Washington, 12 May 2001 (Teamtalk) – What a day
for Freedom forward Tracey Milburn. <br>In her first
start of the season, the UCLA alum was named Hyundai’s
Hero of the Game, notching a goal and an assist and
racking up four shots. <br>Over 30,000 tickets were sold
for the double-header at DC’s RFK Stadium Mother’s
Day weekend and spectators turned out in droves to
see the Freedom battle the Boston Breakers. The
second game of the night pitted DC United against the
San Jose Earthquakes. <br>Though the Freedom led the
Breakers for the majority of the game, last-minute heroics
by Keri Raygor ended the match in a 2-2 draw.
<br>The two teams came out raring to go and one minute
into the game, German international Bettina Wiegmann
of the Breakers nearly scored off a set piece.
Freedom keeper Siri Mullinix effectively smothered her
free kick, however. <br>Two minutes later Washington
got its first chance of the game as Pretinha found
herself on a breakaway. Rather than risk a goal, Boston’s
Heather Aldama was forced to concede a corner kick.
<br>The Freedom definitely held the advantage for the
majority of the game, forcing Ducar to make five saves
alone in the first half. Boston’s defense seemed to
struggle initially, perhaps missing the presence of U.S.
veteran Kate Sobrero. Apparently it was decided at
game-time she would not play for reasons unknown.
<br>Milburn put the Freedom on the board in the 20th minute.
Capitalizing on a defensive miscue, she juked right, beating
Boston defender Lindsay Massengale, and slotted her shot
far-post past Ducar. <br>Just two minutes later she had
another chance when Mia Hamm pounced on a misclear and
right-footed a cross to Milburn, whose header bounced off the
post. <br>The Freedom entered the second half where
they’d left off, pressuring the Breakers both on and off
the ball. In the 55th minute Milburn and Pretinha
combined to put Washington ahead 2-0. <br>Milburn chased
down a ball seemingly destined for the endline and
slotted her pass behind her, keeping Pretinha onsides.
The Brazilian star had no trouble sinking her shot
just inside the left post. <br>But the Breakers
weren’t through. <br>In the 58th minute Norwegian Dagny
Mellgren, who scored the golden goal against Mullinix in
the 2000 Olympics, fought off two defenders and
passed back to Germany’s Maren Meinert who used the
outside of her right foot to bend her shot away from
Mullinix and into the upper 90 of the net. <br>The goal
seemed to ignite the Breakers, who upped the pace and
began to attack the Washington offense with
determination. <br>In the 65th minute it was Meinert again who
nearly tied the game at 2-2 but Mullinix managed to
punch the ball away at point-blank range to prevent the
equalizer. <br>Wiegmann proved to be invaluable for the
Breakers, working tirelessly as the engine in the midfield
and was effective in switching the point of attack
time and again. <br>Kristine Lilly broke free of her
defender in the 74th minute and fired the ball towards the
goal, but Mullinix was there, blocking the shot with
her body before diving on top of it for the final
save. <br>The Freedom hung on through the final minutes
of the game, using effective possession from
substitutes Monica Gerardo and Krista Davey to withstand the
Breakers’ attack. It seemed that they would walk away with
the win until Mellgren’s pass found Raygor up the
middle. <br>Raygor settled with her chest, turned, and
sent her shot just over Mullinix’s right shoulder into
the upper corner. <br>Despite almost three minutes of
stoppage, time ran out before the Freedom could find the
back of the net and they had to settle for the tie