Women's Soccer News: Boston Breakers Aim for Fifth Straight WPSL Elite Victory

Women's Soccer News: The Boston Breakers will attempt to extend their current win streak to five when they host ASA Chesapeake Charge on Friday, July 6, at Dilboy Stadium. Boston is currently tied for first place on points with the Chicago Red Stars in the WPSL Elite League.  The question is, can Boston do it?

Host ASA Chesapeake Charge Friday Night; Travel to New England Mutiny on Saturday.

The Boston Breakers and ASA Chesapeake Charge haven’t met in nearly two months. It was back on May 10 when the Breakers opened the WPSL Elite season at the Charge in Arnold, Md., and took a 3-0 victory, getting a goal apiece from Katie Schoepfer, Jessica Luscinski, and Veronica Napoli. 

For Napoli, her goal in the first minute was a memorable one, going into the books as the first-ever goal scored in WPSL Elite history. The first-ever assist was credited to Courtney Jones, who set up Napoli’s goal.

Friday at 7 p.m. at Dilboy Stadium in Somerville, the Breakers have a chance to stretch their winning streak to a season-high five games. The Breakers are coming off a 1-0 win over the Chicago Red Stars, which put Boston in a first-place tie with Chicago. The Breakers clinched a playoff spot Tuesday when the New York Fury beat the New England Mutiny. The sixth-place Charge come to Boston with a 1-7-2 record. Since playing Boston, they’ve picked up a 3-2 win over the Philadelphia Fever and drew twice with FC Indiana, 1-1, and 2-2.

"We’re focused on playing a good game and improve on things we think are important to winning a championship," Breakers Head Coach Lisa Cole said. "When we played the Charge at the beginning of the season, neither of us were at full strength, so it’ll be an interesting matchup."

In the last meeting between the Breakers and the Charge, the Breakers were without Australian internationals Kyah Simon, the league’s leading scorer with 10 goals, and midfielder Tameka Butt, as well as former Notre Dame star Melissa Henderson; however, all three are expected to start Friday night.

One other face the Charge didn’t see that night was U.S. Women’s National Team midfielder Heather O’Reilly, who is expected to play Friday night. For O’Reilly, this marks her sendoff match as she gets set to depart for the 2012 Summer Olympics in London with the U.S. Women’s National Team. This will be O’Reilly’s third Olympic games. She won gold with the U.S. in 2004 in Greece and in Beijing in 2008. She was the youngest player on the 2004 squad that won gold, a team that also included current Breakers defender Cat Whitehill and assistant coach Kristine Lilly.

On Saturday, July 7, the Breakers will travel to take on New England Mutiny in the second half of the Massachusetts Challenge. Boston took a 4-2 victory in the first meeting between the two teams, on June 20. The Charge will continue their road run on Sunday when they face Western New York Flash in Rochester, N.Y.

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