WINGS Official Weekly Release of the San Diego Spirit FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Contact: Aaron Heifetz, 619.278.3182 or Jon Greene, 619.278.3186 WR-19 July 29, 2002 TOUGH LOSS IN WASHINGTON PUTS SPIRIT IN DEEP HOLE ; SAN DIEGO FINISHES CAMPAIGN WITH FOUR GAMES IN 13 DAYS Spirit nemesis Abby Wambach tallied the only goal of the game in the 67th minute to pace the Washington Freedom to a 1-0 victory over San Diego at RFK Stadium on Saturday, July 27. The loss has the Spirit on playoff life support with the visiting Atlanta Beat holding the plug. The Beat comes to San Diego on Wednesday needing only a point to eliminate the Spirit from the post-season. San Diego would have to win their remaining four games and have both Atlanta and San Jose lose their final games to reach the playoffs. The club's final four games will take place within a span of 13 days, with eight of those days being spent on the road in Philadelphia and Atlanta. San Diego concludes their sophomore WUSA season on August 11 against Carolina at Torero Stadium. QUICK GLANCE RECORD: 4-9-4, 16 points, 7th place LAST MATCH: 1-0 loss vs. Washington on July 27, at RFK Stadium LEADING SCORER: Shannon MacMillan, 5 goals, 6 assists, 16 points INJURY REPORT: Fan Yunjie, pulled hamstring, probable; Zhang Ouying, pulled hamstring, questionable; Jaime Pagliarulo, strained knee, doubtful. NEXT ON THE SLATE: Atlanta Beat, 7/31, 7 p.m. PT at Torero Stadium, live on Channel 4 San Diego - The Atlanta Beat visits Torero Stadium for the final time in 2002 for the Spirit's only home mid-week match. Atlanta is in a battle for the third or fourth playoff berth and needs a win to keep pace with the Washington Freedom. SD v ATL 2002, 0-1-0; SD v ATL Lifetime, 1-2-1; SD v ATL in San Diego, 1-1-0; SD v ATL in Atlanta, 1-1-1; 2002 Leading Scorer v ATL, None; Lifetime Leading Scorer v ATL, MacMillan, 4 goals ************************************** Philadelphia Charge, 8/3, 4 p.m. PT at Villanova Stadium, live on Channel 4 San Diego - The Spirit returns to the East coast for the third time in three weeks to challenge the league-leading Philadelphia Charge. San Diego has played well against the Charge this season, compiling a 1-0-1 record. SD v PHI 2002, 1-1-0; SD v PHI Lifetime, 1-2-2; SD v PHI in San Diego, 1-1-1; SD v PHI in Philadelphia, 0-1-1; 2002 Leading Scorer v PHI, Foudy, Zhang 1 goal; Lifetime Leading Scorer v PHI, Foudy, Koleski, Zhang, 1 goal. SPIRIT NEWS: TENNIS ANYONE? On Tuesday, July 30, the Spirit is partnering up with the Women's Professional Tennis tournament at La Costa Resort and Spa for a cross-promotion. Julie Foudy, Shannon MacMillan and San D. Panda (scheduled to appear) will be on the court in between the tennis matches that night. They will partner up with two tennis players and play "soccer tennis" on the court. Then Julie will be presenting a check (courtesy of the Pacific Women's Sports Foundation) to an underprivileged youth soccer team. Tennis matches get started at 6:30 p.m and usually go until 10:30 p.m. The Spirit players are slated to be on the court at approximately 8 p.m. Spirit fans who bring their ticket stub from the July 14 Spirit game to the Tennis Tournament on July 30, will receive the group discount rate at the tennis tournament. SPIRIT AHEAD OF 2001 ATTENDANCE PACE Torero Stadium is still the place to witness the best in women's professional soccer and family entertainment. Fans continue to come to the University of San Diego, despite the team's record of 4-9-4. The franchise is ahead of last year's attendance figures by 1,698 total fans, a feat that is uncommon for second-year sports teams. During the 2002 season, the Spirit has hosted their first, third and fourth largest crowds in team history. AUGUST 11 IS FAN APPRECIATION & SHREK MOVIE NIGHT San Diego concludes their sophomore WUSA season on Sunday, August 11, 5 p.m. against the Carolina Courage on Fan Appreciation Night. San Diego will be looking for their first win against the Courage and to finish the 2002 season on a positive note. Carolina, who has qualified for the postseason, has been at or near the top of the WUSA standings all season long. The Spirit will show the popular movie "Shrek" after the match and celebrate their great fan support by giving away prizes and gifts to the Spirit supporters throughout the evening. THREE DOT INFO... San Diego has not scored a goal versus Washington since Aug. 1, 2001, totaling 342 minutes...First time the Spirit has ever played in rain for an extended period of time during a match...The Spirit used their 16th different lineup of the season...Carly Smolak made her third consecutive start in goal for the 2002 season and her fourth career on 7/27...Smolak has a record of 1-1-2 as a starter...Smolak set a team season-high for consecutive shutout minutes this season at 178 minutes...Smolak earned her first loss in goal on 7/27...Washington outscored San Diego 8-0 this season... Fan Yunjie missed her third start of the season on 7/20 & 7/27, pulled hamstring, 7/14, coach's decision...Zhang Ouying missed her first start of the season due to a pulled hamstring...Jaime Pagliarulo did not make the trip, the first that she has not suited up in 40 games... The Spirit is 9-0-3 when scoring the first goal of the game...The Spirit is 2-16-6 when the opponent scores first...San Diego is 0-11-3 when trailing at the half...The Spirit is 0-12-3 when trailing at the 75th minute...San Diego has allowed two or more goals in 11 of 17 games...San Diego has allowed three or more goals in four of the last six road games...Has lost six of the last seven road games...has trailed at the half in seven of 11 games...Has not held a lead at halftime in 11 consecutive games...Has trailed at the 75th minute in seven of 11 games...Has allowed the opponent to score the first goal in 10 of the last 11 games. CALENDARS: MEDIA WATCH 8/1- KPRI 102.1 - Spirit Report with Jaime Pagliarulo, 9 a.m. 8/2- XTRA Sports 690 - Mac & Cheese Show with John Kentera, 9 p.m. 8/3- KSDO 1130 Inside Soccer - Match updates, 4 p.m. WHAT'S HAPPENING 7/30- WTA TENNIS TOURNAMENT, 8 p.m., La Costa 8/1- MATCH v ATLANTA, 7 p.m. , Torero Stadium TRAINING 7/30- Training, -10-11 a.m, Torero Stadium 8/1- Travel Day to Philadelphia 8/2- Training, TBA, Villanova Stadium All times and locations are subject to change UPCOMING SCHEDULE: FINAL ROAD TRIP OF THE SEASON TO PHILLY AND ATLANTA The Spirit takes their final road trip of the season, the longest venture of the year, to play Philadelphia and Atlanta. The two-game, one-week trip will feature matches on Saturday, August 3, 4 p.m. PT against the Charge and on Wednesday, August 7, 4 p.m. PT versus the Beat. Fans in San Diego can watch the August 3 contest live on Channel 4 San Diego, beginning at 4 p.m. PT. The game in Atlanta can be tracked live on wusa.com. THIS WEEK IN SPIRIT HISTORY MACMILLAN SILENCES BEAT WITH TWO GOALS; SPIRIT TIES FREEDOM July 29, 2001- Shannon MacMillan notched her third two-goal game of the season to help the Spirit defeat Atlanta 3-1 in front of a sold-out crowd of 6,155 at Torero Stadium. August 1, 2001- The Spirit falters in the second half to allow the Washington Freedom to tie San Diego 2-2 after taking an early 2-0 lead in the first 18 minutes. QUOTE SHEET: Kevin Crow on the outcome... "This is a game we had to win. A loss or a tie did not do us any good. At the end of the day, we just did not play well enough to win." Kevin Crow on making the playoffs... "Personally, I do not think that 28 points will get you to the playoffs. I told the players that 28 points does not get you there, but 31 probably does. Everyone is going to have to stumble pretty hard and pretty fast, even if we did win our remaining games." Shannon MacMillan on making the playoffs... "We play Atlanta on Wednesday and that is what we need to focus on." INSIDE THE WUSA (wusa.com) RESULTS 7/27- SPIRIT 0 @ Washington 1... Philadelphia 1@ Boston 1...New York 1@ San Jose 4...Carolina 0 @ Atlanta 1 SCHEDULE 7/31- Washington @ Carolina...Atlanta @ SPIRIT...Philadelphia @ San Jose 8/3- San Jose @ Carolina...SPIRIT @ Philadelphia 8/4- New York @ Boston...Atlanta @ Washington 8/7- SPIRIT @ Atlanta...Carolina @ New York...San Jose @ Philadelphia 8/10- Philadelphia @ Atlanta...Washington @ New York...San Jose @ Boston 8/11- Carolina @ SPIRIT End of regular season