Charge's Krik Orian Named WUSA Coach of the Year

Event Spotlight:
Late Goal Ends Charge Season
Washington Advances to the WUSA Finals

Saturday, August 17, 2002

By Greg Wiley
Philadelphia Charge Correspondent

Monica Gerardo scored in the 80th minute as Washington defeated the Philadelphia Charge 1-0 on Saturday in the WUSA semifinal round. Washington will next face the winner of the Carolina-Atlanta game in Founders Cup II next Saturday in Atlanta. Marinette Pichon and Mandy Clemens combined for nine shots but could not put one past Freedom goalkeeper Siri Mullinix, as Philadelphia fell in the semifinals for the second-straight year.

The Freedom scored the eventual game-winning goal in the 80th minute when Jacqui Little dribbled through the right side of the box and found Monica Gerardo in the middle. From there, Gerardo one-timed a shot past Charge goalkeeper Melissa Moore.

The play was started off a corner kick. Moore was able to punch the ball away, but Freedom midfielder Pu Wei, who recorded an assist on the play, recovered the ball and passed it to Little, who dribbled around a sliding Erica Iverson before dishing the game-winning pass. Moore finished with three saves.

One of Philadelphia's best chances came in the 32nd minute when Kerry Conners streaked in on the left side of Mullinix and took a shot straight on. The shot on goal was deflected out to Clemens, who took a shot that went just over the crossbar. Mullinix had five saves.

Washington will carry a 10-game unbeaten streak (8-0-3) into the finals,while Philadelphia fell to 1-4-2 in its last seven games.

Gerardo finished the regular season with three goals and an assist. Little,who played for the 2001 WUSA Champion CyberRays, had four assists in theregular season. Wei had eight regular-season assists.

Last year the Charge fell 3-2 to the Atlanta Beat in overtime of the semifinals.

Philadelphia finished the regular season 11-4-6 (39 pts) in second place while Washington took the third seed at 11-5-5 (38 pts). The Charge won the regular season series 1-0-2 with a 3-1 win at home and a pair of 1-1 ties in each city.

The Charge finished the regular season with a home record of 7-1-3. The Freedom had a regular season road record of 5-3-2.

	1	2	_F_
Washington Freedom	0	1	1
Philadelphia Charge	0	0	0

SCORING SUMMARY:

Was: Monica Gerardo 1 (Jacqui Little 1 and Pu Wei 1) 80'

PHILADELPHIA CHARGE - Melissa Moore, Heather Mitts, Erica Iverson, Jen Tietjen (Mary-Frances Monroe 88), Jenny Benson, Mandy Clemens, Zhao Lihong, Liu Ailing, Lorrie Fair, Kerry Conners (Stacey Tullock 66) and Marinette Pichon.

TOTAL SHOTS: 15 (Clemens 5); SHOTS ON GOAL: 5 (Clemens 2); FOULS: 9 (Pichon 3); OFFSIDE: 1 (Pichon 1); CORNER KICKS: 10 (Benson 7); SAVES: 3 (Moore 3); CAUTIONS: (Zhao Lihong 60); EJECTIONS: none.

WASHINGOTON FREEDOM - Siri Mullinix, Emmy Barr, Carrie Moore, Jen Grubb, Skylar Little, Ann Cook (Monica Gerardo 59), Anne Makinen (Mia Hamm 45), Pu Wei, Steffi Jones, Bai Jie (Jacqui Little 66) and Abby Wambach.

TOTAL SHOTS: 8 (Hamm 2); SHOTS ON GOAL: 4 (4 players with 1); FOULS: 11 (Abby Wambach 6); OFFSIDE: 2 (Bai Jie 2); CORNER KICKS: 4 (Pu Wei 2, Mia Hamm 2); SAVES: 5 (Mullinix 5) CAUTIONS: (Wambach 53); EJECTIONS: none.

Referee: Sandra Hunt
Referee's Assistants: George Gansner, Sandra Serafini;
4th Official: Terry Vaughn.
Attendance: 6,547
Weather: 94 Clear