ATLANTA (AP)_ Charmaine Hooper scored during injury time, giving
the Atlanta Beat a 1-0 WUSA win over the Washington Freedom on
Saturday.
Atlanta (1-2) improved to 4-0 all-time against Washington. All
four games have been decided by one goal.
Hooper, who entered the game in the 74th minute, beat Washington
goalkeeper Siri Mullinix for the goal. She broke free in the box
after a long punt by Beat goalkeeper Briana Scurry was headed
toward the goal by Homare Sawa.
"I think she misinterpreted the bounce," Hooper said. "She
thought it was going to come up, and that enabled me to get to it
... We really needed this win, especially for our confidence."
Mullinix was in the game as a replacement for Dawn Greathouse,
who was carried off the field after a collision in the 61st minute.
Greathouse complained of pain in her left shoulder and left hip,
and was to be evaluated at Piedmont Hospital.
Washington (1-2) missed its best chance to score in the 52nd
minute, when Bai Jie beat Scurry to the ball in the left portion of
the box, but had her backward kick miss outside the left post.
"It was a good effort, but we didn't get the point we
deserved," Washington coach Jim Gabarra said.
The game was the first major-league sports contest in which each
team fielded a set of twins, according to Elias Sports Bureau.
There were at least eight sets of twins and two sets of triplets in
the crowd of 7,233.
Twins Nancy and Julie Augustyniak of Atlanta and Jacqui and
Skylar Little of Washington played in the game. All four were on
the field at the same time for a four-minute stretch in the second
half.