JUNE OF DISCONTENT

A native of New England would have to go back to 1903 to witness a June with less sunshine than that of 2009. Unfortunately, the New England Mutiny of the Women’s Premier Soccer League has provided even fewer bright spots in that same month. The Mutiny is, however, miraculously still in the hunt for one of the final spots in the WPSL Eastern Conference playoffs.

To accomplish that task, the Mutiny must win its final two games of the season, at home versus the Philadelphia Liberty and away to Baystate Select, to have a chance. It must also rely on a couple of other results to go its way. The Mutiny has not shown the form this season, which saw them crowned the East Champions in 2003, 2004, 2005, 2007 and 2008. This lack of dominance combined with a string of bad luck has the Mutiny with its backs against the wall in its last two matches. A little bit of luck would help. The Mutiny could very well be 5-2, rather than 2-5 with a bounce here and a bounce there. A stretch that includes three 1-0 defeats, including a loss to Connecticut in which the Mutiny out shot its opponent 29-3.
Adding more head shaking to a frustrating season was the announcement from the WPSL League Office on Monday that video evidence confirmed that the Mutiny should have been awarded two goals in matches against the Lancaster Inferno and Long Island Fury. Video replay confirmed that Meagan Riemer’s shot in the Long Island Fury match at Fermi High School had crossed the goal line prior to the ball being batted away by Fury keeper Jill Mastroianni. The Mutiny lost the match 1-0. The second and stranger occurrence happened in the Lancaster Inferno game. With the Mutiny trailing 1-0, Courtney Sands’ shot in the first half deflected off the crossbar and the ball struck the tire that is attached inside the goal post which mobilizes the portable goal. The ball ricocheted off the tire and back into play.

“Human error will always be a part of the game of soccer, even at the very highest level”, stated WPSL Commissioner Jerry Zanelli.

“I’ve seen blown calls like that in World Cup matches. It’s just unlucky for it to happen to us in successive matches”, added Mutiny owner Joe Ferrara.

Also adding to the Mutiny woes has been a laundry list of injuries. The Mutiny have yet to field the same starting lineup in any two matches this season. Season ending injuries to starters Becky Gundling, Jessica Diakun and Lauren Molinaro have tested a roster that has struggled with depth from the opening whistle. Karen Gurnon, Meagan Riemer, Meghan Cunningham, Riley Houle and Chelsea Botta have all missed multiple matches this season.

Be that as it may, to blame the rough going for the Mutiny in ‘09 on luck would not be justified as the franchise has struggled to find replacements for four of the greatest players ever to play for the club, including three professionals- Meghan Schnur (WPSL MVP; professional for Sky Blue FC), Mary Frances Monroe (’08 WPSL Points Leader, professional for Boston Breakers), Stephanie Labbe (WPSL Most Valuable Goalkeeper, professional for Pitea IF Sweden) and Erin Gatto, the franchise’s greatest leader on and off the field whose number 9 jersey was retired earlier this season.

The Mutiny has struggled all season scoring goals, but they have been able to compensate for that by giving up untimely soft goals on defense. Only the Maine Tide have scored fewer goals in the WPSL Eastern Conference this season and the Mutiny have only scored one goal on the road this season. Perhaps a silver lining is that the lone goal came against a professional team in the Boston Aztec a.k.a the “Baby Breakers” in its last game. The Boston Breakers of Women’s Professional Soccer (WPS) sent down 10 players to play against the Mutiny. The Mutiny provided its best effort of the season as the Boston Breakers disguised in Boston Aztec uniforms defeated the Mutiny 3-1. Sophia Mundy of the Boston Breakers and Breaker’s forward Jenny Nobis off an assist by Breakers defender Kasey Moore each scored giving Boston a 2-0 lead, but the Mutiny’s Jenny Maurer would pull a goal back before halftime. Forward Cortney Sobrero would score in stoppage time for the professional side.

“I thought we played very well against a professional team. We dominated the second half”, stated Mutiny head coach Tony Horta.

The task for the remainder of the season for the Mutiny is simple: win out and watch the scoreboard.