BRADENTON, Fla. (June 14, 2008)--It took 42 hours from kickoff to final whistle, but the West Virginia Illusion have their first-ever win, defeating the Bradenton Athletics, 2-1.
In a game halted late in the first half Thursday due to thunderstorms and finished Satruday morning, goals from Ashley Rees and Marisa Kanela erased an early 1-0 hole. A big save from Ashley Magruda in the waning stages made it stick.
The Illusion kept possession in the Athletics’ end for the first two minutes, highlighted by a long-distance effort from Marisa Kanela in the first 15 seconds of the match.
But Bradenton took the early lead when Martha Hall took advantage of a turnover to beat Illusion goalkeeper Ashley Magruda in the 3rd minute.
“After the first goal was scored, we gained confidence and realized that we were dominating the game,” said head coach Joe Dorini. “We’re finally playing possession soccer.”
The Illusion pulled level when Megan Mischler’s shot was blocked by Athletics goalkeeper Shannon Aitken, but Aitken could do nothing with a sprawling shot from Ashley Rees off of the rebound.
Five minutes later, the Illusion snared their first-ever lead when Marisa Kanela drew a foul in the 18-yard box and buried the subsequent penalty kick.
Nine minutes later, the match was halted due to lightning storms in the Bradenton area and, after a one-hour delay, was officially postponed. The game was resumed at the half.
In between halves of the Bradenton game, the Illusion lost to the Tampa Bay Hellenic 4-0 Friday night. Stacy Bishop had two goals and Jasmine Johnson two assists for the Hellenic, who scored all four goals in the first 32 minutes of the match.
The Illusion lost co-captain and assistant coach Christen Seaman in the 69th minute when she was taken down by a hard tackle and injured both her knee and ankle.
