D.C. United Women News Release - www.dcunitedwomen.com
Thursday, May 31, 2012
Dayton, Oh. - D.C. United Women escaped a tight match with the Dayton Dutch Lions on Thursday night, winning 3-2 thanks to an 87th minute own goal by the home team on a cross by Hayley Siegel. With the win, United Women have now won seven consecutive W-League matches dating back to last summer and are to a perfect 3-0 start this young season.
"It’s a nice feeling because the W-League is a very good league and it’s hard to win on the road," said Head Coach Mike Jorden on keeping the streak alive. "We knew this would be a hard game, but that being said, to win seven in a row in this league is a great accomplishment."
"The talent on this team is really good, even better than last year so I think we can continue to win the close, tough games like tonight as long as week keep playing good defense and playing to our strengths," added D.C. United Women veteran Danielle Malagari. "Obviously the goal on any team is to win every game but I think this team has the potential to do great things."
Thursday’s match appeared to be headed for a 2-2 tie after D.C. United Women and the Dutch Lions played scoreless soccer for nearly thirty minutes in the second half, but all that changed in the 87th minute when Siegel lined up a free kick from the left sideline and sent the ball into a cluster of players in front of the goal. From there, Siegel’s cross grazed off Sam Baker and then bounced off a Dayton player and into the left corner of the net.
"I directed the pass to Sam because I knew she would go up and get it, and even if she didn’t I thought something good could happen if I could put the ball in the right spot," said Siegel. "It looked like one of their defenders got crossed up and the ball hit her and went in."
D.C. United Women broke the match open taking a 2-0 first half lead, receiving goals from Sarah Sample and Baker just two minutes apart in the 27th and 29th minutes. Sample struck first, receiving a pass from two-time Team of the Week honoree Mikaela Howell and blasted a shot past Dutch Lions goalkeeper Ashley Daniels to give her team an early lead.
Moments later it was Baker doing the damage, launching another high shot beyond the reach of Daniels as the California native scored her second goal of the season on an assist from Malagari. The second strike in a span of two minutes by D.C. United Women doubled their advantage and they appeared ready to run away with the contest.
However, in the waning moments of stoppage time in the first half, Dayton found new life on a free kick directly in front of the United Women goal. Following a deflection off the crossbar on the set piece, Wright State University midfielder Jen Agueci cleaned up the loose ball by knifing through a scrum of players and tapping it into a wide open net.
"I think we may have gotten a little comfortable with a 2-0 lead, but when they hit that free kick it was a whole new game," said Howell after the match. "They played good defense and I started getting a little frustrated because I wasn’t able to get as many looks at the goal, but we kept our heads down and kept playing and eventually things worked out for us."
Dayton tied the match in the 59th minute on a goal from Emilie Fillion on a neatly placed lob from outside the box beyond the arms of United Women keeper Britt Eckerstrom.
"We gave up the second goal which was disappointing but I give my team a lot of credit," said Jorden. "They played with a lot of character and I thought we deserved the three points and deserved to win."
Eckerstrom earned her first career W-League win in net in her regular season debut with the Black-and-Red on Thursday night, playing the entire second half in relief of starter Didi Haracic. Eckerstrom also stopped what could have been another equalizer for the Dutch Lions in the 90th minute, moments after D.C. United Women had grabbed a 3-2 lead. The Penn State goalkeeper was able to get a finger on a lovely shot that was headed for the back of the net, but redirected the ball just enough to where it instead hit the bottom of the crossbar and bounced straight down on the goal line before popping up into the thankful netminder’s hands.
Eckerstrom’s solid keeping allowed the Black-and-Red to survive the late scare, and continue their undefeated campaign as they seek to remain in first place in the W-League’s Atlantic Division. D.C. United Women will look to keep the streak alive on Saturday when they play a re-match with the Dutch Lions at 5:30 p.m. ET. Fans can follow the action on the team’s Twitter page @DCUWomen.
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D.C. United Women Edge Past Dayton
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