Photo: Michael Servedio

Dylan Jordan tallied in the first half and Myriam Bouchard scored a late equalizer for Philadelphia as the Fever scraped to a 2-2 draw with the New England Mutiny in their first match in the WPSL Elite League.

The Fever, a team put together completely of unpaid college players or recent graduates in just the past few weeks, was good value for their point. Coach Stuart Gore’s team was reasonably well organized after having only about a week of training sessions with the full squad, with the back four looking especially coherent.

First half

Philadelphia started on the front foot, pressuring a tired New England squad early. The Mutiny looked flat following a long bus ride on Sunday after defeating the Chesapeake Charge 4–2 in Massachusetts on Saturday.

New England began to see a bit more of the ball as the half wore on, but it would be Philly who scored the first goal on 21 minutes. Dylan Jordan chased a long ball down the left wing, where she appeared to be losing out to New England right back Zoe Lombard. Jordan made a strong sliding challenge to keep the ball in play at the touch line as Lombard tried to usher it out. The tackle took Lombard out of the play and Jordan maintained possession along the end line. She cut toward goal, looking to cross but eventually found the space to knock a shot in on the short side of the goal.

New England would find their legs after the Philadelphia goal and began to control more possession. Philadelphia goalkeeper Michele Dalton was forced into back-to-back saves in the 37th minute. Dalton tipped away a close range shot before going full stretch and getting a hand on a high long range effort from Vicki DiMartino.

The visitors would score before the half, though. After the Fever failed to clear a long ball into the box, striker Tiya Gallegos was able to sweep a sliding finish under Dalton to give New England their equalizer.

Second half

The Mutiny would start the second half as they ended the first, controlling the ball but failing to put too much pressure on the Philadelphia goal. It would take 20 minutes before Gallegos would find her brace, again cleaning up after Philadelphia failed to clear their lines and knocking in a loose ball from 8 yards after a deflected shot from DiMartino landed at her feet.

Philadelphia introduced striker Cherie Sayon to search for an equalizer and the Liberian proved to be dangerous, looking to get behind the New England back line. But it would be defender Bouchard that would eventually knot the game up with a little less than 10 minutes to play.

A succession of corner kicks from the home side, including one that saw the ball cleared off the line, finally proved decisive when Bouchard rose highest to loop a header into the goal from 7 yards. The pressure was mounting and the equalizer was well deserved for the home side. The defender said afterwards, “I had been coming up for some of the corner kicks and not getting on the end of them, for that last one, I just hung out in the back and no one was marking me. When it comes to my head, I just try to hit it.”

There would be some late controversy when Sayon was clattered into by Mutiny goalkeeper Vikki Alonzo at the top of the area with just minutes remaining. Alonzo made no contact with the ball and ran square into Sayon, but the referee wanted nothing of it. It seemed certain that Sayon was denied a clear opportunity at goal by the contact and Alonzo was lucky not to concede a PK and see a red card. Fever coach Stuart Gore said after the match, “For me, it’s a penalty. The goalkeeper just flat out checks her…It is what it is though, sometimes you get the calls, sometimes you don’t.”

But the game would end a draw, probably a fair result after a back and forth match. The Fever, mostly considered an afterthought amongst the bigger clubs of the Elite League, will be proud of their first match display and their first point of the season. Gore said after the match, “It felt really good…for a team that’s been built inside six weeks and had maybe 7 training sessions, I think we did fantastic tonight. We want to win and prove something to those have written us off.”

The announced attendance at Washington High School in Sewell, NJ was 782.

Lineups
New England Mutiny: Alonzo; Lombard, Morrison, Pressley, Richards; Hood, McCarthy, Houle, Gallegos; Howarth, DiMartino.
Substitutions – Reilly, Mays.

Philadelphia Fever: Dalton; Allen, Grant, Devarics, Jordan; Haycook, Baldwin, Lynch, Stockton; Bouchard, Minnix.
Substitutions – Sayon, Clemens.

Scoring
Fever – 18′ Jordan (unassisted);
Mutiny – 42′ Gallegos (Houle);
Mutiny – 65′ Gallegos (DiMartino);
Fever – 81′ Bouchard (unassisted).