The New England Mutiny earned their first victory in the 2012 Women’s Premier Soccer League (WPSL) Elite League season on Saturday, May 19, against ASA Chesapeake Charge in front of nearly 1,000 soccer fans.
Mutiny charter member Jenny Maurer, who scored a goal, and University of Connecticut midfielder Riley Houle, who had a goal and an assist, were instrumental in the win. Chesapeake Charge were a strong team, both offensively and defensively, responding twice from two-goal deficits to scuttle any plans that New England Head Coach Tony Horta had of resting his players for their road trip Sunday to play the Philadelphia Fever.
“Our plan was to high pressure and try to get an early lead, and we did,” said Horta. “Unfortunately, they got one back which changed the complexion of the game. I think we went into halftime on a positive note, but we came out in the second half and we were flat. We would’ve loved to have rested some people, but their second goal took us out of our plan.”
“They did a great job of trying to stay in the game, and we didn’t do a good job offensively,” said Horta. The Mutiny came out strong to begin the game, with defender Ciara McCormack just missing a back-post header over the cross bar in the 7th minute. Maurer would strike a little over ten minutes later, as she took a throw-in from forward Kate Howarth off the left sideline and headed to goal. The East Longmeadow native and head coach of the high school’s girls soccer team fired a shot from 30 yards out that bent inside the near-side upper 90 past Chesapeake goalkeeper Lyndse Hokanson for the 1-0 lead.
The goal spurred on the New England attack, and seven minutes later, Houle whipped in a corner kick from the left flag.Tiya Gallegos collected the ball after a goal-mouth scramble and netted her second goal of the season for the 2-0 score.
“I think we realized we needed to shoot the ball a little more,” said Maurer. “We had control of the play and we needed to take advantage of our opportunities. We just needed to keep attacking.”
The Charge’s Shannon Collins scored a goal in the 27th minute, as she collected a failed clearance from a corner kick on the right flank and bent in a shot past Mutiny goalkeeper Alexa Gaul, inside the far post for the 2-1 score. New England would go into halftime with the 3-1 lead but as the second half ensued, the Charge showed determination to succeed.
In the 49th minute, Chesapeake’s Sophia Reid got the ball on the left flank, and chipped Gaul from the top of the penalty area to cut New England’s lead to 3-2. Under repeated shots on goal from the Charge’s forwards, the Mutiny goalie performed well under pressure, making great save after save.
“Yeah, I thought we had the equalizer,” said Charge Head Coach Albert Oni. “Everybody was a little excited but the Mutiny goalkeeper came up big and made a great, great save. So, hats off to her for really stepping up on that play.”
Becca Mays notched the insurance goal in stoppage time for New England, getting behind the Charge defense and tapping the ball past an onrushing Quinn for the final 4-2 score.
The Mutiny now travel south to face the Philadelphia Fever in what should be a tough back-to-back fixture. Kick-off at Washington Township H.S. in Sewell, NJ, is slated for 7:30 PM.
