The Beat win 5-0 in a very very very strong showing tonight on FSNY. Goals by Bivens, an own goal, Hooper, one by Maribel, and one by Crumpton. Strong game by Scurry who got the Kroger POTM. Nice game by Bivens. Good showing by Gaston. And a great showing by Atlanta fans. 8967 showed up at Herdon tonight. Contrast that with the pitiful attendance at SAS for the FC2 rematch/Mia game. And SAS was picked to host the All-Star Game!? EDIT jd caught my mistake. Yes Crumpton did get a goal and Maribel only got one, not two like I INCORRECTLY stated at first.
Man, I feel bad for NY's fans. 5-0? Is that a record? I think Philly scored 5 against Boston, but I think Boston got 1 back though. Am I right? Oh BTW, Dominguez only had 1 goal. The other was credited to Crumpton, according to the matchtracker...wich is unofficial.
Game report from the Beat site: http://www.theatlantabeat.com/352121.html Here are some pics from Yahoo! Sports: http://sports.yahoo.com/sow/photo?slug=1049596568wusa_power_beat_axg104&prov=ap http://sports.yahoo.com/sow/photo?slug=1049593507wusa_power_beat_axg103&prov=ap http://sports.yahoo.com/sow/photo?slug=1049592613wusa_power_beat_axg101&prov=ap http://sports.yahoo.com/sow/photo?slug=1049592076wusa_power_beat_axg102&prov=ap
thanks for the pics. Where are those Beat fans?? Geez, we won big time, I thought this thread would have at least 20 replies by now.
Man I CAN'T WAIT to see us play next saturday on PAX! I wish I had CSS It turns out that this place we were going to move to has CSS with their cable provider...but noooo we had to chose this house with no CSS!!
Whew! What a relief! Sky Sports got it wrong tonight. They had the Beat losing 5:0, not winning. Great pics, btw!!!! Although, Parlow looks a bit odd. The pic makes her look like she got a buzz cut or something like it. lol
I spoke to melbrown earlier tonight...I'll just give some snippets... * She was not impressed that much with the Beat's backline. * She confirmed my earlier suspicison that Thomas Stone was not his usual self and yelling at the top of his lungs throughout the match. According to her he was pretty sedate. * She said that Kylie shoulda gotten the POTM. * The music playing was nowhere as bad as it was the past two seasons. * She was suprised that Pohlers did not get subbed in. * Really liked Crumpton. * Good marks for Gaston. * Hooper was aggressive. * Parlow played well. * #1 told Thomas Stone that she was gonna be the Beat's GK in a couple of years. melbrown if I misquoted you or you have any additions please reply. And be like a certain east coast team's forum? I don't think so.
Post-match write-up in the Atlanta Journal Constitution: Opener puts end to scoreless jinx By EARNEST REESE Let's hope tonight's match was not an aberration and that the multi-goal games continue.
Watched the game on directv and even as a Beat fan i think they were incredible and should be favored to win the championship this year.
So does this mean that New York is really that bad again this year or is Atlanta just that good? All the other games Saturday were decided by one goal except for the Beat which blew away the Power. I'm hoping they roll over everyone else just like they did to New York. Quite impressive. 5 goals in one game is a record for us.
Gaston really showed well. Made a great debut, as did a number of other players. It's going to be tough for Julie to come in and win the job back. If Gaston plays well next week, the position might be hers. As for Melbrown not being impressed by the D. If anything, that's what I think should be taken away from this game. The Power were missing two of their primary defenders, but they had their attacking duo of Milbrett and Welsh, along with Janss as a compliment and the Beat held them to only three shots on goal. Their defense led to almost all of the goals. They weren't allowing the Power any room to play. Dominguez had a great debut. A goal and an assist. Bivens and Hooper also had a goal and an assist. I think quietly Charmaine should have been POTM. She had the goal and an assist, had five shots and five shots on goal. But you can make a case for Bivens, Parlow and Dominguez, as well as Nonen and Nancy. Great game, but Boston's attaking trio of Mellgren, Meinert and Lilly are going to be tough.
My take on the game... STRONGLY disagree!!!!! Nonen... Bivens... Gaston... N. Augustyniak were all stellar! Bivens and Gaston got forward many times and made huge impacts on our attack. Nonen and Nancy held the backline like the pros they are... allowing B and G to get forward. Scurry did come up big several times... but that's another positive to having her back there: the defenders have more freedom to play up and get forward when needed. Speaking of Scurry... she was a great choice for POTM. She had a commanding performance. I don't remember a time when she showed so much confidence and athleticism. True. Disagree. Bivens was excellent, no doubt. But, Scurry is the one that kept the game scoreless. As billiant as the backline was...there were at least 3-5 very good opportunities for NY to score. Scurry came out and slid all over the place getting the ball. She commanded that box and she let everyone know it. Kicking game was better as well. My next suggestion after Scurry for POTM would have been Dominguez...then Bivens. Dominquez created havoc on the NY Defenders. She could have possibly had a hat-trick tonight if she had finished a little better (will come with time). I look for her to lead us and the league in points this year. Great player and a great grab by Stone! Hadn't thought about it... but this is true. It was a good decision by the powers that be! Me too. After seeing Dominguez, Pohlers may have to take a back seat to her. Definitely agree!! She immediately came in and started contributing. I also liked Antongiovanni (sp?). Gaston kicked Ass as well! ... see above. True to form!! However, she was not flagrant with fouls and seemed a tad bit more conservative. The Captain's armband may be reminding her to be a bit more restrained. True. Good idea to sub her out. I personally don't think of Parlow as a 90 min. player. She plays hard but becomes ineffective when fatigued (which sometimes happens between the 70-80 min. mark. Also worthy of note... Miller really controlled and owned the air. The NY midfielders were having to rely on fouls (most of which the ref did not see) to beat her in the air. Still, Marci managed to win almost every header near her. That was key to us maintaining dominence in the midfield. Sawa was off a bit... many of her passes were off the mark or had too much on them (not typical for her and I'm sure she will correct this). Serlenga distributed well and having Parlow as an attacking mid was a good move (at least I think that was her position). As far as NY goes... they played a great first half and didn't look that bad. The Beat were just that good. If they continue to play that well (actually, I feel they will only improve)... They will take everyone by surprise and top the stats board for the majority of the season. As talented as this lot is... the only way they can lose is if they beat themselves. If they stay focused... no one will be able to touch them. Crowd was a good size... could have been louder. Stadium is awesome... I love the Beat playing at Herndon. The speed of this team is freakin' AMAZING!! Domiguez looks like she could play 180 minutes full blast! I'd say we have the quickest players in the league... up top and on the backline. The Beat played beautiful soccer... lots of balls on the ground... lots of possession style soccer... a lot less long balls with the forwards running on... this game had the Beat showcasing a classy style of play. I was VERY IMPRESSED... and glad I kept my seats!!!!!!!!!!!!! Thanks Beat for a great game and an awesome start to season III!! WAR BEAT!!!!!!!!!!
This is my first opportunity to post, so here are my observations: I concer. They were focused for 90+, aggressive up the flanks, and swarmed Millie on her every touch. Gaston reminds me of the first time I saw Bivens - Aggressive and fearless tackler, she has got some wheels. That all said Scurry saved our butts several times (2 big saves in the first ten minutes). Bri would get my vote too. Although I consider this a great TEAM VICTORY & SHUTOUT. More website and less music...thats what I'm talking about! As for the our midfield, Sawa was not her usual dominant force, but her touch will come. Parlow had an outstanding game - not fair she doesn't get at least an assist on the own goal. Vintage CP one v one move on that goal. CP and Sawa will create alot of opportunities for the Beat as you can't cover both of them (and Hooper and a speedy forward and a streaking flank). Serlenga and Miller also get thumbs up on their ability to possess and control the pace. The forward line...all I can say is OMG WE ARE LOADED! Maribel es en fuega. Crumpton is the real deal and looks hungry - that goal will do wonders for her confidence. Antongiavonni is another Beat Thug (thats a good thing Katie). We know what Burt can do, and don't we have a German speedster on the roster too. But hats off to our Captain. She plays hard and really tried to get the newbies the ball in position to score. All that said - we beat up on a team that gave up a ton of goals last year and their best defenders were not there. So time will tell, but I thought we looked like a team in midseason form. I agree with KGB we are fast everywhere. Our backline is going to be dominant. If Bivens, Julie, Gaston and Effy (the one I can't wait to see) continue to get up the sidelines we will score ALOT! As for the crowd - I give us a B+. A good number of people, enthusiastic, but not very loud. But then again its game #1 and not #20 with play-offs implications. I wonder if having the Final Four in town helped us or hurt us. I would say helped.
Oh Yeah!!!!! First things first DISCLAIMER This was only the NY Power..... Now on to the good stuff..... I have never seen the Beat b----slap a team like that. We dominated every aspect of that game. NY was crushed mentally after 70 minutes (as evident by the two late goals). We have to keep this is in perspective for now. If we play like this in Washington in game #3, then I think we can start yappin'. We really need to get serious points in these early games with the two Carolina and two Philly away games as well as the five game road trip later in the year. I can't imagine a better start for our team (ok 6-0 would have been even more fun). Here is my take.... ratings (1-10) 10 is best Gk - Scurry (8) - The back line did a great job of protecting her but she came up with 3-4 spectacular saves. LB - Gaston (7) - A pleasant surprise with Julie A. out with the red card. It looks like there will be a battle for playing time at left back and the team will only benefit. CB - N. Augustyniak (8) - A quality game from an increasingly reliable player. Her defensive positioning was superb. CB - Nonen (8) - Our back line is our strength and Nonen provides the speedy man..er....woman marking. Our centerbacks combined to shut down Milbrett forcing her to retreat to the midfield to look for the ball in vain. The one-on-one race to the end line late in the game involving Nonen and Milbrett summed up the game. The shut out was still intact and Milly was sprawled out on the ground in frustration. RB - Bivens (8) - Steady on the back line. I wasn't sure whether I wanted her to play here or at defensive mid. You can't argue with the results. D-Mid - Serlenga (7) - We controlled the center of the field and Serlenga was a solid contributor. She did fine on corner kicks as well. D-Mid - Miller (7) - A solid outing in combination with Serlenga. She made a statement for more playing time. A-Mid - Sawa (7) - She is the heart of our offense. She gives 100% effort on offense and defense and was once again a joy to watch. A-Mid - Parlow (7) - I have been very critical of Cindy since the mid-way point of last year. She seamed to play with a renewed fire that I haven't noticed in a while. Hopefully the competition for playing time will keep her motivated. With the talent we have, if she dogs it just a little, she could be benched and lose her ticket to China. For - Dominguez (8) - I hope this performance was for real. It was so much fun watching the Beat attack with a fast striker. You know the rest of the league cringed when they saw our score line. Dominguez showed great enthusiasm and ability. She's a keeper. For - Hooper (7) - She battled! She fought! She hacked! She got fouled! She intimidated! She played like she deserved the armband. The subs did a quality job as well. Crumpton in particular was very aggressive though her first touch was a little rough at times. Lets chalk that up to first game jitters. All in all I was very pleased with the Beat. I am concerned that with the formation that we use, we will be susceptible to teams with wingers who force us to play with defensive width in midfield. Only time will tell. Though all of the games are tough, it looks like the first true gauge of or year will be game #3 at Washington. After the improved speed that I witnessed Saturday, all I can say is "its going to be a really fun season."
After all the hype, I'm surprised that Ifeoma Deike didn't play. It sounds like the defense was pretty strong anyway, although I guess not really tested very much.
Hamstring strain kept her out. Doc you can leave your "Stop the music" sign at home. I just watched the match on TV - ok the crowd sounded pretty loud. I guess we were just missing the "must win" or "close game" tension type of energy. Or maybe it was lack of loud music to drown out the crowd. One other note: the field was in great shape. A little slick from the am rain.
So we got to see 5 rookies play and from what it sounds like, everyone thought they did a good job. But I am still anxious to see Conny Pohlers and Ifeoma Dieke play. Does anyone know why Conny Pohlers did not see action? I thought she would get in before Emily Burt but does she have an injury that kept her out too?
I'm guessing Stone will rotate Pohlers and Dominguez. He wouldn't have wasted an international spot if he didn't think that Pohlers was going to start. Anyways, he rotated players quite a bit both seasons, so I wouldn't be surprised. Anytime one or the other (Pohlers, Dominguez) isn't up to speed, they will sub each other out. I really want to see Dieke play!! Most likely Stone will rotate her and Miller as well as rotate Julie and Leslie. Our team will never get tired MUAHAHAHAHA Man are we one solid team or what?!? WAR BEAT!!!!
It's great seeing everyone getting excited about the team! I can't wait until the next game! I just wish I didn't have to drive so far. WAR BEAT!!!!!!!!!!!!!