Mellgren Scores Twice As Breakers Down Charge, 2-1

Thursday, July 19, 2001

By Al Cohen
Philadelphia Charge Correspondent

(VILLANOVA, Pa., July 19, 2001) - Dagny Mellgren scored a pair of second-half goals to lead the Boston Breakers to a hard-fought 2-1 victory over the Philadelphia Charge tonight at Villanova Stadium. The Charge (6-6-3, 21 points) maintained fourth place in the WUSA despite the loss, but saw Boston (5-7-3, 18 points) hop into sixth with six games remaining for each team. The Breakers avenged a 3-2 setback in the first meeting on May 27 in Boston and will host the series and season finale on Sunday, August 12th.

Boston took a 1-0 lead in the 52nd minute when Kristine Lilly distributed a pass out wide to Mellgren. The Norwegian dribbled in a step and uncorked a line drive from 20 yards out that struck the crossbar and dropped past the goal line. Mellgren also tallied the first goal in the teams' first contest on May 27.

Philadelphia answered with a hard shot on goal by Liu Ailing in the 54th minute and finally evened the score in the 77th minute on a goal by Kelly Smith. Defender Heather Mitts picked up her first point of the year with a nice cross on the play, as Smith was able to leap and head it into the upper right corner of the net for her third goal of the year.

The Charge had a nice opportunity to take the lead three minutes later when substitute forward Mandy Clemens broke in on goal, but Breakers midfielder Bettina Wiegmann was there to break up the play. There was a scramble in front of the net on the ensuing corner kick, but Philadelphia was unable to get off a quality shot on goal.

Boston's Angela Hucles struck the crossbar with a long line drive in the 83rd minute before Mellgren netted the game-winner in the 86th minute. Maren Meinert won a ball from Charge defender Jennifer Tietjen on the play and offered an easy square pass to Mellgren, who received the ball at the top of the box. Goalkeeper Melissa Moore was able to get her hands on the shot, but not enough as it bounced on in for Mellgren's seventh tally of the season.

Moore, who finished with four saves, had her scoreless streak end at 237 consecutive minutes. Tietjen came off the field for the first time all year following Mellgren's second goal, ending her consecutive minutes played streak at 1,347. Prior to the game, Meinert, Wiegmann and Charge captain Doris Fitschen were honored for leading the German National Team to the 2001 European Women's Championship title.

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Boston Breakers

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Philadelphia Charge

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Scoring Summary:
BOS - Dagny Mellgren 6 (Lilly 4) 52.
PHI - Kelly Smith 3 (Mitts 1) 77.
BOS - Dagny Mellgren 7 (Meinert 4) 86.

BREAKERS - Tracy Ducar, Heather Aldama, Christine McCann, Kate Sobrero, Keri Raygor, Florence Omagbemi (Allison Kemp, 84), Kristine Lilly, Bettina Wiegmann, Angela Hucles, Maren Meinert, Dagny Mellgren. TOTAL SHOTS: 18 (Lilly, Mellgren 5); SHOTS ON GOAL: 7 (Mellgren 3); FOULS: 13 (Meinert 5); OFFSIDE: 6; CORNER KICKS: 2; SAVES: Ducar 7; CAUTIONS: Raygor 76, Meinert 90.

CHARGE - Melissa Moore, Heather Mitts, Doris Fitschen, Jennifer Tietjen (Kalli Kamholz, 87), Jenny Benson, Liu Ailing, Rebekah McDowell (Margret Olafsdottir, 46), Lorrie Fair, Kelly Smith, Michelle Demko (Rakel Karvelsson, 67), Deidre Enos (Mandy Clemens, 78). TOTAL SHOTS: 14 (Ailing 5); SHOTS ON GOAL: 8 (Ailing, Smith 3); FOULS: 8 (Smith, Fair 2); OFFSIDE: 2; CORNER KICKS: 2; SAVES: Moore 4.

Referee: Faith Rossi; Referee's Assistants: Sharon Wheeler & Tony Russo Attendance: 4,756; Weather: Clear, 75 degrees.