From the website of WFMZ in Allentown, which is channel 55 on my Comcast cable, the Charge shut out the Eastern All-Stars today 3-0. No other info is available right now, unfortunately, and their only evening newscast on Sunday was at 6PM. We'll probably get the skinny from the team itself sometime tomorrow afternoon. WFMZ will have an early morning news at 6AM tomorrow, so maybe you'll get some video from it then. More from the Charge tonight, and I mean just in the last few minutes...Moore and Schillig combined for the goose-egg, with Fair (goal, assist), Makinen, and Smith (a 'tremendous' effort according to the story) in that order putting the bunge in the ol' onion bag ($1 to Tommy Smyth). Smith was a second-half substitute, along with Scasna, Hoffmann, Pichon and Schillig. http://www.philadelphiacharge.com/353826.html Paul
Sounds good. I'm glad that Schillig played a little bit today. In case anybody missed it here's the story about Janel from today's Inquirer: http://www.philly.com/mld/philly/news/special_packages/inqcol/5623232.htm
Too bad it wasn't against the U-21's, but good exposure for the Charge in the Lehigh Valley. http://www.mcall.com/sports/local/all-chargeapr14,0,2935345.story?coll=all-sportslocal-hed
looks like a good workout and a decent opponent, which is what the charge needed one more match against anyone that didnt count that they could get a good workout at and finalize their lineups, thats what they lost when the u19s chickened and the power game got snowed on. Now to fine tune over this week and next and i think we will see a different Philly charge against the breakers who seem to be lacking defensively...wonder if pia is now set to give up what kirk wanted for EI LOL That being said, Nickerson is the toughest place to play in the WUSA, so i wouldnt hold out too much, but i think we can get our first point and then be set to win against the (still) lowly power.
Still this was a college all star team, and the difference between wusa is technical ability. Boston and the Charge have suffered from poor weather, hindering getting a good practice rythm going, and getting all the new players in sync. Boston did manage to beat San Diego, which might say more about San Diego than anything. Atlanta has started the season like I expected. Right now Boston and the Charge is a match difficult to project. Fair is out... Has Lilly been called up for Nigeria?? Is Arrington healthy... if so.. Arrington Pichon Hoffmann Scasna Tullock Makinen(or Monroe) Benson Tietjen MCveigh Mitts and Moore... Smith off the bench... Borisjuk if offense is needed, although Maso de Moya seems to have some nice goal scoring skills... I smell a draw here..
well its either a draw or a loss, no way am i calling a charge win at nickerson... the best home field advantage in WUSA...I agree there is alot to figure out with both teams and i never said it wasnt a college team, but a game against someone other than yourself was needed to get the charge into match form, which they were NOT in for SJ because of bad weather, roster oddities with Hoffmann and the U19s being more chicken than chick. Agree with your lineup but with the cavieat that we dont know how far along smith is and well if shes closer to 100, which we wouldnt know, she should get the start...as for arrington, id expect her to be ready with the 3 weeks off unless she was far worse than i read.
with pichon skipping the France-Germany match tomorrow, reading between the lines, there's reason she's not going... and the devil advocate says, the charge need a lot of work together, and every training session makes them better... Krikorian always wants offense coing off the bench, so I expect to see Smith at the 60 minute mark... and Arrington might not be 100% fit, so she could come on at the half... Pichon would have to be the forward, and then Monore and Makinen both start?? as to Boston, Lilly and Hucles and Kluegal and Sobrero have all been called up ... and only Fair... so Boston has been sorely depleted, the question is how many make the final cut for the Nigeria match... if all 4 do, then Boston has a huge disadvantage... I would NOT want to be in Pia's shoes on 4/26....
i agree about pichon, unlike ape, france seems to believe that its better for their players to get WUSA exprience rather than poorly attended meaingless friendlies. i forgot about callups...could be that we can pull one off but i wouldnt bet on it...depends on this week and the week leading into the boston game, and lineup, your guess is as good as mine really.
I don't know what the BOS-PHL result will be. But in preparation for that encounter, I wouldn't be surprised if Mark were to attend CAR-BOS live.
The Boston does visit Carolina and will have 3 wusa matches under their belt, against the 1 by the charge... I wonder if he's giving the Charge players easter weekend off??
True, BOS do have the benefit of having played 3 consecutive weekends, while PHL may feel like they're just starting their season. Advantage: BOS
3 matches to 1 is an advantage... and 4 call-ups to only 1 is the charge edge... so the smell a draw would be ok... as to Loisel permitting pichon to stay with her club, the european tradition does give great strength to club sides... fc frankfurt has the euro semi's beckoning and many of the germans are bypassing the France match to focus on it... still France has never beaten germany... and the Germans have half their squad missing... time for France to take advantage...
Since this a WWC year, it's inevitable that Woosa will lose players for national commitments. My biggest complaint against the USSF is that they are quite archaic in the way they schedule these friendlies. The mentality of calling in all these nats for a week of training to play one friendly is not an efficient use of time and other resources. All they have to do is look across the pond at UEFA, where they schedule friendlies & Euro qualifiers on a Saturday-Wednesday. Get players on peak form for the Saturday game, train & de-brief for a few more days to maintain that form, & get ready for another game on the Wednesday after. UEFA's system is a better utilization of the FA's and the players' time and resources. But then again, it seems like the USSF have nothing to learn from UEFA & the various Euro FAs. . . . .
While France is playing Germany on Wednesday. Pichon is NOT going.. The Czechs are also playing Finland... Scasna is NOT going also... but MAKINEN is joining the FINNS to play the Czechs.. So what does this tell us... Scasna and Pichon versus Makinen...??? The INS and the OUTS... Or am I reading too much into this??? regarding USSF, and the system of scheduling... we americans know the best way to do everything.. if you really want to know, just ask us...
I don't care if Boston gets as many goals as ATL did in its first two games combined next Saturday; the only thing I want to see on the Charge side of the scoreboard is this: "1". That's all. If they score a goal and end the 290-odd minute dry spell, I would be a happy camper. Otherwise, you're closing in on 400 minutes without a goal in league play. Go one step further than Beavis or Butthead ever did and score The rest will follow. Paul
fc frankfurt has the euro semi's beckoning and many of the germans are bypassing the France match to focus on it... Yes, but that isn't until the next week and one of their best players, Elodie Woock, is playing for France. If they had won easily, not only would it have been a decent surprise but more their players would have played in this match which isn't a meaningless friendly. The Czechs v the Finns is a warmup for the Euro 2005 qualifiers. Both teams have matches in early June. The Finns will have a tougher match than the Czechs. i agree about pichon, unlike ape, france seems to believe that its better for their players to get WUSA exprience rather than poorly attended meaingless friendlies. Not meaningless and also considering that they have practically a full lineup, I would say that they don't consider it as meaningless when only Pichon(their best player) is not involved. Also if you read what everybody is saying about the match especially the players, then one gets the impression that the French are taking this match seriously.
I am amazed to see you guys know so much about women's soccer on the club level. Bravo for you. Service electric cable carried the Charge v. AllStars match live on Sunday. Bravo for me I got to see it. I wish I had known about it sooner as I would have gone to the match.
Cool. I wish I would have known in advance. At least, the friendlies are on TV. Now let's get the games that count on TV!
I think the series finale of Buffy the Vampire Slayer will have more of a good outcome than our TV situation. As of now, the final game of the Power series, the first game of the SD threesome and the first two Atlanta games are all that's on the page where the schedule is. Don't hold your breath for CN8 or CSN to come through. It was probably a financial decision, like all things in sports media these days. Surely SOMETHING would have been announced by now, to whet people's appetites for the coming season. Paul
I agree with Dennism, the French are taking the Germany match more seriously than are the Germans. It's in France, and there's the element of getting more people interested in the female game. With Pichon, I think this French side would be capable of beating this German side. Without her, I wonder who will be the danger person for the French. I do know France has a friendly at the end of August in France prior to the WC. Getting your team ready in April for the WC means diddly. The month before the big event is what counts. Still I think the psyche of the French is important, they've improved the past several years, now the barrier of the elite sides like Germany and Norway needs to be overcome.