USLsoccer:
Vancouver and Boston in Final
by Winnipeg Fury
It's Vancouver and Boston for the National Championship
Story by Brian J. French
VIRGINIA BEACH (August 18, 2001) --
Score one for the tortoise.
The Vancouver Breakers, still feeling the
effects of a 12-hour flight early Thursday, shook off a sluggish start and
upended the host Hampton Roads Pirahnas 1-0 in an overtime thriller to advance
to the W-1 League National Championship final.
The Breakers face Boston
for the title at 7:30 p.m. Saturday, while the Pirahnas meet Southern Conference
rival Maryland in the 5:30 p.m. third-place game.
Vancouver captain
Andrea Neil won the match on a free kick at the end of the first golden goal
period, lifting the ball into the upper right corner of the net.
“We had
a walk-around this morning and I got a little look-see at that corner,” said
Neil. “I didn’t want to fluff it. I just wanted to drive it in, and it went with
me.”
Hampton Roads stormed out of the gates, outshooting the Breakers
8-1 in the first half and forcing their tired opponents to play catch-up. But
the Pirahnas could not solve Canadian national team goalkeeper Nicci Wright
(pictured).
Wright stopped three breakaway shots, a free kick and a
header in the first 45 minutes and finished the match with nine saves. On one of
the saves, she ran 30 yards outside of the goal and made a sliding stop of Joy
Nsubuga’s shot.
“Nicci kept us in the game, and the longer we stuck
around the more we started to believe we could pull it out,” Vancouver coach
Dave Dew said.
Neil got the game-winning opportunity when she was fouled
by Hampton Roads defender Amy Taylor in front of the goal near the end of
overtime. Neil, who now has four goals in four free kick attempts this season,
calmly put the ball past the outstretched hands of Pirahnas keeper Kathy
Hoverman.
“She painted the upper 90 perfectly,” Hampton Roads coach John
Germanos said. “Nobody could have stopped that.”
The Pirahnas played
without All W-1 League forward Christie Welsh, who had obligations to her Penn
State team this weekend.
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