Rain take lead twice, but Breakers rally for win

The Portland Rain went out to leads of 1-0 and 2-1 over the powerful Vancouver Breakers, but the Breakers rallied late and put in three goals in the final 25 minutes to take a 4-2 win in a match played in front of 417 fans at Tigard High School.

For the first part of the first half, the Breakers controlled the match. In the 2nd minute, Vancouver's Andrea Neil headed a shot off a corner that was blocked by a Rain defender only a few yards out from goal. In the 6th minute, Christine Sinclair made a run through the center of the Rain defense that had her in alone on Rain goalkeeper Kim Street, but the Rain goalkeeper made a fine save at point-blank range. One minute later, Neil was once again in a dangerous position to score when she tapped a ball past a Rain defender and into the box, but her attempt to chip over a charging Street went wide right.

In the 15th minute, the Breakers had another good chance to score when mis-communication between Street and Jessica Miller caused a ball to be played out to Vancouver's Sinclair, with the goal empty. But her attempt to chip to the open goal went well right.

The Rain then began pushing forward and their first really good push into the box resulted in a penalty kick being called in the 18th minute when Laura Schott was grabbed by the shoulder and pulled down in the box. The Vancouver bench complained as they felt a similar play a few minutes previously had gone uncalled at the other end. Portland's Tami McDaniel took the penalty and calmly beat Vancouver's Nicci Wright to the keepers right side to give the home team a 1-0 lead.

This goal seemed to give the Rain momentum, and for the next 15 minute, the Portland side completely dominated the division leaders. In the 20th minute, Schott made a run down the right side and got within 10 yards before her shot was deflected right by the Breakers collapsing defense. One minute later, off a deep throw-in, Mimi Osei-Agyemang used her body to hold the Breakers defender off, then controlled and turned, but her hard shot went right at the Vancouver keeper. In the 22nd minute, Janay Mountain received a through ball near the top of the box, and dropped a nice pass to a wide-open Christie Spear, whose shot went well high.

In the 30th minute, the Rain's Schott was given a yellow when she collided hard with a Vancouver player when going for a header near midfield. The match then turned chippy for the next several minutes as Schott was the target of several hard challenges by the Breakers, which made the game very stop-and-start, and also seemed to swing the momentum away from the Rain. The Breakers were pushing deep for most of the rest of the game, but were unable to get many good chances until late in the half.

Neither team really seemed to have momentum as the match neared halftime, but then the match changed when a goal came from out of nowhere. Vancouver's Randee Hermus was well outside the box, apparently looking to set up a play when she suddenly chipped a ball to the upper left corner which Street was unable to stop, and as the ball trickled into the net, the match was suddenly tied, and the half ended with the teams level at 1-1.

The Rain seemed to have the momentum at the start of the second half, and it didn't take long to pay off. In the 52nd minute, Schott controlled the ball near the sideline after a throw-in, and after beating her defender which allowed her to cross, her cross seemed to be dipping as the Rain's Courtney Carter ran onto the ball. But Carter made a spectacular diving header from 8 yards out that beat Wright cleanly, and the Rain were once again ahead, this time by a 2-1 score.

The Breakers used the Rain goal as a wake-up call, and they began to push forward more looking for the equalizer. In the 56th minute, Vancouver's Sinclair made a good diagonal run into the box, but her shot from 10 yards was blocked by Portland's Miller, who got her foot on the ball just as Sinclair shot, sending the ball wide. Sinclair was again inside the box two minutes later, when after a run from the right was crossed in front, then bounced free in front of the goal, she turned and shot from 5 yards out, but her shot hit the crossbar and was then cleared by the Rain defense.

The Breakers' pressing finally paid off in the 67th minute. Sinclair once again made a run down the right side, and her cross rebounded off Sophie Spilborghs, but Vancouver's Tammy Crawford got the ball first and drilled home the free ball to even the score at 2-2. The Breakers now had control of the game against the tiring Rain defense, and it only took six minutes before they were to take control of the match.

In the 67th minute, Vancouver's Hermus found herself once again about 25 yards out, just as she had been in the first half. Then, in a near-replay of the first half, she once again chipped to the top-left corner of the goal, which Street was able to deflect up, but the ball went off the bar and down into the goal, and the Breakers had their first lead of the match as they pulled ahead 3-2.

The Rain attempted to mount a late rally, but were rarely able to get deep into the Breakers defense as Vancouver dropped a few extra players back to protect the lead. In the final five minutes, as the Rain were pushing seven players forward, they opened themselves up for a counterattack, and this paid off for the Breakers in the 87th minute when Sinclair's dropl pass to Katie Lee had the Vancouver forward in on Street one-on-one, and this time she made no mistake and she cleanly beat the Rain goalkeeper to widen the lead to 4-2. The Rain were not able to threaten again, and the Breakers use their late rally to emerge with a 4-2 win.