Ryan Leads Reds Past Diablos
Friday, July 3, 2009
By Andrew Lovell
New Britain Herald Staff

NEW BRITAIN — Becky Ryan was fed up.

The Marquette midfielder, third-year player and first-year captain with the SoccerPlus CT Reds had seen enough losing this year.

The Reds were due.

Ryan exploded in the final eight minutes of play Friday, scoring a pair of goals and assisting on another to lead the Reds to a 3-1 win against the AC Diablos in the Reds’ final home game of the 2009 season at Veteran’s Memorial Stadium.

“We’re sick of losing, especially when we’re better than a lot of teams,” a relieved Ryan said after the game.

In the 82nd minute, Ryan was set up by Jackie Bachteler on a simple hustle play, which saw Bachteler beat her opponent to a loose ball.

“Jackie did a really great job of closing on that chase and being the first one to get to the ball and getting it to me,” Ryan said. “I was just there to touch it, she did all the work.”

Just over four minutes later, Ryan was at it again. This time, it wasn’t as pretty, but it counted just the same.

Ryan collected a loose ball in traffic in front of the Diablos net and somehow snuck the ball past goalie Bridgette Mahon.

“We just had a long throw and I told everyone to get in the box,” Ryan said. “Keriann just flicked it on to me and it was just kind of scrambling.”

In a four-minute span, the Reds (3-5-1) had gone from trailing 1-0 to leading 2-1.

But the Reds had seen a one-goal lead disappear late in games a few times this season. The 2-1 lead was anything but comforting.

That uncomfortable feeling didn’t last for long though.

Just over a minute after Ryan’s second goal, she played the role of helper, connecting with forward Keriann Welch on a two-on-two break. Welch did the rest, beating Mahon for the Reds’ third tally of the match.

The three late second-half goals helped cover up the Reds’ first-half deficiencies.

“I clearly wasn’t happy with that first half,” Reds coach Chris Bart-Williams said. “It was just probably the worst I’ve ever seen us play. It was just poor. ... These girls have to learn that you can’t wait for halftime to get back into a game. However, they showed tremendous courage. They kept going, they kept going. I guess it’s that we have nothing to lose at this stage mentality. But finally they showed some confidence and some quality and [scored] three deservedly good goals.”

The Reds missed a solid opportunity early on, when Ryan set up Audra Ayotte on the right side of the box.

With nothing between her and Diablos goalie Bridgette Mahon, however, Ayotte unleashed a shot that skidded wide left of the goal around the 5:30 mark.

Just under 10 minutes later, the Diablos (3-4-2) struck for the first goal of the game, off the foot of Carly DiGiovanni.

DiGiovanni didn’t have a great look, but she collected a loose ball on the right side of the Reds’ goal box, turned to her left and fired a left-footed shot toward Reds goalie Caity Casey (two saves).

Casey jumped but couldn’t make a play on it as the ball sailed into the top left of the goal.

The Reds had plenty of chances in the second half before their late explosion, most of which rested on the feet of Leah Blayney.

Around the 47-minute mark, Blayney got an open look at the net after spinning away from a defender. Blayney, however, was whistled for offsides, even though her shot slipped wide left anyway.

In the 57th minute, Blayney lifted an open shot from in front of the net just over the cross bar, striking the cross bar on the football field goal post just behind the net.

In the 70th minute, Mahon made a diving stop of Blayney’s free kick. It appeared the Reds were headed to another demoralizing loss.

But Ryan wouldn’t allow it.

“It’s really nice to get a win,” Bachteler said. “It was a great last five minutes. We just kept fighting and we put them in.”

GAME NOTES: The field was a sloppy mess, with deep puddles formed on the near-side midfield line and about 10 yards into the right side of the field. The puddles made passing virtually impossible, as the ball would simply just stop rolling. “One side was really bad, we kept getting stuck,” Bachteler said. “But the other side [was OK]. As the game went on, it got a little bit better.” ... Bart-Williams on the puddles: “It’s only in this part of the field, but that’s when you have to play smart soccer. Do you really want to be over here? Well, we spent the first half playing here, which doesn’t make any sense.” ... The three goals were a single-game high for the Reds this season. ... Ryan leads the team with three goals on the season. Leah Blyaney and Beth McGill each have two. ... The Reds finish their season a week from today on the road against the Long Island Fury.

SoccerPlus CT Reds 3,

AC Diablos 1

First Half — AC, Carly DiGiovanni.

Second Half — CT, Becky Ryan (Jackie Bachteler); CT, Ryan; CT, Keriann Welch (Ryan).

Shots — CT 12; AC 7. Saves — Caity Casey, CT, 2; Caitie Avery, CT, 1; Bridgette Mahon, AC, 5. Corner kicks — CT 2; AC 1.

Records — CT 3-5-1; AC 3-4-2

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Sister team blanks younger Reds
Saturday, June 20, 2009 11:11 PM EDT
By Andrew Lovell
New Britain Herald Staff

NEW BRITAIN — The circumstances seemed aligned for another disappointing loss for the SoccerPlus CT Reds Saturday night.

The team was hosting the top team in the East division of the WPSL, the undefeated Boston Aztec, a squad that featured a handful of players from both the Reds’ and Aztec’s parent club, the Boston Breakers.

The field was saturated, thanks to constant showers during the day that turned into a steady rain in the second half.

To top that, the Reds were without two of their top veteran scorers — Leah Blayney and Becky Ryan.

And though the Aztec left Veteran’s Memorial Stadium with a 1-0 win, the Reds certainly made them earn it.

“Wonderful weather for soccer,” Reds coach Chris Bart-Williams said with water dripping down his face. “...however, I thoroughly enjoyed that game. It was fun to watch. It was a good game, we competed very well. We made it tough for them. Five or six Breakers, they’ve clearly got a star-studded lineup, but it was pretty good, I’ve got to give the girls credit.”

The two squads played a scoreless first half, though each side had a handful of opportunities.

The Reds’ best chance came just before the 26-minute mark when Beth Lloyd played a ball deep into the Aztec box.

Clio Tregear got possession of the ball directly in front of Aztec goalie Ashley Phillips, who made a diving save of Tregear’s initial kick. The ball richoted free, however, and was slipped into the net by the Reds’ Tatiana Duggan.

But the officials quickly blew the whistle, signaling an offsides call.

Unlike some of his team’s performances in the first half of recent games, Bart-Williams was pleased with the Reds’ strong showing out of the gate Saturday.

“It was wonderful to see that,” he said.

The Reds continued their strong play in the second half, creating a handful of scoring chances. Just a minute into the second half forward Kerriann Welch unleashed a shot that was stopped by a sprawling Phillips (eight saves).

Around the 48-minute mark was when the skies completely opened. Playing through a steady, sometimes heavy rain, the two squads traded scoring chances. Near the 55-minute mark, the Reds’ Karise Hilt was awarded a free kick from straight-away roughly 25 yards out.

The shot, however, was stopped easily by Phillips.

Just two minutes later the Reds couldn’t capitalize on a golden opportunity. Forward Beth McGill dribbled up the left side of the field on Phillips’ right-hand side. McGill played the ball right in front of the net toward the far post, looking for a cutting Welch.

Welch lunged with her right leg, but the ball skipped too high and too quickly over her outstretched leg because of the wet surface.

The Aztec made that missed opportunity hurt nine minutes later when Sophia Mundy, one of the handful of Breakers on the field, shook a defender and headed toward goalie Caity Casey’s right-hand side.

Casey came out to play the ball, sliding toward Mundy. But Mundy’s shot had enough behind it to deflect off of and over Casey (nine saves) and into the net.

That lone goal proved to be enough for the Aztec, who featured Breakers players Phillips, Mundy, Abby Crumpton, Fabiana and Maggie Tomecka.

Tomecka, who played with the Reds in 2008, scored a pair of goals in the Breakers’ 4-0 friendly match win on May 25.

The Reds are in their first year as premier club partner with the Breakers, featuring mostly college-aged players. The Aztec, on the other hand, feature a squad of post-collegiate players and are also connected with the WPS’ Breakers.

“The Reds are the collegiate-based [affiliate] and the Aztec are post-collegiate players and the Breakers’ players that don’t play for them [regularly] so they can gain practice,” Bart-Williams said. “Again, their lineup is star-studded. Just great players.”

With the win, the Aztec improve to 6-0-0 and remain in the driver’s seat for one of the WPSL’s playoff berths.

The loss drops the Reds to 2-4-1 on the season and further pushes their playoff hopes to the brink.

Still, with three games remaining, the Reds could finish with 16 points (three points for each victory), which could be enough for them to sneak into the postseason.

With the progress the team showed Saturday night, it wouldn’t be impossible, though the road ahead is difficult.

The Reds face the New England Mutiny, whom they defeated 1-0 in the season opener, next Saturday, then finish up with a home game against AC Diablos (1-2-2) and a road game against the Long Island Fury (4-0-0).

“I’m just hoping that we can continue [playing like this],” Bart-Williams said. “This fixture that we got was hard and difficult, but the girls have been competitive. The only game that we’ve been blown out, really and truly, was the Boston [Breakers] game, which you would expect. We’ve made hard work of the other games.”

GAME NOTES: Duggan was given a yellow card in the 72nd minute. ... McGill left around the 60-minute mark after taking a direct kick in the stomach. She returned later in the game. ... Bart-Williams on the absence of Ryan and Blayney: “[They were] both away, so they’re back for next week’s game. And that’s the other plus, I’d like to think we can put a team out no matter who’s there and be competitive. They did that today.” ... The Reds’ final home game will take place at 6:30 p.m. July 3 against AC Diablos.

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Rough start darkens Reds’ night
Monday, June 15, 2009 10:10 PM EDT
By ANDREW LOVELL
Staff Writer

NEW BRITAIN — With his team already more than halfway through the season, SoccerPlus CT Reds coach Chris Bart-Williams continues to bear witness to a disturbing trend.

The Reds have come out of the gates sluggish in a handful of games, only to flip the script with solid second-half performances that ultimately come up short because of the first-half holes the team digs itself into.

Unfortunately, that tendency once again reared its ugly head Monday, as the Reds dropped a 3-2 decision to the Long Island Fury at New Britain’s Veteran’s Memorial Stadium.

“It was a poor start again and we got punished,” Bart-Williams said. “... You don’t have time to waste to start games. Once we started to show energy it was a vast improvement. But it wasn’t good enough in the end.”

Long Island struck early, netting its first goal just past the five-minute mark in the first half.

Samantha Falk capitalized on a turnover by the Reds in their own zone, collecting the ball on the left side of the field about 25 yards out.

Falk played a perfect through-ball to a streaking Karin Simonian in the box, who headed the ball past Reds goalie Caity Casey (game-high eight saves) in net.

About midway through the first half, the Fury netted their second goal, this time with Simonian playing the role of helper.

Simonian played a through-ball from the left side of the field, similar to where Falk had connected with her roughly 17 minutes earlier. Simonian’s ball, however, stayed on the ground. Vicky DiMartino slipped the ball into the left corner of the net past Casey.

Luck seemed to be on the Reds’ side after that, as just two minutes later the team netted its first tally of the game.

Leah Blayney set up for the Reds’ second corner kick of the half at the far corner. Blayney floated a perfectly-played kick right in front of the net. The ball squeezed between the right goal post and the Fury defender set up in front of the post and got past goalie Brittany Angel.

“They weren’t organized, obviously,” Blayney said. “They weren’t organized near post in front of the goalkeeper. I put it in the midst and it ended up in the back of the net.”

Six minutes later, the Reds squandered a prime chance to tie the game, as Beth McGill was whistled for offsides on a play in which she lifted a kick over Angel’s head in the top right portion of the net.

The Fury responded with another goal just four minutes later. Jasmyne Spencer collected a loose ball in front of the Reds net, spun to her left to shake a defender and fired a left-footed shot past Casey for the Fury’s third goal of the half.

To the Reds’ credit, they again answered back. Two minutes after Spencer’s tally, Catherine Nathans pounded home a shot off a rebound to cut the lead to 3-2. Beth McGill was given credit for the assist, as it was her initial shot that was stopped – but not secured – by Angel. Nathans made sure the rebound found the back of the net.

The five goals all came within the first 37 minutes of play.

The Reds entered halftime down only one goal despite being outshot 14-5 in the first 45 minutes of play.

“I asked them to show more intensity, more passion, more commitment,” Bart-Williams said. “They were going through the motions. So that was really it. I’ll give them a little bit of leeway for the fact that we had a game Friday, game Saturday, game Monday, I’ll give them that. But, you know what? It’s a high level [of soccer], you’ve got to do it. ... We just didn’t show enough.”

The Reds looked like a different team in the second half, controlling possession and battling the Fury for loose balls. The Reds finished the second half with a 7-3 advantage in shots, though the Fury held a 17-12 margin for the entire game.

Just after the 72-minute mark, Fury backup goalie Danielle Ippolito made arguably the biggest save of the game. The Reds Tatiana Duggan broke in on Ippolito in the middle of the field, just ahead of a pair of Fury defenders.

But Ippolito came out of the met and slide toward the ball, upending Duggan and ensuring the St. John’s product wouldn’t get a quality shot off.

Nine minutes later, Becky Ryan hit the top of the cross bar on a strike from 25-30 yards out. Five minutes later Jennifer Montgomery just cleared the cross bar on a similar shot, marking the Reds’ last real scoring opportunity.

“We turned it around a bit in the second half,” Blayney said. “We had a lot more opportunities and I think we’re finding that it might be a weakness of our team that we’re not turning it on in the first half. We’re giving away easy goals and we’re digging ourselves a hole.”

GAME NOTES: Nathans’s goal was her first of the season. ... Southington’s Annie Freer saw significant time at the back off Bart-Williams’ bench. ... The Reds dropped to 2-3-1 overall after a 0-2-1 stretch from Friday to Monday. ... Blayney on the team’s weekend road trip: “It’s been tough the last four days, on the road especially. Three games in four days ... but it was a great experience off the field. It was our first time together away, so we got to know each other a bit better.” ... Long Island moves into a second-place tie with the Adirondack Lynx in the East Division. ... The Reds host the first-place Boston Aztec (5-0-0) at 6:30 p.m. Saturday.
 

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Reds fall to Inferno
Saturday, June 6, 2009 10:14 PM EDT
By ANDREW LOVELL
New Britain Herald Staff Writer

NEW BRITAIN — The WPSL’s Lancaster Inferno capped a two-day stretch Saturday that last season would have been unthinkable.

After defeating the New England Mutiny Friday night in Agawam, Mass., the Inferno handed the SoccerPlus CT Reds a 3-2 defeat at Veteran’s Memorial Stadium, beating two teams that went a combined 19-1 in the regular season last year.

But 2008 this is not.

“Against two programs that have an unbelievable history, we will take it. You’ll see every one of these girls smiling as big as you can imagine,” Lancaster coach Doug Harris said. “You just never know in this league from roster to roster how the girls will come together [so] I’m very pleased with the way they’ve been playing.”

As he should be.

After notching a convincing 3-0 win against the Mutiny, the Inferno controlled the flow of play in a much more dominating win than the final score would indicate against the Reds.

“It wasn’t a very good game,” Reds coach Chris Bart-Williams said. “We just were poor, there’s no getting around it. I wish I could, but we were poor. Our goals were sloppy, they were just poor mistakes. We got punished... We never ever found our feet.”

Three of the game’s five goals came in a 10-minute span late in the first half.

Jennifer Montgomery got the Reds on the board first around the 24-minute mark, taking advantage of a setup from Casey Frobey and burying a shot in the top right corner of the net from outside the box.

About 10 minutes later, the scoring binge began.

The Inferno got on the board thanks to an impressive individual effort from Teresa Rynier. Rynier collected a pass from teammate Megan Monroig, but appeared to be defended well by a trio of Reds.

Rynier, however, danced out of trouble by stopping, faking to her right and ultimately dribbling a bit to her left before unleashing a left-footed shot from the top of the box that found the top of the left corner of the net near the 34-minute mark.

Less than a minute following the Inferno’s equalizer, the Reds again went on top.

Montgomery played the helper role this time, setting up midfielder Becky Ryan for another goal from distance.

“I said to the team prior to the game, ‘They’ve got a couple players that look to shoot from distance. Don’t give them any openings,’” Harris said. “And, wouldn’t you know it, their first two goals, they bombed them in. Great shots. I knew if we gave them that look we were going to get stung a little bit.”

Lancaster again tied the game with just over a minute remaining in the first half.

Like the Reds, the first goal scorer assisted on the second, as Rynier found Katie Lamm, who buried a sliding kick between defenders and into the right side of the net past Reds goalie Caity Casey.

The teams entered halftime tied at 2-2, but Lancaster wasted little time in the second half taking the lead for good.

Monroig hooked up with Erin Hench for her second assist in the game.

Hench broke in on the right side of the field, crossed over her dribble and lifted a left-footed kick over Casey.

The Reds had a few decent looks in the second half — most notably off the feet of Leah Blayney, who dribbled a shot wide right, and Montgomery, who lifted a shot just over the cross bar — but for the most part were unable to piece together any true offensive pressure.

“Poor choices on the ball, poor passing, very little communication and very little energy. It seemed like every time we shot a ball we scored from long range, but we didn’t penetrate,” Bart-Williams said.

The stats don’t lie in this case.

Lancaster outshot the Reds 25-6 and took four corner kicks to the Reds’ one. Casey finished with 15 saves in net, but was tested all game long.

The loss was particularly disappointing considering the Reds netted their strongest win of the season last Saturday, notching a 2-0 road win over the Maine Tide.

“It’s a big step back,” Bart-Williams said. “The girls have to understand what consistency’s like. Not each game is the same, you have to earn the right to play in every game and we didn’t earn any right. We didn’t fight, we didn’t compete, we were outmuscled. They thoroughly just dominated us. That’s the facts.”

GAME NOTES: Lancaster handed the Reds their first regular-season WPSL loss since the 2007 campaign. ... The three goals allowed by the Reds were one more than the team allowed during the entire regular season last year. ... Bart-Williams and other members of the team have been battling a flu-like bug all week: “It’s been a tough week because we’ve had many illnesses, including to myself. So it’s been a tough week, but it’s never an excuse. I won’t say that’s the reason why, it’s not good enough. They’ve had a full week to mentally prepare for a game,” Bart-Williams said. ... Harris said the competition in the East division this year is wide open: “I just saw a couple results in the league that I thought could be termed upsets, so you never know. When you think you can take a little break, you get stung,” Harris said. ... The Reds will prepare this week for a two-game road trip next weekend, against AC Diablos on Friday and Philadelphia Liberty on Saturday.

Lancaster Inferno 3, SoccerPlus CT Reds 2

First half — CT, Jennifer Montgomery (Casey Frobey), L, Teresa Rynier (Megan Monroig), CT, Becky Ryan (Montgomery), L, Katie Lamm (Rynier). Second half — L, Erin Hench (Monroig).

Shots — CT 6; L 25. Saves – Caity Casey, CT, 15; Caitlin Huylo, L, 2. Corner kicks — CT 1; L 4.

Records — CT 2-1; L 2-1.

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Reds Roll over Maine Tide 2-0

The CT Reds faced off against the Maine Tide up at Husson College in Bangor, Maine in their first road test. They proved to have had no challenges in being away from home. 

The Reds were able to dominate possession in the game and thus were able to create a fair amount of opportunities for themselves. One of the opportunities came only five minutes into the match. Beth McGill sent a crossing pass from the wing into the box where Leah Blayney was there to tap the ball into the net. The second and final goal of the match would come in the sixty-third minute of the match. This time the roles were reversed. Leah Blayney crossed the ball from the left wing into the box to Beth McGill, where she netted her first goal of the season. 

“Maine’s defense was difficult to penetrate,” Reds coach Chris Bart-Williams said. Even when the Reds were able to break through the defense, it was not easy finding the back of the net. Michelle Rich, the Tide’s goalkeeper, had an impressive twelve saves on the night. 

Overall Bart-Williams was pleased with the way his team played, “We moved the ball around quite well. We were able to get creative with our movement and create chances for ourselves,” said Bart-Williams. Goalkeeper Caity Casey had another exceptional game with eight saves to preserve her second straight shutout of the season. The defensive backline of Clio Tregear and Karise Hilt have been solid for the Reds so far this season. 
Up next on the schedule for the Reds’ is the Lancaster Inferno, who the Reds beat last year in the East Conference Semifinals 1-0. The game is home at Veterans Stadium in New Britain at 6:30 P.M.

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Lilly, Tomecka lead Breakers

Monday, May 25, 2009 10:26 PM EDT
By ANDREW LOVELL
Staff Writer

NEW BRITAIN — On a night when Kristine Lilly, Alex Scott and the majority of the big-name players on the Boston Breakers were in town, it was a former SoccerPlus CT Red that shined the brightest.

Though Lilly didn’t disapoint either.

Maggie Tomecka, the first-ever player to make the transition from the WPSL’s Reds to the WPS’s Breakers, scored a pair of second-half goals, and Lilly scored a goal in the first half on a dazzling individual move to give the Breakers a 4-0 win at New Britain’s Veteran’s Memorial Stadium Monday.

“It’s great,” Tomecka said of her return. “It’s a great stadium and the Reds are a great team, they gave us some good competition today. It was nice for us that don’t usually play that much to get some playing time. But it’s been awesome. How could it not be awesome playing against Kristine Lilly and Kelly Smith at practice?”

Though Tomecka has only seen spot time in her first professional season, she came through with a solid showing Monday.

Right around the 51-minute mark, Kelly Schmedes, who had just scored four minutes earlier, set Tomecka up with a pass right in front of the net. Tomecka did the rest, putting the ball past Reds’ backup goalie Katie Didio.

Tomecka scored again near the 60-minute mark. Kasey Moore unleashed a high, floating kick off a free kick from just inside the midfield line that Tomecka got her head on in heavy traffic in front of Didio.

“She really set me up perfectly, so I just kind of tucked it away in the upper corner,” Tomecka said of her first tally. “The second one was a perfect a perfect service from Kasey on a free kick. She has a great serve.”

Moore also set up Lilly’s highlight-reel goal in the first half.

Lilly collected a pass from Moore inside the Reds’ half of the field, turned and met Reds’ starting goalie Caity Casey (four saves) at the top of the box. At that point, Lilly showed her experience, easily deking around a sliding Casey to the left and softly dibbling the ball into a wide open net.

Overall the Breakers outshot the Reds 18-3, which was an improvement statistically over the Mutiny’s 29-3 margin in Friday’s season opener.

Reds coach Chris Bart-Williams, however, cautioned that the numbers don’t tell the whole story.

“There were some improvements. However, slowly, slowly,” Bart-Williams said. “Actually, this Breakers team possessed the ball a lot more than what the Mutiny did and created some wonderful chances.”

The Reds once again struggled offensively, creating only a pair of legitimate scoring chances.

Beth Lloyd, who scored the Reds’ lone goal against the Mutiny on Friday, once again provided the best scoring opportunity for her team.

Near the eight-minute in the first half, Lloyd broke in on the right side and got past her defender about 20 yards out. But goalie Allison Lipsher had the play sniffed out and met Lloyd with a slipping stop before she could release a shot.

Late in the second half, Reds captain Becky Ryan unleashed a rising shot from nearly 35 yards out that tipped the cross bar and eventually settled on top of the net.

“[I wanted that goal] so bad,” Ryan said. “That would have been unbelievable. I would have been really happy with that, but it didn’t happen. At least we had the opportunity. ... It’s just a really great experience. It really was a great opportunity for us to go out and play and have some fun. We weren’t expecting to win by any means, but obviously we were going to try because you don’t go out and try to lose.”

The game held more meaning to the Reds than simply a win or loss. For a team that has only been together for less than a week, the Reds are still trying to find a rhythm.

“I was hoping to see which of our girls were courageous enough to want to play against these girls, which girls were willing to compete, wanted to have the ball,” Bart-Williams said. “... What I found was, some of our girls absolutely wanted it, and some of them were shy and thinking about the scenario too much instead of just playing the game. The scenario is a win-win for you, all you have to do is just play and enjoy the game. ... Again, the good players will separate themselves, won’t star gaze and just play.”

Monday’s game also enabled Bart-Williams to empty his bench and play all three goalies — Casey, Didio (game-high six saves) and Caitie Avery.

“It’s part of the development process that I get the girls in to play,” Bart-Williams said. “It could be a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity and they played and now they’ve experienced it. So now they can say, ‘Hey, what do I need to do to get there?’”

Ryan said the experience was one she and her teammates wouldn’t soon forget.

“It was really fun,” Ryan said. “It was a great opportunity to be on the same field as Kristine Lilly and Alex Scott and everyone. ... It was fun. We’re really lucky we got to do this.”

NOTES: In the scariest moment of the game, the Reds’ Jackie Bachteler lay injured for nearly 10 minutes after a collision with Tomecka late in the second half. Bachteler was helped off the field with a protective sling on her left arm. Bart-Williams said after the game she had a badly dislocated wrist and was in the hospital. “I think that might be it for her, which is such a shame,” he said. “She’s done very well, she’s been a great girl to have around. I’m very disappointed for her.” ... Bachteler’s injury is the second for the Reds in as many games, following Audra Ayotte’s sprained ankle against the Mutiny. ... Players from both the Reds and Breakers signed autographs for fans after the game. ... The Reds next face the Maine Tide at Husson College this Saturday.

Boston Breakers 4, SoccerPlus CT Reds 0

(At Veteran’s Memorial Stadium)

First half — B, Kristine Lilly (Kasey Moore). Second half — B, Kelly Schmedes; B, Maggie Tomecka (Schmedes); B, Tomecka (Moore).

Shots — B 18; CT 3. Corner kicks — B 6; CT 0. Saves — Caity Casey, CT, 4; Katie Didio, CT, 6; Caitie Avery, CT, 0; Allison Lipsher, B, 0; Kristin Luckenbill, B, 0.

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Central’s Casey gives Reds a win in season opener
Friday, May 22, 2009 10:22 PM EDT
By ANDREW LOVELL
New Britain Herald - Staff Writer

NEW BRITAIN — For most of the first half of the SoccerPlus CT Reds’ season opener Friday night, it appeared the 2009 campaign would begin the same way the 2008 one ended – with a loss to the New England Mutiny.

Reds goalie Caity Casey made sure that wouldn’t be the case.

The CCSU senior-to-be made 11 saves, including eight in the second half, and assisted on the game’s only goal in a 1-0 Reds victory.

“She played well,” Reds coach Chris Bart-Williams said. “She made some big saves at times. ... She kept us in the game.”

In a 10-second span in first-half stoppage time, Casey made a leaping save of a cross in traffic in front of her own net, collected the ball and unleashed a massive right-footed kick that covered at least 70 yards.

Beth Lloyd played the ball off one bounce and slipped it past Mutiny goalie Lauren Brodeur for the game’s lone tally.

“I collected the ball off of the cross and I realized she was one [versus] one up top, so I just kind of hit it right and got a lucky bounce I guess,” Casey said.

No more than two minutes earlier, the Reds missed what was at the time their best scoring opportunity, when Lloyd found herself in almost the same exact position in front of the goal, but was whistled for offsides.

Ultimately the Reds’ win was as improbable as Lloyd’s goal. The Mutiny finished the game with a 29-3 advantage in shots, which included three that hit the crossbar or posts.

“Oh we had a lot of luck, we had a lot of luck,” Bart-Williams said. “They hit the woodworks several times. We defended well at times, but not enough for my liking. Basically, we didn’t possess the ball enough.”

The Mutiny controlled the flow of play from beginning to end, dominating possession of the ball. But Casey made Lloyd’s goal stand up with a handful of spectacular saves.

In the final 15 minutes of the game, Casey made five saves, including two each on Jenny Maurer and Erin Clark. Farmington native Becky Gundling and Riley Houle each hit the cross bar, further highlighting the Reds’ string of luck.

“This game’s like that,” Mutiny coach Tony Horta said. “We knew that we wanted to take it to them early and try to have the experience pay off for us because they are young.I thought we did a great job of doing that. However, we gave up a goal that is not characteristic of us.”

The Reds certainly showed their youth. With eight players in high school and, more importantly, only one full team practice under their belts heading into the game, the Reds looked out of sync, particularly in the final few minutes of the game, which saw the Mutiny go into despeartion, fire-everything-at-the-goal mode.

“At the end we were kind of struggling,” Lloyd said. “I was just happy to win. The last three minutes were just horrible, we were falling apart.”

But as poorly as the Reds executed offensively, Casey was just as dominant in goal.

“She had a brilliant, brilliant game today,” Lloyd said. “She was fantastic, so many saves. We couldn’t ask any more of her.”

Casey, one of five CCSU Blue Devils on this year’s team, said the team will continue to play better as they practice more. Casey also noted that playing behind CCSU defenders Karise Hilt and Clio Tregear adds a level of comfort.

“It’s one of our first games together, so it’s really just getting used to playing with everybody. I think we played well as a team, preventing shots from happening,” Casey said. “It’s really good in the back especially, with Karise and Clio. They work well together. We’re on the same page.”

The Reds have today and Sunday to “recover,” as Bart-Williams put it, before they welcome the WPS’s Boston Breakers to New Britain on Memorial Day.

NOTES: The Reds’ Audra Ayotte was carried off the field in the first half. After the game, Bart-Williams said it looks like a sprained ankle. Ayotte will miss the Breakers game, but should be back to full health in a few weeks. ... Berlin High School’s Nikki Kureczka saw moderate time at left back off of Bart-Williams’ bench. ... The Mutiny held a 4-1 advantage in corner kicks.

FSASOCCERPLUS NOTE:
Four FSASoccerPlus high school players Nikki Kureczka, Audra Ayotte, Patty McAllister and Helena Pereria made their WPSL debuts tonight and Audra Ayotte started.

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