Katie Schoepfer scored her league leading seventh and eighth goals of the Women’s Premier Soccer League (WPSL) Elite League season, sending the first-place Breakers to 5-0 on the season with a 4-0 victory over FC Indiana Friday night on the road. Schoepfer has now scored in all five games and has five goals combined in her last two games.
FC Indiana came into the game having lost the first meeting between the two teams, 4-1. Head coach Shek Borkowski reshuffled his lineup, but Boston would dictate the pace of the match. What the game lacked in finesse it made up for in intensity.
“In every game, everybody has their moments. They can score goals, make an important tackle, a save,” Breakers Head Coach Lisa Cole said. “Katie, every chance she gets to put us on the scoreboard, she does.”
Before Schoepfer’s brace, Boston got on the board in the 30th minute when Longmeadow, Mass., native Bianca D’Agostino scored her first goal as a Breaker. She took a pass from Leslie Osborne and beat FC Indiana keeper Geralda Santilus to give Boston the early lead. For Osborne, it was her second assist of the season.
Four minutes later, Schoepfer scored the first of her two goals. The assist went to defender Julie King. The rookie out of Auburn University picked up her first assist and point of her WPSL Elite career. That made it a 2-0 game in the 34th minute.
Schoepfer’s second goal of the game, which came in the 41st minute, was the result of great technical play by Kyah Simon to rookie defender Courtney Jones, who made a strong run on the right flank. Jones then sent it to Schoepfer for a near-post finish. The goal was Schoepfer’s eight of the season, which leads WPSL Elite. She also is tops in the league with 17 points.
Simon capped the scoring in the 78th minute, putting home her third goal of the season, which ranks the Australian international third in the league in goals scored (3). The play began at the top of the 18 when Cat Whitehill sent a free kick to Katherine Donnelly, who then hit on a shot on goal, which was deflected by Santilus. Simon was there to pounce on the rebound and beat Santilus for the 4-0 final.
At the other end of the field, rookie keeper Alice Binns made six saves to earn her league-leading third shutout of the season. She also leads the league now in save percentage (.840), having allowed just four goals on 25 shots on goal.
“Boston is a better team, period,” said Borkowski. “Lisa Cole has the team well prepared and we simply are not experienced enough to challenge them at this point of our development.” “I thought it was a good team performance,” Cole said. “We were able to do what we needed to do and keep the ball moving. I was impressed with our overall approach to the game.”
The Breakers return to action Sunday night (6 p.m. ET) to take on the Chicago Red Stars at North Central College in Napersville, Ill. Next weekend they travel to Pennsylvania for a Sunday, June 10, match with the Philadelphia Fever. FC Indiana will have a week to prepare for ASA Chesapeake Charge on Friday, June 8, followed by a two–week break before traveling to Philadelphia for a June 29 match with the Fever.
