BOYDS, MD (April 18, 2010) –Ramona Bachmann scored the Atlanta Beat’s first goal in Women’s Professional Soccer history as the Beat fell 3-1 to the Washington Freedom Sunday night at the Maryland Soccer Plex. Goals by the Freedom’s Abby Wambach, Homare Sawa, and Christie Welsh accounted for the result.

Play went back and forth in the first half with Atlanta maintaining good possession and chances by Beat midfielder Lauren Sesslemann in the fourth minute, Rasmussen in the eighth, and Heath in the 11th.

“In the first half, Tobin had a half-chance and Johanna probably had our best chance,” said Beat head coach Gareth O’Sullivan. “Ramona turned nicely to slot Johanna in behind on a one v. one with Freedom keeper, Erin McCleod. Johanna hit it with the outside of her foot and the ball went just wide.”

The Freedom’s Abby Wambach scored the game’s first goal off a Sonia Bompastor free kick that Beat goalkeeper Allison Whitworth couldn’t handle. The ball fell to Wambach who made the finish. The goal came in the 43rd minute and put the Freedom up 1-0 heading into the half.

At the start of second half, Atlanta’s Mami Yamaguchi played a through ball into Bachmann in the 47th minute. Bachmann ran in behind the Freedom defense to score the Beat’s first goal in WPS history.

“It was great to get our first goal in the WPS,” said O’Sullivan, “but we didn’t get to celebrate for very long. I think we were still caught up in our own celebration when we gave the ball away and got punished.”

Nearly three minutes after Bachmann’s finish, a Washington Freedom serve came in from right midfield. Wambach laid it off to Sawa who shot from the top of the box and put the Freedom up 2-1 in the 50th minute. Christie Welsh scored the game’s final goal in the 89th contributing to the 3-1 result.

“We take the positive from this game,” said O’Sullivan. “If we can eliminate some of the mistakes we made today, we will compete well in WPS this season. We play the Freedom three times this year, so we hope to have an answer for Abby Wambach who was a handful for us today.”

The Beat prepares for FC Gold Pride in week three of WPS action before traveling again to Philadelphia. Following the second match against the Philadelphia Independence, Atlanta heads home to open a brand-new stadium on Sunday, May 9 in Kennesaw, Ga.. For tickets call 678.298.4715

Atlanta Beat Quotes:
Gareth O'Sullivan, Atlanta Beat Head Coach
"I think we played well in patches but on all three goals our defending was poor. On the first goal, it was an error by the keeper. The second goal, we gave the ball away in a dangerous area, and it was a good finish by [Homare] Sawa. We were too committed up front. Then on the third goal we had two chances to intercept the ball and missed it.

We jumped on the team in the second half and you want to build on that. The momentum is huge in the women's game and they scored three goals, and it led to their win.

We are still learning. [Romana] Bachmann is just coming back. [Monia] Ocampo is also coming off injury. We started Tobin [Heath] as the second striker. We have to build on tonight, look at the film, and hopefully we have a better finish next week against Bay Area."

Tobin Heath, Atlanta Beat Midfielder/Striker
"Abby [Wambach] and Cat [Whitehill] and a number of their players are very solid. I have great respect for them. Competing against them at this level is awesome.

I've been on a number of teams that win, so I bring that edge. I have the experience which helps with the development of our players, and try and carry the rhythm out there. I just try to be productive on the offensive end and give my team a spark when we need it.

This is only our second game so we are still trying to figure things out, but we have great strengths on the attacking end. We have different personalities, so we are just trying to get those personalities to mesh.

The hardest thing when you score is that first five minutes after, not allowing another one and we had a lapse, and they had that goal right after ours took. My hat goes off to them. They definitely took the wind out of our sails a little bit."

Sunday, April 18, 2010 — Maryland Soccer Plex
SCORING SUMMARY:
Team 1 2 F
ATL: 0 1 1
PHL: 1 2 3

SCORING SUMMARY
43’ Abby Wambach(WAS)
47’ Ramona Bachmann (ATL)
50’ Homare Sawa (WAS), Wambach assist
89’ ChristieWelsh (WAS), Wambach assist

Atlanta Beat Lineup: Whitworth, Sesselmann, McNeill, Robinson, Bishop, Zerboni, Kerr, Yamaguchi, Rasmussen, Heath, Bachmann

CAUTIONS AND EJECTIONS
Time Team ## Player Card Reason
44’ Atlanta #10 Ramona Bachmann Yellow Card Unsporting Behavior

SUBSTITUTIONS
Time Team             OUT IN
58’ Washington:         #9 Allie Long #14 Sarah Huffman
63’ Washington:         #11 Lisa De Vanna #13 Christie Welsh
66’ Atlanta                 #2 McCall Zerboni #8 Monica Ocampo
66’ Atlanta                 #11 Angie Kerr #15 Amanda Cinalli
80’ Washington           #7 Lene Mykjaland #3 Jill Gilbeau
87’ Atlanta                  #14 Lauren Sesselmann #20 Sophia Mundy