Charge Defeat Spirit 2-0

Marinette Pichon scored her team-leading seventh goal of the season and Melissa Moore made six saves to lead the Philadelphia Charge to a 2-0 win over the San Diego Spirit on Saturday afternoon at Villanova Stadium. The Charge (3-5-2, 11 pts) moved to 2-0-2 in their last four games, having also beaten the Spirit (3-3-4 13 pts) last Saturday in San Diego.

Moore has recorded 249 scoreless minutes, dating back to the 20th minute of last Saturday's 2-1 win over San Diego when she yielded a penalty-kick goal. She has made eight saves in her last two games and 13 in her last three.

Pichon has four goals in her last four games, increasing her career total to 21. She is eight points shy of the 50-point mark for her career.

Philadelphia improved to 3-1-2 in its last six contests since starting the season 0-4-0. The club is also 2-0-0 versus the Spirit this year with one more game against San Diego later this season at Villanova Stadium.

The Charge are off until Sunday, June 22 when they travel to Atlanta to face the Beat at 4 p.m. (ET). The game will be televised live on CN8. Philadelphia returns home on Saturday, June 28 when it faces the Boston Breakers at 4 p.m. (ET). The first 3,000 fans 14 & under to the game will receive a Heather Mitts poster courtesy of Alpha Graphics.

This game marked the return of Omid Namazi to the Philadelphia area. Namazi, the head coach of the Spirit, had spent the previous four years with the Philadelphia Kixx of the NPSL. Namazi led the Kixx to the 2002 league championship.

The Charge's first goal developed when Stacey Tullock played a ball deep into the Spirit defense. Rhiannon Tanaka attempted to pass the ball back to her goalie, Jenni Branum, but pressure from Pichon caused Tanaka to hit the ball over the head of Branum into the net.

Pichon later increased the lead to 2-0 in the 31st minute. She was fed a ball by Melanie Hoffmann inside the box and beat Branum who went down to try and make a save. Jenny Benson also recorded an assist on the play.

Moore now has registered back-to-back shutouts, giving her eight for her career.

Branum ended the match with two saves.

Philadelphia was without Lorrie Fair due to U.S. national team duty. She was with the U.S. team in Salt Lake City for the squad's match with Ireland.

Scoring Summary
	1	2	F
San Diego	0	0	0
Philadelphia	2	0	2

PHI -- own goal (Rhiannon Tanaka) 12
PHI -- Marinette Pichon 7 (Melanie Hoffmann 1, Jenny Benson 1) 31

San Diego Spirit -- Jenni Branam, Ronnie Fair (Andrea Alfiler 77), Kim Pickup, Rhiannon Tanaka (Allie Sullivan 51), Lisa Krzykowski, Kerry Connors, Jennifer Nielsen (Susan Bush 56), Daniela, Julie Fleeting, Zhang Ouying, Christine Latham (Shauna Rohbock 77).

TOTAL SHOTS: 13 (Christine Latham 3); SHOTS ON GOAL: 6 (Kim Pickup 2); FOULS: 14 (Kerry Connors 3, Daniela 3); OFFSIDES: 8 (Christine Latham 3); CORNER KICKS: 2 (Zhang Ouying 2); SAVES: 2 (Jenni Branam 2)

Philadelphia Charge -- Melissa Moore, Jenny Benson, Rachel Kruze, Heather Mitts, Jennifer Tietjen-Prozzo, Anne Makinen, Emily Burt (Pavlina Scasna 77), Erin Misaki (Mary McVeigh 81), Stacey Tullock, Melanie Hoffmann, Marinette Pichon.

TOTAL SHOTS: 11 (Marinette Pichon 5); SHOTS ON GOAL: 3 (Marinette Pichon 3); FOULS: 12 (Anne Makinen 4); OFFSIDES: 8 (Marinette Pichon 7); CORNER KICKS: 1 (Melanie Hoffmann 1); SAVES: 6 (Melissa Moore 6)

Misconduct Summary:
PHI -- Heather Mitts (caution) 83

Referee: Rachel Woo
Referee's Assistants: -Brenda Wright; Adam Smeltz
4th Official: Ed Marco
Attendance: 6,345
Time of Game: 1:50
Weather: Partly Cloudy-and-84-degrees

Post Game Quotes, Philadelphia Charge vs. San Diego Spirit

San Diego Spirit:
Head Coach Omid Namazi:

On the game:

The challenge we've had is we haven't been able to work as a team together. We are in and out and are missing players. You can't make excuses. We just have to try to get results.

On Marinette Pichon:

[Pichon's] very good at making diagonal runs and getting behind players. She plays on the edge-she's either offsides or on a breakaway. When she gets chances, she uses them. That could be a difference in the game.

On Heather Mitts:

Mitts can recover for other people's mistakes. She solidifies their defense. They aren't as dangerous in the attack, but are stronger in the back. She's excellent and tough. She has an edge to her. We haven't been able to figure out how to get by her.

Defender Rhiannon Tanaka:

On her own goal:

I thought she (Branum) was farther away. I hit it and it went in our goal. It's one of those things.

On Philadelphia's forwards:

Their forwards like to sneak in and take off. They are good at it.

Goalkeeper Jenni Branum:

On Pichon:

[Pichon's] an excellent forward. She's a hard puzzle to put together. She gets in very easily.

Philadelphia Charge
Head Coach Mark Krikorian:

On the game:

Having three games in eight days is a lot. Especially when you throw in a trip to the west coast, a trip to New York and a hot day like today. We played a low pressure game and tried to preserve as much energy as we could and limit the other team to a few chances.

Forward Marinette Pichon:

We are working together and learning what each player can do. We have to keep working.

Defender Heather Mitts:

On playing middle back:

I can't run up the field as much. It's a different mentality to the game. You have more people coming at you.

On new Charge players:

Masaki has been amazing for us. She's great with the ball. Cruz is very versatile. She's able to step in and play right back. Players like that say a lot about a team and the depth of our bench.

Goalkeeper Melissa Moore:

On the team:

We've got more presence on the field. It helps us create a lot of chances and keep the ball and dictate the rhythm of the game. I take one game at a time. We are gaining rhythm together. We have to try to win every game.

On communication on the field:

Our communication has improved quite a bit. Mitts is talkative. The communication has got a lot better. Tietjen is the anchor of the team in the midfield.