Monday, August 1, 2011

Record crowd fills stadium for Beat game


KENNESAW — Despite the excitement of an overflow crowd to cheer the returning Women’s World Cup stars, the Atlanta Beat played to an anticlimactic scoreless draw with magicJack on Saturday at KSU Soccer Stadium.

An announced standing-room-only crowd of 9,345 — more than 1,000 beyond the stadium’s listed capacity — was in attendance, six days after the conclusion of the World Cup in Germany.

“It’s great to see all of the support,” said the Beat’s Carli Lloyd, one of Atlanta’s two U.S. national team players. “And we’re bringing it to the WPS, and that’s what’s important. We have to grow the game of soccer. All of these little girls are here that want to play and aspire to play professionally like we are, so it’s a fantastic environment.”

Though the absence of magicJack’s Hope Solo and midfielder Shannon Boxx was obvious, U.S. star and magicJack forward Abby Wambach did start for magicJack and played 74 minutes despite suffering an injury to her right Achilles’ that prevented her from playing Wednesday in a homecoming game at Western New York.

“It’s not easy,” Wambach said. “I think we’ve got kind of a long stretch ahead where we have to play Wednesday and Saturday games. The most important factor involved in that, especially if there is travel involved, is just to get recovered and get your legs under you.”

“Some of us who are coming back from Germany, you have to work your way into it especially if you played six games in three weeks.”

After Sunday, the U.S. women’s national team players felt a whirlwind of attention, including countless interviews and talk show appearances before returning to their respective Women’s Professional Soccer teams.

“It was a lot tougher than I thought it was going to be,” Lloyd said. “It was a very busy week. Now, I know the importance of hydration. I was unable to hydrate as well. I’m an excessively hydrating person, and especially with this heat, it was really hard and it zaps your energy. I just tried to go out there and give it my all.”

The Beat (1-10-4) controlled possession throughout Saturday’s game. On top of that, goalkeeper Alison Whitworth stopped 11 shots, including two 1-on-1 situations against Lisa de Vanna leading magicJack scorer Ella Masar.

“Whit played out of her mind,” said the Beat’s Heather Mitts, the team’s other U.S. player. “It’s the best I have seen her play all season long. She really saved us back there (Saturday).”

While the Beat play tight defense to hold magicJack (5-5-2) to hold them scoreless, Atlanta went scoreless for the fifth straight game and was mathematically eliminated from contention for one of WPS’ four playoff berths.

Regardless, it was clear that the night was more about the fanfare surrounding the game than it was about the product on the field.

“Playing in front of fans is always exciting,” Wambach said. “In Germany, I just kept saying, ‘This never gets old.’ People are excited about the game — excited about the sport. It’s honestly humbling and an honor.”

Read more: The Marietta Daily Journal - Record crowd fills stadium for Beat game