Veronica Boquete (left) made her Philadelphia Independence debut on Saturday as a second half substitute.
The 0-0 draw between the Philadelphia Independence and the Atlanta Beat tonight left some Philly fans wanting more from their home town team. With a rather surprising finish to the game Atlanta is taking home a point from the road.
Philadelphia’s performance lacked finishing tonight. Several opportunities were created by Christina DiMartino during the first half and Veronica Boquete in the second. DiMartino is unmatched in speed and accuracy and has been performing consistently this season. She created opportunity after opportunity in tonight’s game but Philly players like Tasha Kai and Joanna Lohman just could not put the ball in the back of the net. Boquete’s first performance with the Independence was impressive for only having been with the team for three days. She, like DiMartino, has amazing speed, as well as great strength on the field. She gave Atlanta plenty to cover during the second half.
Atlanta’s defense was clearly key tonight. Whitehill seemed to always be where needed through out the ninety minutes. Keeley Dowling and Julianne Sitch following her lead made it impossible for players like Lohman and Estelle Johnson to create passing opportunities. The player of the game was easily Allison Whitworth. She made great saves tonight (12 total). She also kept the defense in the know by directing them to Independence players that at times were able to get through the back line. Team captain Lori Chalupny saying that Atlanta was focused on working on their defense a lot for this game. Overall, Atlanta did not create many scoring opportunities but they played a consistent and full ninety minutes of soccer with an amazing performance by their back line.
Veronica Boquete After the Game:
NE: Veronica this was your first game with Philadelphia Independence. How do you feel?
VB: I feel great. I’ve been wanting to play so badly but I just barely got a few practices in. I’ve been with the team for just three days. A lot hard work for a short time. A lot of running.
NE: How do you feeling you’re meshing with the team?
VB: Very well. From the first day I’ve felt very welcomed by both the players and the coaches. I’m very happy. There are quality players here and and the way they play on the field is a bit like Spain. They play hard, which is how I play.
NE: You came in during the second half and created a lot possible opportunities. Can you speak a bit about the chances you had?
VB: Yes, well I seemed to have the Atlanta defense right beside me the whole time and I tried to stop short and pass the ball back to create a chance but their defense was very quick and did a great job of stopping us.
Check back tomorrow for interviews with Chalupny, Sitch, Dowling, Laura del Rio, Lianne Sanderson and DiMartino.
