But while they’ve been powerful offensively, the
Freedom have allowed opposing offenses free reign.
Goalkeeper Siri Mullinix, the U.S. National Team starting
keeper at the 2000 Olympics, has been called upon to
stop 54 shots. Fortunately for the Freedom she has
responded, making a league-high 43 saves. <br><br>The Beat,
meanwhile, coming off a lifeless 2-0 loss to Carolina in
their previous home game last Saturday, are playing
their fifth game in 16 days. But Atlanta Head Coach Tom
Stone believes playing such a strong club can be an
advantage. <br><br>“Actually in some ways [this] is a
blessing, because they have our full attention,” he said.
“I think there’s the predictable wear and tear that
we’re experiencing right now. Sun Wen’s out (ankle) and
everybody’s kind of nicked up and it’s certainly not the
standard that we had early on, which was two days off, a
week of training, preparation for one team, here we
go. It’s more like got off the plane, recovery today,
tomorrow pregame walkthrough and here comes Mia Hamm.”
<br><br>Of course, Stone knows that Washington’s a lot more
than just Mia Hamm. <br><br>“It’s everybody,” he said.
“It’s Pretinha, it’s [Lindsay] Stoecker. It’s Roseli
off the bench. It’s [Anne] Makinen. They’ve got a
team full of stars, no doubt. And they’re finding ways
to win even when they don’t play well, which is the
mark of a good team.” <br><br>Although the Beat have
only scored six goals – lowest in the league – they’ve
shown signs of life offensively, led by Cindy Parlow,
who leads the team in assists with three, Charmaine
Hooper, who has a team-leading three goals. <br><br>The
Beat’s bread and butter has been defense, which has
allowed a league-low four goals. The return of Nikki
Serlenga (hamstring) and the rugged play of recently
acquired Amy Walsh, makes a tough midfield unit even
tougher, while a healthy Nancy Augustyniak adds speed to a
back line that already featured speedy Sharolta Nonen
and Kylie Bivens. <br><br>“Their success isn’t
completely on their defenders or on Bri—it’s a combination
of they’re very good in the back and they’re very
tough physically to get in behind,” said Gabarra. “We
have to match their physical attributes and try to
keep possession in a very difficult circumstance in
that their field is narrow and they’re very disruptive
as a team and very tough to keep the ball against.
If we can keep some possession in their end of the
field, we can create some chances.” <br><br>One thing is
for certain. A lot has changed since these teams last
met, a Washington 2-1 victory back on March 31st. It’s
time to get reaquainted.<br><br><br>© womenssoccer.com
2001