FC Indiana Lionesses & Tampa Bay Hellenic News Releases

Thursday, April 3, 2008

TAMPA, FL -- The Tampa Bay Hellenic played their first official exhibition on Monday, March 31, at Ed Radice Sports Complex, tying FC Indiana 0-0.

While FC Indiana, like the Hellenic, will be playing in their first W-League season in 2008, they are no strangers to winning, having captured a WPSL championship in 2007 before moving on to the W-League.

“The level of soccer that our fans were treated to tonight was very high,” commented Hellenic Head Coach George Fotopoulos. “Both teams played well, and had numerous chances. We look forward to opening our season on May 11th.”

The Hellenic roster will sport a mixture of players from the U.S. National Team pool, local talent and NCAA college stars. Player signings will be announced shortly.

FC Indiana suffered frustration at the hands of determined Tampa Bay Hellenic as the FCI were held in Tampa despite out-shooting their opponents.

Tampa Bay goalkeeper kept FC Indiana at bay with a spectacular save against Lauren Sesselmann in the 19th minute and a vital 34th minute block from Veronica Phewa.

“I am happy with our performance,” said FC Indiana boss Shek Borkowski. “My players did everything we asked of them and their goalkeeper made two very good saves.”

FCI: Mason – Shaner, Nault, Moore (Jeffers 60’), Percival, Mosebo, Leyva (Milyak 50’), Sesselmann, Phewa (Kane 46’)

SHOTS: FCI 19, TBH 2
SAVES: FCI 0, TBH 9
CORNERS: FCI 9, TBH 1

FC Indiana coach Shek Borkowski believes his side’s trip to Florida has allowed players returning from injury to step up their recovery.

Julianne Sitch was described as "doing very well and seemingly ahead of schedule" on her comeback from a torn hamstring injury.

Borkowski said, "It’s been very good - the weather has been fantastic and the fields are terrific. We got some rest, did some recuperation and the players who have been on the edges have worked very, very hard and done a micro pre-season. "We’ve also done a bit of team bonding and all that carry on."

Before leaving Tampa coach Borkowski said, the seven-day training trip concentrated largely on fitness.

"We made good progress during the camp. We concentrated on shooting, skills and some tactics, but the emphasis was largely on physical fitness," Borkowski said upon his arrival in Indianapolis.