Atlanta Beat Update

Auburn Preseason Game: Atlanta defeated Auburn 3-2 behind goals from McCall Zerboni, Christine Latham, and Shelley Thompson. The Beat fought back after being down twice to win the game with 20 minutes remaining.

Goalkeeper Allison Whitworth was at the jersey sponsor unveiling and I got a chance to talk with her about returning to Auburn. Allison said “I loved playing at Auburn. It was a good experience for me and it definitely helped me grow as a player.”  When asked about how preseason was shaping up she said “It’s going pretty well. We’re paring it down to what our team is going to look like and really working on our team chemistry and learning to play with each other.”

Allison also shared something with me about her time at Auburn that was pretty amazing. I hope to reveal that and more in an in-depth interview with Allison in the coming weeks. 

Roster Cut Down Day: Speaking of paring down, today the Beat released their 24 player roster. Click this link to see the latest list of players. The most notable cut was former WUSA Atlanta Beat player Sharolta Nonen who ended last season with the LA Sol and was picked up by Atlanta during the expansion draft.  The majority of the releases have happened over the past few weeks.  One of those cuts occurred early on and involved former UGA player Carrie Patterson.  Apparently Carrie and coach O’Sullivan discussed the difficulty she may have in cracking the Beat roster and with Philadelphia showing interest in her they mutually decided it would be in her best interest to be waived and have the entire camp to trial with Philadelphia.  Apparently the moved has payed off as she is in Philly’s 24.

The Beat now prepares for upcoming friendlies against the U-20 Women’s National Team, the University of Florida, Boston Breakers (WPS), and Florida State University during a week-long road trip in Florida beginning Friday, March 19.  The final roster is scheduled to be cut down to 18 + 4 developmental spots on March 31st.

UPDATE: Forwards Kerri Hanks and Lauren Sesselmann will be coming into camp after being released by Philly and St. Louis respectively. Also, 2010 Draftee and Defender Shameka Gordon was added to the injury list on 3/17.

Tobin Heath has yet to arrive in camp and will be the last player to arrive as all other players have made it to preseason camp.  Tobin was pulled from the Algarve cup roster due to “illness”.  She also didn’t make the roster for USWNT friendlies later this month in CA & Utah. Hopefully all is well as the only word we’ve received is that she’s “recovering from stomach illness”.

International Friendly: Steve Goff of the Soccer Insider tweeted the other day and reiterated today that there could be a ”women’s friendly between the top-ranked United States and No. 2 Germany on May 22″. Goff is usually money on things like this and he believes Cleveland is the front-runner but hopefully Atlanta’s new women’s soccer stadium is also on the short list. Update: Cleveland announced as host. Told you he was good.

As we come upon the season I hope to start more regular post on what’s going on with the Beat.  I also will be working to bring you some player interviews to help you get to know the Beat better.  Let me know what questions you have for the players.