May 29, 2004 W-League Toronto Inferno vs South Jersey Banshees (from Inferno media release)
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Date: Sunday, May 30, 2004
BANSHEES BECOME BANDITS; STEAL VICTORY FROM INFERNO
During the break between regulation time and overtime of Saturday’s W-League soccer match between the South Jersey Banshees and Toronto Inferno in Vaughan, Ontario, one of the visiting players raised her voice and shouted, “We didn’t drive all this way to lose!”
In fact, head coach George Dunbar said the team had driven all night in vans from New Jersey, arriving in Toronto approximately 6:30 a.m. Saturday morning. After the team re-energized themselves with some sleep and a pre-game meal, the team headed to the Ontario Soccer Centre for their match with the Inferno.
It was there that after almost two hours of playing time, they came away with a last-minute 2-1 overtime victory with that Banshee player’s words seemingly providing some extra inspiration.
For the Banshees, it was a night to comeback and overcome as the Inferno struck first. Toronto striker Heather Gallacher took advantage of a Banshee foul in the 37th minute, firing a direct free kick past Megan Ramey to give the home team an early lead.
The score would remain 1-0 Inferno until two minutes into the second half when defender Stephanie Best fed forward Rebecca Mouw who beat Inferno keeper Anne Marie Witco with a blast to the centre of the net.
After the 90 minutes of regulation time, the Banshees and Inferno were deadlocked at 1-1. Under W-League rules, teams are required to play two 10-minute halves of sudden death, ‘golden goal’ overtime.
It looked as if the match might go into the record books as a tie until the final two minutes of the second overtime half when a pair of Banshee midfielders combined for the winning score. Rachel Friel would take a pass from Cecily King about 14 yards out, firing a ball which curved to the left of Witco and landed nicely in the net’s top right corner only inches below the crossbar.
A very lively home crowd, peppered with extremely enthusiastic young female players from the North Mississauga Soccer Club, fell silent as the Banshees held a short celebration in front of the Inferno goal.
“Annie was naturally down about letting in the goal but it was simply a good, quality shot,” said Inferno head coach Tom McManus.
With the victory, South Jersey raises their record to two wins against one loss. For the Inferno, it’s the team’s second loss to start the 2004 season.
“There was overall improvement from our season-opening loss to Montreal,” said McManus.
“I was very pleased with the play of our back line. Kim Moore, who had to miss the Montreal match, made the defense more solid. That reliability allowed Holly Lincoln to make some runs and become a bigger part of the offense.”
The Inferno takes to the road for its next two matches. On Saturday, June 5, it will be their turn to visit New Jersey but they’ll be taking on the always-tough Lady Stallions, not the Banshees. The Lady Stallions will enter that match with a record of two wins against no losses and a goals for/goals against ratio of 11-1.
Heading back north, the Inferno will make a stop in Rochester to face the Ravens exactly 24 hours later at 5 p.m. on Sunday, June 6.
About the Toronto Inferno
The Toronto Inferno Soccer Club, founded in 1997, is the original Canadian W-League franchise. The league now counts seven Canadian franchises amongst its 37 member teams. The other 31 teams are located within America’s 48 contiguous states. W-League news, schedules, scores, standings, rosters, etc. can be accessed at wleague.uslsoccer.com.
For more information about the Inferno, please call 905-294-6199, e-mail us at inferno@torontoinferno.com, or visit our official Web site, www.torontoinferno.com.
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Contact:
Glenn Sutherland
Media Relations and Public Address Announcing
Toronto Inferno Soccer Club
E-mail: torontoinfernopr@hotmail.com
Home phone: 416-282-9241
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