.”

Though the week has started out well for the Breakers following this victory over the Freedom, the early moments of the first half suggested the week could start otherwise. In just the 3rd minute, Nikki Marshall scored her second goal of the season, finishing a Sarah Huffman pass by slotting a shot by Breakers’ goalkeeper Alyssa Naeher.

Washington nearly doubled their tally moments later when French International Sonia Bompastor picked out Lede Mykjaland on a breakaway. Mykjaland kept her balance enough to shoot, but her effort was parried away by Naeher to keep the Breakers from going down by two goals early.

Boston found their composure in midfield and began attacking Washington’s goal immediately after the fifteen minute mark of the first half. The Breakers broke through in the 23rd minute when Kelly Smith played a low pass to the feet of Liz Bogus who continued her run and fired a shot through the legs of Washington goalkeeper Erin McLeod to level the game at one.

Jordan Angeli would complete the comeback in the 74th minute, pounding a shot into the back of net that stood as the eventual game winner. An out-swinging corner kick from Fabiana connected with Lindsay Tarpley’s header to the wide open Angeli. Angeli finished Tarpley’s assist with a first-time drive for her third goal this season.

“One of the things we’ve been working on has been winning the first and second balls,” said Angeli of her goal off the set piece, “On our [second] goal we won the first and second balls and I was there to put the third one in the back of the net.”

The midfield battle was a stalemate by the end of the match, with just one shot on goal separating both teams. Boston’s 14-8 edge on set pieces ended up being the deciding factor with Angeli scoring the winning goal off a corner kick.

“Set pieces are always important in every game,” said Lindsay Tarpley about her assist on Angeli’s goal. “I’m very proud of the team and how we fought every minute of the game.”

“When you have the opportunity for any cross or corner you take advantage of it. We got a good head on it, a follow, and then a shot, “added Kristine Lilly. “We’re getting the first and second balls and that’s huge.”

With eleven regular season games left to play, the next of which will be played at home this Wednesday against FC Gold Pride, the Breakers will look to continue their winning streak and strong form as they look ahead to playoffs.

Kristine Lilly finished, “I think this is a total team effort. We have this drive now and this fight that even if we’re down we’re going to make things happen.”