Charge Lose to Breakers in Hall of Fame Game

ONEONTA, NY - Tara Koleski scored the lone goal for the Charge as Philadelphia lost to the Boston Breakers, 2-1, in the Hall of Fame Game at At-A-Glance Field on Monday afternoon. Kristine Lilly and Sarah Yohe each scored for the Breakers, who were playing in the Hall of Fame Game for a second straight year.

The contest marked the first time Boston head coach Pia Sundhage faced her former club, the Charge. Sundhage was an assistant under Charge head coach Mark Krikorian the past two seasons before accepting the job in Boston after the 2002 campaign when Jay Hoffman was fired.

"It was nice to see Pia on the sideline as a head coach," Krikorian said. "She has worked hard to get where she is at and she deserves it. "As far as the game, I wish there was a different result. It was cold here today and having not trained together for a while, I thought our team did okay. This gave us the chance to try out a few local players and give some of the reserves a good long look."

The area players who got a look from Krikorian were Tracey Spinelli, Kelli Toland and Heather Allgyer. Spinelli is currently a graduate assistant coach for the women's team at La Salle, having also earned All Mid-Atlantic honors while playing collegiately at the university. Toland is from Philadelphia and played her college soccer at Penn, while Allgyer attended the West Chester University.

With the game tied at 1-1 and just two minutes left, Lilly, a U.S. National Team star and a future Hall of Famer, gave the Breakers the win as she took a pass from Angela Hucles and from 18 yards out beat Charge goalkeeper Janel Schillig.

Lilly was the co-leader in points for the Breakers this past season, scoring eight goals and adding 13 assists for 29 points. In her regular season career, Lilly has one goal and six assists all-time against the Charge. Schillig, from Villanova, was a reserve keeper this season for the Charge, who won the 2002 season-series from the Breakers, 2-0-1. Koleski's goal came just eight minutes into the second half and tied the game at 1-1. After Boston defender Kalli Kamholz misplayed a clearance attempt, Koleski got to the loose ball and beat Boston goalkeeper Karina LeBlanc. In the first half, Yohe had given the Breakers the lead. During the regular season, Koleski didn't score in six games with the Charge, registering only one assist. She was signed as a free agent on July 19 after the San Diego Spirit let her go on June 10. She is also currently coaching at the Baldwin School.

Yohe had one goal and four assists in 13 appearances with the Breakers. Philadelphia ends the postseason exhibition season 0-1-1, having also played to a 1-1 tie against the San Diego Spirit at the Rose Bowl back on September 14. The Charge posted an 11-4-6 record during the 21-game WUSA season in 2002, earning 39 points and finishing second to the Carolina Courage. Philadelphia then lost to the Washington Freedom 1-0 in the league semifinals.

Earlier on Monday, Shannon Higgins-Cirovski, Adolph Bachmeier and Vladislav Bogicevic were all officially inducted into the National Soccer Hall of Fame.

Higgins-Cirovski was a midfielder for the U.S. team that won the first Women's World Cup in 1991. She was also part of four NCAA championship teams at North Carolina.

Bachmeier, primarily a defender and defensive midfielder, starred in Chicago-area teams and on the U.S. National teams at several levels in the 1950's and 60's. He was born in Romania and lived in Illinois, playing for many years in the National Soccer League of Chicago, mainly for Chicago Kickers.

Bogicevic, a Yugoslavian, was the hub of some of the New York Cosmos' greatest teams. He was also perhaps the most outstanding midfielder in the North American Soccer League's history. He played for the Cosmos from 1978 to '84, winning the title twice (1978 and '82).