Charge-CyberRays Post Game [R]

WUSA PR:
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SAN JOSE CYBERRAYS 2, PHILADELPHIA CHARGE 0
July 31, 2002 - Spartan Stadium

SAN JOSE, CA - Katia and Tisha Venturini-Hoch each scored as the San Jose CyberRays downed the Philadelphia Charge 2-0 Wednesday evening at Spartan Stadium. The victory was San Jose's second consecutive win, as the CyberRays (8-6-4, 28 pts.) aggressively pursue a playoff berth. Following a 10-1-4 start, Philadelphia (10-3-5, 35 pts.) has now gone 0-2-1 in its last three matches.

After a scoreless first half, San Jose midfielder Tisha Venturini-Hoch opened the scoring with a header that found the back of the net in the 54th minute to put the CyberRays up 1-0. Pretihna had fired a 15-yard shot of the crossbar that Philadelphia goalkeeper Maite Zabala pushed out with her fingertips. Trying to keep the ball in front of the goal, Katia popped the ball up from the right side into the center of the penalty area, and Venturini-Hoch headed it in from 10 yards.

Zabala was seeing her first minutes of the 2002 season while starting goalkeeper Melissa Moore took the night off. Philadelphia also played without four additional starters - forward Marinette Pichon (big toe), defender Heather Mitts (hip pointer), defender Erica Iverson (rested) and midfielder Zhao Lihong(rested).

San Jose continued to control the run of play in the second half, and Sissi nearly scored in the 67th minute when her long blast from the left side smacked the far right post. In the 75th minute, Katia had a shot cleared off the goal line by Philadelphia defender.

Katia then went ahead and sealed the victory in the 84th minute when she extended her goal-scoring streak to five games. Gina Eagleson sent in a cross from the left side, and Katia one-timed it with her right foot from four yards to beat Zabala on the far post. It the Brazilian striker's WUSA-leading 15th goal of the season.

San Jose looks to continue its winning ways with a visit to SAS Stadium to take on the Carolina Courage on Saturday in a nationally televised match on PAX at 4:00 pm ET. Philadelphia hopes to rebound when the Charge hosts nemesis San Diego on Saturday.

1 2 F
Philadelphia Charge 0 0 0
San Jose CyberRays 0 2 2

SCORING SUMMARY:
SJC -- Tisha Venturini-Hoch 5 (Katia 3) 54th minute
SJC -- Katia 15 (Gina Eagleson 1) 84

PHILADELPHIA CHARGE -- Maite Zabala, Andrea Alfiler, Karyn Hall, Jennifer Tietjen, Jenny Benson, Kerry Connors (Rebekah McDowell 79), Michelle Demko (Liu Ailing 46), Lorrie Fair, Stacey Tullock, Mandy Clemens, Tara Koleski (Erin Martin 46).
TOTAL SHOTS: 5 (Mandy Clemens 2); SHOTS ON GOAL: 3 (Mandy Clemens 2); FOULS: 12 (3 tied with 2); OFFSIDE: 1 (Tara Koleski 1); CORNER KICKS: 2 (Jenny Benson 1, Lorrie Fair 1); SAVES: 3 (Maite Zabala 3); CAUTIONS: (Jennifer Tietjen, 61); EJECTIONS: none.


SAN JOSE CYBERRAYS -- LaKeysia Beene, Danielle Borgman (Michelle French 63), Thori Bryan, Brandi Chastain, Kelly Lindsey, Lisa Nanez, Sissi, Pretinha (Carey Dorn 85), Tisha Venturini-Hoch, Katia (Theresa Wagner 89), Christina Bell (Gina Eagleson 59).
TOTAL SHOTS: 17 (Katia 7); SHOTS ON GOAL: 5 (Katia 2, Tisha Venturini-Hoch 2); FOULS: 15 (Pretinha 4); OFFSIDE: 5 (Katia 4); CORNER KICKS: 8 (Sissi 6); SAVES: 3 (LaKeysia Beene 3); CAUTIONS: (Pretinha, 10); EJECTIONS: none.

Referee: Sandra Hunt; Referee's Assistants: Chris Strickland; Robert E. Sabella
4th Official: Dinesh Singh
Attendance: 6,653
Weather: Clear and 78 degrees

 

We won!

Just because I never do this...

'Rays keep pace in playoff hunt
Second-half surge keys crucial victory against depleted Charge

Yes. Yay! I'm now officially $80 less rich. I'm such a geek.

Better than she did on defense last season! She's obviously a lot more comfortable in the midfield or at forward. She had some moments where she looked a little confused up there, but she was obviously able to combine with Katia effectively at least once! We don't really have many options besides Gina as a forward sub these days (with Hendershot and Clark and Horvath all injured, and Chastain, Borgman, and Pretinha all needed as starters in different positions), and given that she did fine.

Damn skippy!!! Again I was immediately struck by how much better Frenchie is at pure defense than Brandi. Also, those pinpoint services Frenchie makes were a part of why we were able to get our forwards loose later in the second half. Brandi's got skills, no doubt, and she can get the ball close to a forward on a long ball, but the forward's always got to go meet the ball by at least a few steps either way. French sends the ball to meet the forward, dropping right at the forward's feet or right on her head, which gives defenders very little room to disrupt the play before the forward can get a touch on the ball. It makes a HUGE difference in our attacker's ability to be successful, and was especially useful against Philly since they pretty much bunkered the whole game. Our forwards were always receiving the ball in traffic, so accurracy was key.

Abridged French rant, since you've seen it before: If Ian doens't think Frenchie gave him plenty of reasons to start her during her 25 minutes of play yesterday, then I frankly don't think he's much of a coach. We need her on the field. Not playing her is simply ridiculous.

I'm not a huge fan of Di on the bench in favor of Nanez at that D mid in general, but I'm not going to even get started on that one. Also, I thought Lisa had a very nice game, so it's hard to complain. She's really finding her rythmn out there, and she's showing me more reasons every game why she deserves PT. (Though I won't accept Nanez playing at Frenchie's expense)

Katia's obviously doing her best to make up for the lack of Julie Murray all by herself. Combined they had 17 goals (Murray 9, Katia 8) last season. Katia's got 3 more games to match that total with 2 more goals, and I for one am not going to say she can't do it.

On another note, I'm getting a kick of of interviews with Katia in English this season. Is she bold as brass or what? Lovin' it!

Thori looks like Thori. She's just consistently playing at about the same level every game, running forwards down.

I'd break my neck trying to do that!

 

GGGINNNNNNNAAAAA!!!!

ok...

i must say, my throat is super sore this morning, maybe from the GIIIINNNNNAAAAAA screaming we did last night, but i'm stoked that she's back with the team (as usual), and getting some playing time!!! it's great!!! and to get an assist...after katia scored it, most of the players went over to gina to celebrate, and you could all tell that everyone was pumped and excited for her. (getting an assist)

in regards to gina and her positional play. while at cal-poly, she was a goal scorer, and she converted to a defender for the mexican national team.

i remember seeing her at CONCACAF '98, and she was the sweeper for the team...she really cleaned up a lot of the mistakes her team made, and was very good w/her head on corner kicks/set pieces because of her height (relative to her teammates).

i think putting her up top is a good idea, as she seemed to be connecting well when she got in. mucho happy for her!!!

and tisha flip....sigh...it was bootiful...too bad my flash stalled on my camera, cause i think i got a pic of her landing it...hopefully a picture will turn out SOMEWHERE! lol

elaine

 

Oh yeah forgot to mention this at the end of the PBP last night...

After the match the Cyberrays put on shirts that spelled out "Thank you fans!" or something like that and Brandi grabbed the mic, laid down a beatbox, and thanked the Cyberrays faithful at Spartan for supporting them this season.

Very classy move by the team!

 

Um, maybe all of the above? Just my own observations...It looked like Borgman was limping after the game, so she's probably still hurting a bit. She'd also made a lot of runs off the ball in the first half and may have been gassed. Hard for her to keep game shape with a knee injury, so I can understand that. Also, she'd gotten her nose smashed (and her bell rung a bit?) by Beene in the first half, so maybe she was a little loopy. I haven't watched the tape to catch the replay of that but it looked pretty nasty live...Danni kept checking her nose for a break for about 10 minutes afterwards.

And OF COURSE we needed French!

Elaine (or anyone else), do you know if Gina Eagleson is still the captian of the Mexican national team? Last I'd heard she was, but honeslty I don't follow that team as closely as I should (given that a few players I like play on that team as dual nationals, like Monica Gonzales). Just curious. Speaking of which, someone call Jody Meacham and tell him to give Eagleson props in the press releases. She's still not listed as one of our dual nationals or internationally capped players.

Is it just me or did Brandi look a just touch more like part of the unit last night? I didn't notice a whole lot negative about her (and usually incidents just leap out at me and make me want to scream). I actually caught her listening to Boof and immediately following the directions on a couple of occasions, though Brandi and Boof did appear to snip at each other more than once in what may have been arguments about posititoning on the field (judging from their hand gestures and pointing to spots on the field--completely my own speculation, though). Maybe Boof's asserting herself much more than I suspected? If so, GOOD. We'll never really know, though. Brandi's got a ways to go to match the (positive) attitude she brings to the NT, but it was still a better team-oriented effort than her last game, IMHO.

The Charge didn't bring a whole ton of firepower (one forward at a time, everyone else in a bunker D), but obviously a shutout still speaks well of our general defense in this game. We had some scary moments, but we didn't let anything hurt us this time.

 

i think she still is playing for mexico. i asked something about the gold cup in the fall and if she was gonna be there, and she shoke her head as if to say 'yes'...although i'm not sure if she heard my question 100%. i'm not sure about the captain part. if i remember right, i think mexico played the USA at the beginning of the year, and i don't think she was wearing the captain armband, but actually fatima leyva (i think that was her...it was not a dualie who wore the band, not that it matters, but it wasn't one of the mex-am players)...i think that gina, monica (both monicas), lisa and linnea will only benefit by playing in the WUSA for mexico. (on a side note, seeing gina's "new" name on the mexican roster should be funny, you see all the usual-type names, and then "eagleson" lol )

tell me about it! i had emailed him about putting up gina's bio on the site, cause she was picked up on the reserve roster, and the bio was stil not up after WEEKS, and they finally got it up. i think they took a "mug shot" of her at the NY game, so hopefully they'll put that up too.

i'm really happy that gina is with the team. she's one of my faves since i saw her in CONCACAF!!

yeah! it said something "Thank You #1 Fans" or something, and it wasn't shown on TV, but brandi also joked about how her teammates were delexic (sp?? gosh i suck in spelling) cause the letters weren't in the right order at first!!! lol...my aunt said it was funny!

elaine

 

Thanks, 'Rays!

Anyone happen to snap a photo of that? It was very nice to be thanked. I know I felt the love! They had a banner last year thanking us, but the shirts were a nifty idea because it looked like each player wrote a little note (maybe--they were taking some time scribbling on them) and autographed the shirt they'd been given and then tossed it into the stands. It was really a surprise, so the kids that snagged one were looking pretty darn happy.

 

Re: GGGINNNNNNNAAAAA!!!!

Lol.. I for one can say that Elo should have NO voice today because she sat in front of my 'rents.. haha.. everytime Gina touched the ball.. it was "GINNNNNAAAA" which kicked butt. Elo I asked if she heard you and your cousins and she said "yeah I kept hearing my name being screamed" hehe. Congrats to Gina on her assist.

I saw Gina play two games for CAL-POLY and she had a GREAT offensive presence.. I'm very happy that we're playing her up top b/c I'm very confident with her playing there (not that i'm not that confident with her playing in the back.. but if Di isn't even playing in the back.. there is no way in hell that i'd be happy if Gina was playing back ya know??)

 

Re: Re: GGGINNNNNNNAAAAA!!!!

yea yea!!!! we asked her the same thing to, and she laughed and was like 'so it was you guys screaming my name!!!" it was funny.

:::looking for a tish flip pic:::

elaine

 

Re: Re: Re: GGGINNNNNNNAAAAA!!!!

Lol the Tish Flip which I MISSED!! I would have stood up if I knew your cousins were going to stand right when she did it

 

tish flip pic!

hey guys-

i found a pic of the tish flip in the san mateo daily news, and i scanned it up.

i can't quite get the scan quality to be any better w/my cousins scanner, so sorry it's such bad quality! once i get home i can get a better version out...



enjoy!

elaine

 

Random takes.

I had to leave early since one sister had to get to sleep early, and the other had homework.

I missed that, and the free paper is usually at the Caltrain Station (Hillsdale, where I got on this morning for my first workday in SF in a long time, or San Mateo) where I commute. If that was from last night's game, I totally missed the flip. Saw the goal and we in Section 125 just erupted into our usual selves.

I might have made my siblings fans of the CyberRays. They probably won't be sold on the Quakes or the Sharks, but that's fine. Right now, the Rays are the best family entertainment, though it's been a challenge for a few of us to put out a few witty and family friendly chants.

Eagleson (nee Oceguera) isn't the captain of the Mexican Nats. I'm thinking it's one of the natives as mentioned who leads the team, and before it was Laurie Hill--another of the players who never got the chance to play in the league. It's a good thing they are US citizens (though many of them had been in the US camp but were released due to the depth in the player pool, and with citizenship with Mexico in this case, they can play for another national team) since they don't count against the limit, and their play can only benefit the league in the short term and the national team play in the long run.

Eagleson did play in January for Mexico in their friendly against the USA.

Too bad this was the last game here--we as fans, whether the team repeats or not, would love to have a post game party as a way of saying thanks.

I might be quiet to the players (I'm really shy, and like my contemporaries like to leave it to the kids for autographs) but this is a team that grows on you. Though the best thrill from this year was Sissi just hanging out, and I ended up with my now obsolete Umbro Brazil jersey--needs 5 stars.

Now, let's have a back flip contest between Tisha Venturini, John Doyle, and Ozzie Smith and we'll see who wins. Jason Kreis is ineligible for this offer.

Anyone grab a jersey? I decided to take a pass on it.

Cheers! Nap

 

Re: Random takes.

i did some looking up on this, and for the usa vs. mexico game back in january, it was Patricia Perez who was the captain for the team. all thre c'rays players played in that game: gina, lisa and linnea. (monica gerado played in it as well)

gina was captain for a period of time...i'm pretty sure of that!! and in regards to laurie hill...didn't she having a falling out w/the coach or something??

i'm getting off topic...me bad.

elaine

 

Gina Eagleson

Really REALLY boring day at work. So I did some research (my blessings to Google!)...

OK I found this from early last season, which said:
NATIONAL TEAM CALL-UPS - Defender Gina Oceguera has been called into duty for the Mexican national team. Oceguera, who has served as the captain of the Mexican National Team, will lead her country against Canada U-21's in a two-game series this Friday, June 15 and Sunday, June 17. She will join the Spirit in Washington D.C. in preparation for the June 21 game against the Freedom.

So, we're not losing our minds about her having been the captain. I can't find a time-frame for when that was, however. I keep wanting to say it was like...late 2000...maybe for the Mexico team the US NT played (and almost lost to--ack! Hope Solo in goal = bad ) in like December of that year? I could be completely mis-remembering. It's bugging me now that I don't have an answer (yes, I'm one of THOSE people)!

 

gina article

hey-

speaking of gina, there's a good article about her on the c'ray site:

http://www.sjcyberrays.com/fanzone/fan_features_20020802.html

GO GINNNNNNAAAAA!!!! and they FINALLY added her head shot to her bio...

elaine

 

Re: gina article

From that article:

Sawyers said, "and I said 'You know me, I always want to have my best people on the field at the same time.'

 

Re: Re: gina article

hmm..

 

Re: Gina Eagleson

Interesting--I take what I said back on that one. I was thinking it was one of the nationals and not the "gringos" that got the "C" for the Mexican team. You're right on that one.

Cheers!