NEW ENGLAND MUTINY 0, LONG ISLAND FURY 2

GARDEN CITY, NY (07/22/09) - Having been eliminated by the New England Mutiny in the Women's Premier Soccer League (WPSL) playoffs last year, the Long Island Fury returned the favor on this night, ousting the Mutiny by a 2-0 score at Adelphi University's Competition Field in a battle between two WPSL powers. The Fury are now 11-0-1 while the Mutiny finish the season at 5-7-0.

The Fury will host the Millburn Magic (7-4-1) in the Eastern Conference Final this weekend. Date, time and place to be announced shortly. The Fury started tentatively against the Mutiny as New England had the better of play for the first 15 minutes.

"I thought that we were lethargic at the beginning of the game," commented Fury head coach Paul Riley. "We needed to play the ball up to Vicki DiMartino and Jasmyne Spencer and put their defense on their heels."

Midway through the first half, the tide turned in the Fury's favor. The game was scoreless at halftime thanks to the play of Mutiny goalkeeper Lauren Brodeur, who resembled New Jersey Devils goalie Martin Brodeur is stopping the Fury attack. Especially a 25-yard Hannah Cerrone direct kick that was headed to the upper 90 in the 27th minute.

The Fury continued to apply pressure in the second half and got on the scoreboard in the 61st minute when Spencer slotted home a DiMartino feed from six yards on a play that was started by Cerrone's corner kick. DiMartino got her kicks in minute 66 as she stole the ball and scored from six yards to make the score 2-0. It was DiMartino's 13th goal this season in the nine games she has played.

The Fury enjoyed a 9-1 corner kick and 19-8 shot advantage. Brodeur had seven saves while her counterpart in the Fury net, Jillian Mastroianni, made three saves.

"I thought that Madison Haller was excellent tonight," Fury coach Riley remarked. "She did not let their best player, Jen Maurer, out of her sight all game."

The offensive MVP was the Fury's DiMartino while defensive MVP honors were split between the Fury's Cerrone and Mutiny keeper Brodeur. The physical match had 35 fouls and three cautions. The Fury defeated and shut out the Mutiny in the three games they played against one another this season.

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MILLBURN MAGIC 2 (5), LANCASTER INFERNO 2 (4)
 
LANDISVILLE, PA (07/21/09) - Millburn's post-season run continued yesterday with a stunning East Semifinal victory at the Lancaster Inferno, putting them into the Women's Premier Soccer League (WPSL) East Conference Final. After regulation and extra time finished at a 2-2 draw, the Magic triumphed 5-4 on penalty kicks.

"We played an outstanding team today, and I don't think anyone expected us to win," said Millburn Head Coach Andy Sones. "We came with a plan, stuck to it, and it worked and now we'll face another challenge on Saturday... We came here with five starters missing and we got huge performances from two or three players who haven't seen a whole lot of time this year, including a couple of our younger players.

"It's a testament to a strong roster and a good youth system, but it's also about an incredible strength of character from every single player who was on the field - they just refused to be beaten."

Lancaster started brightly before Millburn's Katie Ryan broke free and almost registered for the Magic, but Inferno goalkeeper and WPSL Co-Player of the Week Joy Shaiebly saved well to her right. The home team was stunned in the 8th minute, however, as Shira Averbuch opened the scoring for the Magic as she met Ryan's corner perfectly to power a header home.

Just as Millburn seemed to be comfortable with dealing with Lancaster's pace on offense, they were punished by a set-piece. In the 39th minute, Millburn keeper Lia Fierro saved a free kick low to her right, but was left helpless and the Inferno's Carly Brill drove home the rebound. After a goal-mouth scramble that almost assured a Lancaster goal, Millburn had the last word in the half.

In the 44th minute, Katie McDonnell drove the ball in from the right, and after a failed clearance, Ryan would assist on Amanda Malkiewicz's blast home to make the 2-1 half-time score in favor of the visitors. That lead was almost doubled within the first 30 seconds of the second half, as Malkiewicz returned the favor to Ryan, whose shot was saved and the defense scrambled to clear the rebound.

Millburn's profligacy was punished in the 48th minute, when Lancaster attacked down their left, and the cross was powerfully met by the impressive Erin Hench to tie the score at 2-2. The goal prompted the home team's best spell of the game, as they threatened to overrun the Magic but were repelled by defenders Lina Staropoli and Ashley Ventura. Millburn got back into the game as the half went on and threatened to take the win.

Averbuch hammered a free-kick against the crossbar before regulation time ended, and in the final seconds of extra time, Laura Kurash came within inches of winning the game before the agony of penalty kicks arrived. After the first four penalties for each team were scored, Fierro got down low to her right to make an outstanding save. Staropoli would complete Millburn's fifth penalties and the celebration would begin.

Millburn's recent record reflects six wins in their last seven games, with this victory being the sweetest in the team's short history. Depending on the result of Wednesday's East Semifinal, the Magic will either travel to Long Island or host New England in the East Final this Saturday for a place in the WPSL Final Four held August 1-2.
 
Magic Line-up: Fierro, Shenk, Blaine, Staropoli, Ventura, Averbuch, Feeney, Kurash, Jerome, Malkiewicz, Ryan. Subs: Bray (23), McDonnell (35), Prime (60).

Inferno Line-up: Shaiebly, Brill, Myers, Pinfer, White, Hoffsmith, Weidner, Lamon, Hench, Musser, Gordon.

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DALLAS PREMIER 3, ARIZONA RUSH 2 (OT)

TUCSON, AZ (07/21/09) - Like a couple of prize fighters battling blow by blow, the Big Sky-South Division champion Dallas Premier fought off the North Division title holder Arizona Rush to an overtime 3-2 victory. The 2009 Big Sky Conference champions have taken another step forward in fulfilling what most people believe is an impossible dream of winning two National Titles.

With the victory, Dallas is the first team to take a spot in the 2009 WPSL Final Four, being hosted by the Long Island Fury the August 1-2 at Adelphi University (Garden City, NY). Before that, the Premier - who came into the Big Sky Final having driven for almost 18 hours to play by far the best team they have played this season - will now travel to Sanford, FL to battle it out for the USASA U-23 National Title.

Dallas proved once again that their depth and versatility would be the difference maker. Coming into the game, Premier Coach Joe Soliz knew he would be without his leading scorer forward Erin Scott and talented midfielder Caitlin McDowell.

"But every player I called on tonight to do a job stepped up and did the job," said Soliz. "And we had two players that stepped up a little bit more [in MF/F Kendall Juett and D Alicia Marshall]... I wasn't able to get everyone into the game but those girls who didn't, I looked over and they were cheering their teammates on the entire game.
That's what makes this team special. They know its not about them, its about the team."

The Premier scored first when Juett made a move on the Arizona defender inside the eighteen toward the end line, and then made a nice backward cross towards Rebecca Mendoza. Mendoza fired the ball off the back leg of a Rush defender for the goal and a 1-0 half-time lead.

The Rush came out in the second half determined to even the score, and after hitting the crossbar twice finally found the net in the 74th minute on a corner kick header by midfielder Carly Dobratz. Five minutes later, Juett would find the net on an acrobatic side-kick off a well-placed cross from Dallas defender Rachel Garcia for the 2-1 score.

Arizona punched right back just two minutes later, when Rush Captain Mallory Miller scored the equalizer. Arizona continued to push forward and had several good scoring chances, while Soliz began to have players go down to cramps and injury.

Premier goalkeeper Tina Rincon then stepped up her game and made some key saves on what looked like were sure goals for the Rush, securing the 2-2 draw and sending the two sides to overtime. In overtime, Dallas saw the return of some key players and nine minutes into the first overtime, midfielder Carly Phillips rammed home a ball for what would turn out to be the game-winner.

Not before the Rush put on an relentless attack trying to pull even but it would be to no avail, as the Premier would keep control of the ball.

About the Women's Premier Soccer League (WPSL): The WPSL is a 50-plus team national women's soccer league with five conferences and is considered one of the top amateur women's soccer leagues in the world. You can now keep up with our league on our social networking sites on Facebook (http://www.facebook.com) and LinkedIn (http://www.linkedin.com)!

The Long Island Fury have been selected to host the 2009 WPSL Final Four which will be held at Adelphi University (Garden City, NY) - alongside the Youth Premier Soccer League (YPSL) National Championship that same weekend. The tentative dates are scheduled for Saturday-Sunday, August 1-2 and check back to this website in the coming days & weeks for further information!

The WPSL's mission is to provide the highest level of women's soccer while simultaneously providing affordable, quality family entertainment and positive role models for our youth. For more information, visit our official website at http://www.wpsl.info, phone us at 1-800-854-0913 or contact us via email at media@wpslsoccer.com.