PHILADELPHIA -- Another battle for the
ever-shifting honor of first place takes place this week as the
league's first home-and-home series kicks off Thursday.
<br><br>The Washington Freedom and the Philadelphia Charge,
who are locked in a tie for second place with 11
points apiece, will play twice in four days. The two
teams meet at D.C.'s RFK Stadium Thursday evening
before returning to Philadelphia's Villanova Stadium on
Sunday. <br><br>Six points and sole possession of first
place are at stake. Should one team emerge the victor
in both games, that team will remain at the top of
league standings with 17 points, even if the Atlanta
Beat, currently in first place with 12 points, defeat
the Carolina Courage on Saturday night. <br><br>For
the Charge, this is the second consecutive time
they've played two games in the same week. Last Thursday,
they suffered their first loss as the Atlanta Beat
came to town and shut them out, 2-0. The following
Sunday, it was Philly who took to the road and posted a
win over the home team, defeating the Boston
Breakers, 3-2. <br><br>Head coach Mark Krikorian says his
team has benefited from the two-game stint, despite
the unsavory loss.<br><br>"I don't think we competed
well against Atlanta," he said. "They played harder
than we did. They exploited some of our weaknesses,
and we didn't use our strengths. Against Boston,
however, we were able to possess the ball a little bit
more, attack a little bit more out of the back and play
a little wider, which I think helped us quite a
bit. Hopefully, we'll continue to learn from the
Atlanta game." <br><br>One thing Krikorian doesn't want
his team to repeat is giving up the early goal.
Against Atlanta, Cindy Parlow blasted a shot past Charge
keeper Saskia Webber in the second minute. Against
Boston, it was déjà vu all over again when Norwegian
striker Dagny Mellgren put the Breakers in front, again
in the second minute. <br><br>"That's what we've
been working on this week in practice-not giving up
goals in the first two minutes!" he said with a laugh.
<br><br>The Charge four-back of Jennifer Tietjen, Jenny
Benson, Heather Mitts, and captain Doris Fitschen will
have to be on its toes in order to deny the early
goal, as the Freedom possess quite a bit of offensive
talent.