Portland, OR (09/02/03) - Both games against the Ghana National team were hard fought defensive battles. For the majority of both games, the WPSL Select Team was able to withstand the tenacious attack of the Ghana National Team. Game one on Saturday, August 30th at Tigard High School ended in a 0-0 tie. Game two on Monday, September 1st at Woodburn High School ended with a 2-0 loss.? Scoring in the 2nd game was Ghana's Patience Sackey, assist by Adjou Bayor in the 18th minute, and Genevieve Clottey, who converted a penalty kick in the 72nd minute.
The defensive back line of Maureen Whitney of the Storm, Amanda Detterline of the Maryland Pepsi Pride, and Megan McAlpin of the Storm held them in check, giving up only 2 goals in 2 games. The Select team sweeper, Amanda Detterline, flew across the country and gave a stellar performance while playing every minute of both games.
Alternating at the defensive midfield spot were Jordan Iantorno and Shannon Strong of the San Francisco Nighthawks and Jessica Peisch of the Storm. Outstanding play by the midfielders against the larger, faster, Ghana National team was led by Stacie Alberico of the Storm (2003 WPSL Most Valuable Player), Lindsay Massengale and Emily Patterson of the Storm, Cami Boswell of the Southern California Ajax, Michelle Wagner of San Diego WFC and Courtney Carol of the Storm, until she injured her knee in the first half of game one.
The front line had trouble with an unbelievably strong Ghana defense. The offensive front consisted of Val Williams of the Storm, Laura Shott of the East Bay Power, and Nicole Findlay of the Nighthawks. They had some opportunities, but most of the time, 2 or 3 players marked them, which made it extremely difficult to create opportunities on goal.
The goalkeeper trio of Lu Snyder from San Diego, Megan Pickering of the Storm and Annette Rodriquez of the Nighthawks came up with great and timely saves, giving up only 2 goals in both games. The first goal was the result of a breakdown in the midfield; a player was left unmarked and the Ghana team capitalized. The second goal came from a penalty kick that was awarded to Ghana in the 72nd minute of the 2nd game.
Jerry Zanelli, coach of the Storm and Brian Boswell, coach of the Southern California Ajax, co-coached both games and were proud of the effort put out by the WPSL Select team during the 180 minutes of soccer against the Ghana World Cup team. Jerry Zanelli stated afterwards,?
"The stirring play of the WPSL and of Ghana reminded me of the hard fought games that we play against each other during the course of the season."
Jerry also acknowledged that the Ghana National team proved to be fast learners.? On Sunday, Jerry and Brian spoke with the Ghana coaching staff about what they thought the National team's strengths and weaknesses were based on Saturday's 0-0 tie game. The next day, Ghana took what they said, used it to their advantage, and won the 2nd game 2-0.
