Fourteen points may have separated the Boston Breakers and Philadelphia Fever on the Women’s Premier Soccer League (WPSL) Elite League table, but that didn’t stop the host Fever from playing an aggressive match that ended in a close 1-0 Boston win. Philadelphia held league-leading scorer Katie Schoepfer (8 goals, 1 assist) in check the entire match, but could not stop Australian international Kyah Simon who scored the lone goal.
Boston opened strong against the winless Fever, but goalkeeper Michelle Dalton was up to the task, turning away shots by Cat Whitehill and Bianca D’Agostino. Simon and fellow Aussie Tameka Butt, back in the lineup after an injury, added their own shots on goal to keep up the pressure. At the other end, Laura Di Clemente challenged Breakers’ goalkeeper Alice Binns, just missing from outside the 18, and Madison Clemens’s shot went just wide.
Finally, as time was winding down in the first half, Simon fired a rocket from 25 yards just out of reach of a lunging Dalton for the goal. It was her fourth goal of the WPSL Elite season, along with three assists. Simon also scored a goal in Boston’s exhibition match win against D.C. United Women.
Both teams returned to the pitch for the second half with renewed effort, Boston looking to widen the gap and Philadelphia trying to find the equalizer. In spite of determined back-and-fort action, neither team could find the key to score and the game ended with Boston on top by the 1-0 margin.
While the Fever came out on the short end of the score, the team had nothing to be ashamed of. “Michelle [Dalton] was phenomenal in the second half and stopped several balls that were destined to be goals,” said Philadelphia’s Ulises Terrones afterwards.
“The Boston Breakers have a strong organization behind their team,” Terrones continued. “Their overall structure and organization is impressive, from having people arriving very early on game day to their top quality international players on the field, playing the Boston Breakers is a great experience.
Explaining the advantage of taking on a team like Boston, Terrones said, “I believe our players can benefit from playing teams of this high caliber. Sharing the field with high-level players teaches our players elements of the game you cannot teach in a training session.”
The win moves the Breakers back on top after the Chicago Red Stars had temporarily taken possession of first place earlier in the day on the strength of their undefeated 5-0 record. Boston is now 6-1, with their only loss coming against Chicago on June 3. Philadelphia fall to 0-4-1, just ahead of also-winless FC Indiana.
Boston will take the next week off as they prepare to host New England Mutiny on Wednesday, June 20. Philadelphia will host Western New York Flash on Sunday, June 17.
