Injuries, Defensive Lapses Dims Charge's Playoff Hopes

(VILLANOVA)---Marinette Pichon scored two goals for the Charge but the Philadelphia defense twice surrendered the lead in a 2-2 ties against the Boston Breakers. Both Boston goals came four minutes after each Charge scores, with Ragnhild Gulbrandsen’s first goal of the season knotting the score with less than two minutes in regulation.

Pichon, in the box in the final seconds of the game, had the winning goal on her right foot but fired wide.

I was really sad to miss the last one, said Pichon.

I got a great ball and I had lots of space; I was just in a bad position with my right foot.

Philadelphia improved their record to 3-6-3 (12 points) while the Breakers remain ahead of the pack with at 6-4-3 (21 points).

With two goals in the game, Pichon became the 10th player in league history to amass 50 career points and tied New York’s Tiffeny Milbrett for the fewest amount of games needed to reach the plateau.

Pichon has accounted for most of the team’s offense this season (scoring ten of the team’s eighteen goals) and has nine points (4G, 1A) in her last three games.

Pichon’s totals are even more impressive considering that there is little help in scoring department on the Charge roster. Subtract Pichon’s average of two points per game and a disappointing Charge season becomes dismal.

It is that very lack of offense that has crippled the team’s hopes for contending for Founders Cup III. Following an 11-4-6 season (39 points) and a second place finish, Philadelphia has spent most of the season in sole possession of last place and having four key players out of the lineup at this time does not bode well for the Charge.

Injuries and national team call-ups have also hurt Philadelphia at key areas of the field and the current combination may prove fatal.

The Charge, already missing Kelly Smith and Deliah Arrington with knee injuries, were dealt back-to-back blows this week. Jenny Benson received a red card for a late tackle in last week’s game against the Beat and will serve a one-game suspension. In the same contest, defensive mid-fielder Heather Mitts suffered a tibia fracture and is expected to miss 4-6 weeks.

The timing is also bad as the Charge began an eight-game, 35 day stretch last Sunday, including a six-game, 22-day period in July.

SCOREBOARD:
	1	2	F
BOS	1	1	2
PHL	1	1	2

SCORING: 1. PHL Pichon 9 (Misaki, Hoffman) 25th minute; 2. BOS Mellgren 7 (Hucles) 29th minute; 3. PHL Pichon 10 (Fair, Hoffman) 84th minute; 4. BOS Gulbrandsen (Hucles) 88th minute.

SHOTS:
	1	2	F
BOS	7	8	15
PHL	2	8	10

SHOTS ON GOAL:
	1	2	F
BOS	2	3	5
PHL	2	3	5

FOULS:
	1	2	F
BOS	6	5	11
PHL	6	4	10

CORNER KICKS:
	1	2	F
BOS	0	2	2
PHL	0	3	3

OFFSIDE:
	1	2	F
BOS	0	0	0
PHL	0	1	1

INJURY LIST:

OUT: PHL: Kelly Smith (right knee); Deliah Arrington (right knee); Heather Mitts (tibia fracture); Alexa Borisjuk (hamstring). BOS: Tracy Ducar.
PROBABLE: PHL: Emily Burt (jaw); Marinette Pichon (left thigh); Stacey Tullock (back); Erin Misaki (right groin).
QUESTIONABLE: PHL: Pavlina Scasna (Strain Foot). BOS: Heather Aldama (lower back).
SUSPENDED: PHL: Jenny Benson.
NATIONAL TEAM CALL-UP: BOS: Monica Gonzalez (Mexico).

GAME OFFICIALS:
Referee: Kari Seitz
Referee’s Assistant: Karalee Sutton
Referee’s Assistant: Ed Marco
4th Official: Martha Sinclair

ATTENDANCE: 8,021

NOTES:

1. Boston’s comeback victory on Wednesday against New York marked the first time in Breakers history that the team came back to win a game. In three years, Boston has comeback to tie a game nine times.

2. Boston and San Jose are the only two teams that have not taken a penalty kick this season.

3. Philadelphia signed Darci Borski as a supplemental player on Friday after placing Heather Mitts and Alexa Borisjuk on the injured list the day prior.

4. Philadelphia’s Jenny Benson received a red card in last week’s match against Atlanta. The ejection was the first of Benson’s career and the first this season for the Charge. She is eligible to return in the Philadelphia’s game against San Diego next week.

5. Philadelphia has allowed 25 goals this season through 12 games, three more goals that the club yielded in 21 games a season ago.