Saturday July 1, 2006

        The Atlanta Silverbacks Women fell 1-0 to the Cocoa Expos Women tonight at RE/MAX Greater Atlanta Stadium. Despite outshooting their opponent 17-2, the Silverbacks couldn’t pull out the win. The Silverbacks, 5-4, and the Expos, 6-4-1, are just four points apart in the W-League Atlantic standings. Currently, Cocoa holds third place with the Silverbacks just behind in fourth place.
        The first half was uneventful with the flow of the game broken up by numerous fouls; the referee called 18 fouls in the first half. The Expos got on the board in the 27th minute when Stephanie Svobodo took a shot from 20 yards out that beat Melanie Wilson into the top right corner. The half ended with the Silverbacks down 1-0.
        Atlanta gave Cocoa a run for their money in the second half; the Silverbacks dominated the half and kept pounding the ball into the Expos’ penalty box. The Silverbacks’ defense didn’t allow the Expos a single shot on goal in the entire second half. Cocoa's Ashleigh Gunning left the game in the 69th minute after receiving her second yellow card of the night. Atlanta’s best chance came in the 83rd minute when Julie Augustyniak took the ball to the goal line and crossed it across the face of the goal, Tara Minnax put her head on the ball and sent it flying into the back of the net; the celebration was quickly quieted when the linesman called Minnax offside. Just minutes later, Minnax had another header that was cleared off the goal line by a Cocoa defender. Despite the Silverbacks’ many near chances in the final minutes, they weren’t able to even the score.
       The Silverbacks Women will play a three-game road trip next weekend and get another chance at the Expos. The Silverbacks will play the Cocoa Expos, the Bradenton Athletics, and the Central Florida Krush. Atlanta returns home to face the Bradenton Athletics on July 13 at 7:30 pm at RE/MAX Greater Atlanta Stadium. For ticket information, call 1-866-GO-BACKS.