Boxscore (All statistics contained in this boxscore are unofficial.)

CAMBRIDGE, Mass. (May 2, 2009) - The Boston Breakers became the first team to score against and defeat the Los Angeles Sol with a 2-1 victory in Women’s Professional Soccer (WPS) action on Saturday evening at Harvard Stadium in Cambridge, Mass. With the win, Boston (3-2-0 – 9 pts.) jumps ahead of Chicago (2-0-2 – 8 pts.) into second place in the league standings. Los Angeles is now 3-1-1 and remains in first place with 10 points.

Boston Breakers forward Kelly Smith added to her resume as she became the first player to record a goal against Los Angeles this season with her second-minute tally. It is now the fastest goal scored in WPS this season, and it was the fourth goal for Smith in four matches played.

Kristine Lilly notched the game-winning goal with a left-footed strike in the 55th minute. It was her second goal of the season and first game-winner.

The Sol cut into the Breakers lead in the 63rd minute when Aya Miyama sent a ball into the box and teammate Brittany Bock deflected the ball off her body. It was Bock’s first goal of the season.

“I am really proud of the players because they were embarrassed last week,” said Breakers head coach Tony DiCicco. “They played the number one team in the league who hadn’t lost a game or given up a goal, and I am very proud of the showing we had. The key to the game was mentality. I thought we started well in both halves, but Los Angeles is a very good team.”

Smith’s goal came from a great buildup which started with teammates Lilly and midfielder Angela Hucles. The two started the play at the midfield on a smooth give-and-go. Hucles then found defender Heather Mitts streaking down the sideline and her cross landed on the foot of Kelly Schmedes. Schmedes shot was deflected and Smith jumped all over the loose ball and rifled a shot to the left of diving Sol goalkeeper Karina LeBlanc (four saves).

At the 12 minute mark, Schmedes almost gave the Breakers an early 2-0 lead when she was sent in alone off a nice long ball from defender Alex Scott.  LeBlanc came out to cut the angle and handled a soft shot easily.

Forward Han Duan nearly equalized for the Sol in the 17th minute, but her effort from just outside the penalty area sailed high of the Breakers goal. Los Angeles's best chance in the first half came in the 30th minute when forward Han Duan’s goal was called back on an offside. In the 44th minute, Marta made a 50-yard run into the box from the left side of midfield, nearly reaching the endline, but her low cross did not find a teammate and was cleared by the Breakers defense and Boston finished the half with the 1-0 lead.

After a slow start to the second half, Lilly livened things up for the hometown crowd in the 55th minute. Boston defender Stacy Bishop found Lilly streaking down the left side of the field. Bishop placed a long ball over the head of Los Angeles defender Manya Makoski and Lilly caught up to the bouncing ball, settled it and drilled a low shot to the far post for a 2-0 lead.

Bock trimmed the lead to 2-1 in the 63rd minute when she rose above the Boston defense and got Aya Miyama’s free kick past Breakers ‘keeper Kristin Luckinbill, who stayed firmly planted on her line.

The game then settled down until the 76th minute when Marta blasted a shot to the left of Luckenbill (three saves) from about the 20-yard line. Luckenbill dove to her right to keep the Breakers in the lead. Minutes later, Smith had a chance at her second of the night when she drilled a shot high over the crossbar from 18 yards out. In the 82nd minute, the Breakers had another great chance when Bishop one-timed a shot which sailed high over the left corner of the goal.

In the 85th minute Marta excited the crowd with a dangerous cross from the right of Luckenbill, but the ball sailed to the far corner. Marta had a chance in the 89th minute from right inside the 18 yard line, but Luckenbill handled the low shot. Miyama had a free kick in the 90th minute which Luckenbill dove to save to secure the Breakers victory.

The Breakers and the Los Angeles Sol will meet again next week when Boston travels to The Home Depot Center on Sunday, May 10 (4pm ET/1pm PT).

Game Notes: The Breakers goal by Kelly Smith was the quickest goal scored in the WPS this season. The previous fastest goal scored was by Sol defender Allison Falk in the sixth minute on March 29 … Smith now leads the WPS in goals scored with four. She was also named to the WPS April Player of the Month … Both of Kristine Lilly’s goals this season have come on the Breakers home field at Harvard Stadium. Her first goal came against St. Louis on April 11th … Tonight’s crowd of 8,031 at Harvard Stadium is the second highest attendance number recorded this season in WPS. The record is 14,837 fans which attended the Washington Freedom at Los Angeles Sol game on Sunday, March 29 at The Home Depot Center in Carson, Calif.

Boxscore (All statistics contained in this boxscore are unofficial.)

POST-GAME QUOTES

LOS ANGELES SOL

Karina Le Blanc, Los Angeles Sol Goalkeeper

On being back in Boston…

I’ve always loved Boston but it was road game for us because I’m with LA now.  The fans in Boston are always great and it was a great result for them but not to great for me.

The difference from last game…

I think we played a pretty good game they just scored more than we did.  That’s soccer.  Kelly Smith is the best finisher in the world and Lily is the most experienced.  We also had some great chances but Luckenbill made some great saves.

On the early goal…

We’re all professionals so a goal is a goal.  It’s all about bouncing back and I think we never gave up.

On hosting the Breakers next weekend...

We have them at home next week. Anytime you lose, you want the chance to avenge that as soon as possible.  We have that chance next week.

Brittany Bock, Los Angeles Sol Defender

On the goal…

She [Miyama] has one of the best services in the world and she put the ball in a great spot.

On the quick turn-around and playing the Breakers again next week…

You always learn something about another team by playing them but they learned something about us as well.  We’re both great teams and I think it will be a good game.

Abner Rodgers, Los Angeles Sol Head Coach

On playing a team coming off of a one-sided loss (4-0 to Chicago)...

You knew they were going to come out well, and with fairness to them, they scored two quality goals with two quality finishes.  I give them credit but I think we played a very good game as well and I was happy with the work we put in.

On how difficult it is taking on Kelly Smith…

[laughs] It is very hard.  She is a world class player and her acceleration is first class.  She’s a very, very complete player, one of the best in the world.

On dealing with players missing matches due to national team duty…

We don’t complain because everyone has to deal with it.  Han (Duan) definitely has the longest trip, over 13 hours from Japan to get here but she still had a pretty good game.

On the early goal…

We didn’t panic, we kept the ball down and played our game.  Even after Lilly’s goal we kept going.  The only thing we could have done better was when we went to a 3-4-3 formation at the end of the game we probably only needed to keep two back because Rodriguez was the only player up top.

On Marta disappearing towards the end of the game…

We need to get her the ball in dangerous positions.  There were times when she was coming too deep to get the ball and then we couldn’t get enough people into the attack.  It’s early in the season though and I think we’ll start to fuse things together and see the best of everyone towards the end of the season.

On what the Sol will take from their first loss of the season...

We’ll take a lot of positives from the game.  Even after they scored the second goal, we never put our heads down.  We will learn from it.

BOSTON BREAKERS

Kristin Luckenbill, Goalkeeper

On playing at home…

We were very excited to get back home. We were on the road for three of our last four games, so getting back to Boston, we really wanted to put on a good show for our fans.

On defending Marta…

I thought we just did a really good job of being aware of where she was. Being alert as to where she is. Their offense isn’t just her. They have a lot of talent, a lot of very creative people up front, but I thought we did a very good job making sure we had pressure on them at all times. Whenever one of their front-runners or midfielders got the ball, we had pressure on them right away, so they weren’t as creative as they wanted to be.

On scoring the first goal…

That was fantastic. No one has been able to score on Los Angeles yet, but we were pretty confident coming in that we could do it. Two minutes in, we were able to shatter that streak right away. That was huge for us to get that momentum from the start.

Tony DiCicco, Head Coach

On the team’s effort…

Any team no matter what your talent is, if you don’t commit to the game, you’re not going to be successful. I don’t think we had a good commitment to the match last week. This week, the key for this game was just mentality. Having mentality.

On winning…

I thought we started great in both halves, but they’re a very good team and you can see that they can knock it around. I’m really proud of the players because they were embarrassed last week. They played the number one team in the league, who hadn’t lost a game and hadn’t given up a goal. I was very proud of the showing we had.

Kelly Smith, Forward

On her goal…

The ball just popped back out and it was crowded but I saw some space to the right of the goal and lucky enough it went in.  It was just under two minutes; I’ve never scored a goal that quickly.  I just got in a lucky position and was able to get back on the score sheet.

On the importance of an early goal coming off of last week…

We wanted to prove ourselves early on and show that we are better than that.  We had to prove it for our organization and I think it was important to our defenders and keeper to show the level that they can play at.  They’re the best defensive unit I’ve ever played with and today they showed it.

On Marta…

A lot of the interviews I did before the game made it seem as Marta versus Kelly but to me it was Boston versus LA.  I was happy to get on the board but it was team effort and that’s what it takes to win a game like that.

On ice pack on knee…

This is a physical league and there were some tough girls out there tonight but it’s nothing serious.