On Saturday, July 22nd, in the Atlanta Beat’s first home game since the end of the World Cup the fans came out in full support with a sold out KSU Soccer Stadium. The official attendance was announced at 9,345. The Beat were looking to break their 12 game winless streak against a magicJack team that was coming off short rest after taking on Western New York Flash three days prior.
Abby Wambach, of magicJack, had the first dangerous chance of the night in the opening minutes. In the 8th minute of regulation Atlanta’s Lori Chalupny took a feed from Kelly Parker but sent it just wide. It was an open game with chances on both sides. Parker had several good looks but struggled to put the ball on frame. The Beat defense played good in the first half and shut down the magicJack offense.
In the second half the game slowed down a bit as the heat started to wear on the players. With magicJack playing on a short week they settle in defensively and looked to capitalize off counter attack and set piece opportunities. Afterwards many of the National Team players talked about how difficult it’s been to prepare for these games with all that has been going on since their return from Germany.
In the 72′ minute of play Wambach was substituted off to cheers from the crowd. It was Wambach’s replacement, Lisa DeVanna, who almost put the game away in the waning minutes with a breakaway one-on-one opportunity but Atlanta Beat goalkeeper, Allison Whitworth, came up big once more stopping the shot long enough for a defender to come in and hit it out of bounds. Allison had a fantastic game and was the difference between earning a point and taking the loss. Unfortunately earning only a point wasn’t enough as the Beat fell out of contention for the final playoff spot. So the Beat won at the gate with attendance, tied in a scoreless draw, and lost their shot at the playoffs and winning the WPS Championship.
After the game Whitworth had this to say about the sold-out stadium.
“It was amazing. We want to play in front of a [full stadium] — and these are the crowds we can have in Atlanta. We want them to love what we do, love the game, and come watch good soccer.”
The fans were treated to a post-game fireworks display to help cap off the evening but the day wasn’t over. At least not for the players who remained for nearly an hour longer signing autographs and posing for pictures with their fans. Chants of “Abby, Abby, Abby” echoed through the stadium as they waited for the 2011 FIFA Women’s World Cup Silver Boot winner to make her way around.
With the heat, the game, the media attention, and fans clamoring I could understand the players just making an appearance and then heading off to catch their breath and start their recovery process. But they understand that they have a chance to capitalize on this energy to help the struggling Women’s Professional Soccer (WPS) league gain some momentum and hopefully retain these new and reinvigorated fans.
Wambach had this to say on the topic of WPS maintaining the momentum from the recent World Cup.
“If we continue to play good soccer - the buzz is out there from the World Cup, we’ve just got to keep it alive and do our part as players by getting out into the community and as role models to keep it alive and keep the word out there.”
The Beat host Alex Morgan and Marta of the Western New York Flash on Saturday, Aug. 6 during PUMA’s Project Pink night. The Atlanta Beat chose the American Cancer Society Making Strides Against Breast Cancer as their PUMA Project Pink charity of choice. Wear pink, do good: a simple request, but one that could help change the lives of women across the country. For more information on Project Pink, visit www.puma.com/projectpink .
Tickets are still available for their home finale on Aug. 6 at KSU Soccer Stadium. Call 678-298-4780 or visit www.TheAtlantaBeat.com for more information.
Do you think we’ll see another sellout? Who are you more excited to see from the Western New York Flash, Alex Morgan or Marta?
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