In perhaps the biggest upset of the Women’s Premier Soccer League (WPSL) Elite League season, the New England Mutiny shocked the Boston Breakers with two stoppage-time goals at the end of the match to turn a 1-0 loss into a 2-1 victory. The win keeps New England’s hope of a playoff berth alive, while the loss drops Boston out of the top spot as the Chicago Red Stars defeat Philadelphia Fever.
In the first meeting between the two teams, Boston came away with a 4-2 win at home on June 20. In that match Australian international Kyah Simon picked up a hat trick as the Breakers overcame an early 1-0 deficit to take the victory. This time it was Mutiny who pulled the game out, in even more dramatic fashion. The Breakers came into the game fresh off a 3-1 win over ASA Chesapeake Charge at Dilboy Stadium on Friday night, while Mutiny were recovering from a frustrating 0-4 loss against New York Fury on Tuesday, July 3.
That match had almost eliminated New England from contention, and a loss to Boston would have sealed their fate. The ladies from Western Massachusetts would have none of that, though. Both sides came out battling from the first whistle. New England made several runs against the visitors, challenging Breakers goalkeeper Alice Binns with shots by Kate Howarth and Morgan Andrews. Boston defender Courtney Jones was called on to help clear Howarth’s attack. Boston then turned the tide and put in shots by Bianca D’Agostino, Melissa Henderson and Simon, but Mutiny were able to weather the storm. The first half continued with both sides just missing chances as both Binns and Mutiny’s Vikki Alonzo showed off their goalkeeping skills. Entering the second half, Boston chose to continue with their original eleven while New England brought n Becca Mays for Tiya Gallegos.
Two minutes into the half the Breakers finally struck pay dirt when Amanda DaCosta crossed midfield and made a run out wide. She then played the ball in to Simon who slipped through defenders and slotted in her league-leading twelfth goal. It was DaCosta’s first assist on the season.
“It was a good buildup and (DaCosta) put a brilliant through ball in behind the defense for me to run onto and it took a bit of composure from me to slide it past the keeper as she was coming out,” Simon said.
The action continued hot and heavy as Boston sought to add to their lead, while New England battled to even the score. Several shots came close for both sides, but the score remained 1-0 Breakers as time ticked down. Then, as the scoreboard clock stopped and the game moved into stoppage time, New England finally broke through. Tiffany Weimer corralled the ball and went in one-on-one against Binns. A right-footed shot beat the Boston net minder to tie the match at 1-1. It looked as if the game would end that way, but moments later Weimer brought the ball up to Mays, who sent a crossing pass to Taleen Dimirdjian who then converted for the 2-1 lead. Just like that, New England had pulled off the ultimate cliché, literally snatching victory from the jaws of defeat. A shell-shocked Boston could only wonder what happened as Mutiny celebrated their thrilling win.
“I was happy with the performance overall,” Breakers Head Coach Lisa Cole said after the game. “I think we needed to score more, score earlier, so we need to do some work in our final third, and we need to be a little bit better in our composure, but we learned some good lessons today, and hopefully we’ll be able to take that into the playoffs. “I think (playing two games in two days) played a role,” Cole continued. “I think we had some players that were on tired legs. You see us not being as efficient in front of goal, which we’ve normally been really efficient in. You saw some passes just missing, especially late in the game. We’re normally more cleaner than that. It has an effect. When you play at this level, and you’re taxing your body 100 percent in one game, you can’t ask anybody to come back and play that same high level the next day.”
“At this point in time, we need to push for the playoffs,” said Mutiny Head Coach Tony Horta. “So I said let’s stay with three in the back, go forward and try for the win. It worked out. It’s great when it works out, but they could’ve come back and scored two. Fortunately for us, we were able to finish.”
New England will not have much time to revel in their glory, as they travel to Maryland on Wednesday, July 11, to take on ASA Chesapeake Charge. Meanwhile, Boston will host Philadelphia Fever on Saturday, July 14, in their final home game of the season.
