Philadelphia Charge Week-in-Review

By Greg Wiley
Philadelphia Charge Correspondent

The Philadelphia Charge lost to the New York Power, 2-1, on Sunday, ending their exhibition schedule with a 4-2-1 mark. Captain and midfielder Kelly Smith scored the lone goal for the Charge, who outscored their opponents 31-11 this preseason.

Linda Ormen and Jen Lalar scored goals for the Power, who will host the Charge in Philadelphia's second game of the season on Saturday, April 27 at 7:00 p.m.

The Charge played Sunday without Frenchwomen Marinette Pichon, who is with her national team but is expected to be in Atlanta with the Charge for the season opener.

Upcoming Opponent

The Charge kick off the 2002 WUSA season this Saturday, April 13 in Atlanta against the Beat starting at 7:00 p.m. Philadelphia went 0-1-2 against the Beat during the 2001 regular season and then fell to the Beat 3-2 in overtime in the semifinal encounter between the two clubs on August 18.

In the lone regular-season game in Atlanta last year, the Charge and Beat played to a 0-0 tie in Philadelphia's second contest of the season. Saskia Webber, now with the New York Power, was in goal for the Charge and made six saves as Philly earned its second shutout of the season. In the opener, the Charge blanked the San Diego Spirit 2-0.

The Charge, who lost 2-0 and played to a 1-1 tie at home against the Beat in 2001, may also have revenge on their mind for this weekend. Atlanta ended Philadelphia's Cinderella season in the playoffs, coming back from a 2-0 halftime deficit to oust the Charge from the postseason 3-2. Kelly Smith and Mandy Clemens scored just three minutes apart in that contest to give Philadelphia the early lead, but Sun Wen's penalty-kick goal in the second half opened the flood gates and Atlanta went on to the Founders Cup championship game. Cindy Parlow added two more goals, including the game-winner 11 minutes into OT for the Beat, who eventually lost to the San Jose Cyberrays for the Founders Cup.

Clemens also had an assist for the Charge, who were forecasted to finish last in the WUSA in the inaugural season. Michelle Demko, Liu Ailing and Jennifer Tietjen also recorded assists for Philadelphia.

Schillig Joins Charge

One day after not selecting a player in the WUSA Waiver Draft, the Philadelphia Charge signed Villanova goalkeeper Janel Schillig to the club's reserve roster on Wednesday, April 3. Schillig is now the lone player on the Charge roster to have roots in the Philadelphia region. In addition to starring for four years at Villanova, the six-foot Schillig grew up in Marlton, NJ and attended Cherokee High School.

The 22-year-old goalkeeper wrapped up a tremendous career at Villanova this past season, recording a 10-6-2 record with an .886 save percentage and a school-record 0.71 goals against average. She registered eight shutouts, earning second team All-Mid Atlantic Region honors and second team All-Big East accolades.

Schillig ended her collegiate career second in the Villanova record books in saves (530), victories (39), career save percentage (.859), and career goals-against average (1.17), and third in career shutouts (22.5). She also holds the school record for saves in a season with 181 set in 1999.

Schillig's Collegiate Career Stats

Year	GP/GS	Min	SV	GA	SV%	GAA	ShO	Wins	Loses	Ties

2001	18/17	1645	101	13	.886	0.71	7	10	6	2
2000	18/17	1469	83	17	.830	1.04	5.5	9	8	0
1999	22/22	1960	181	28	.866	1.29	8	14	8	0
1998	18/16	1593	165	29	.851	1.64	2	6	7	2
Career	76/72	6667	530	87	.859	1.17	22.5	39	29	4

Pichon with French National Team

First-year Charge forward Marinette Pichon is currently with the French national team, but will re-join the Charge prior to their season-opener against the Beat. France is hosting an International mini-tournament that began last week.

In France's opener, Pichon assisted on the lone goal as her country beat Japan 1-0. The French weren't as lucky in the second game, falling to Canada, 2-0.

Pichon has been a pleasant surprise thus far for Philadelphia, scoring five goals during the pre-season. The highlight of the exhibition schedule for Pichon was her hat-trick against the University of Maryland on March 17.

Charge Re-launch Website

The Philadelphia Charge and TEAMtalk, Inc. have joined forces to re-launch the club's official website. New elements of the site include in-depth feature stories, real-time scoring and trivia games. Additional enhancements have been made to many interactive features such as message boards, polls, live chats with WUSA players, and streaming audio and video for the ultimate online fan experience. Player features, game previews and stories, photo galleries, as well as league and team news will also be elements to each site.

Bobblehead Mania

When the Charge open their home schedule on Saturday, May 4 against the Boston Breakers at 7 p.m., the club will give away Lorrie Fair bobblehead dolls courtesy of got milk? to the first 2,000 fans 14 years old and under. Then, on Saturday, June 8 against the Washington Freedom, the Charge will giveaway Heather Mitts bobblehead dolls, again courtesy of got milk?, to the first 2,000 kids 14 years old and under.

Get Your Tickets Now!

The Philadelphia Charge are slated to play 11 games at Villanova Stadium this season, which is one more than the club's inaugural campaign. To order your season tickets call the Charge ticket office at 215-467-GOAL. You can also order single game tickets by calling Ticketmaster at 215-336-2000 or 856-338-9000 or 302-984-2000.

Charge on TV

The Philadelphia Charge will have a total of 16 games televised live in the 2002 season. Twelve games will be telecasted locally on Comcast SportsNet and CN8, the Comcast Network, while four others will air nationally on PAX-TV. This is the second straight year that the Charge have been broadcast on CN8 and Comcast SportsNet. Last season, a total of nine games were aired locally between the two networks, with this season's total increasing by three. The 2001 broadcast team of Lou Tilley and Jim Harrison will remain the same for the 2002 campaign, with Tilley again serving as the play-by-play announcer and Jim Harrison giving color commentary.

Games on CN8 include the Charge season opener in Atlanta on April 13 and the club's home opener versus Boston on May 4. The rest of the schedule will include game on May 19 at San Diego, June 19 in Carolina, June 29 versus Atlanta, July 14 at Washington and July 31 at San Jose. The SportsNet slate will feature games on May 25 at Carolina, June 1 versus San Jose, July 7 and 24 versus New York and August 3 versus San Diego. PAX will air the May 11 and June 8 games versus Washington, July 20 tilt against Carolina and the season-finale on August 10 at Atlanta.