The Washington Freedom's Rebecca Moros scored in the 83rd minute to defeat Saint Louis Athletica 1-0 on a hot and muggy day at Anheuser-Busch Soccer Park in Saint Louis, Missouri, in front of 2,731 fans.
Moros’ goal came on a breakaway counter attack by Washington. Lisa De Vanna picked up the ball in midfield and made a run at the Athletica back line. De Vanna’s forward ball found Moros with Kia McNeill defending her. McNeill’s attempted clearance came right back to Moros who took the shot past an on rushing Hope Solo. Moros’ shot hit the underside of the crossbar came down on the line and then bounced into the goal.Her 2nd goal of the season.
Athletica created multiple opportunities in the second half starting in the 47th minute when Christie Welsh crashed her header from a corner off the underside of the crossbar. The ball came straight down, never crossing the goal line, and was cleared off the line by a Freedom defender.
Three minutes later Melissa Tancredi would repeat the same scenario. Tancredi’s header off another Saint Louis corner slammed into the crossbar and rebounded out before being cleared. Five minutes into the second half the score line read Crossbar 2 – Saint Louis 0.
Athletica still generated chances as the game and the heat began to takes its toll on both teams. Eniola Aluko made a bid for her fourth goal of the year in the 63rd minute, as she broke clean from the Freedom on the right side only to have her shot stopped by Erin McLeod.
The win for Washington was especially big considering Freedom Head Coach Jim Gabarra was forced to take off Abby Wambach in the 41st minute due to a hamstring problem.With the win, the Washington Freedom move ahead to second place in the WPS Standings, while Saint Louis Athletica drop a spot to number three.
The Freedom will next travel to Boston for a Wednesday night game with the Boston Breakers, to be televised on Comcast Sports Network. Saint Louis Athletica will host league-leaders LA Sol on Wednesday also.
“We played pretty well in the first half but did have to weather a few storms,” said Washington Freedom Head Coach Jim Gabarra. “Both goalies played spectacular in the first half and each team was battling to just be the first one to score.”“I think St. Louis had the better play in the second half but we held strong defensively and that ended up being the difference in the game,” said Gabarra. “To get a win on the road against a team that is ahead of you in the standings and has game in hand is critical at this time of the year.”
“When you play at home you have to win,“ Head Coach Jorge Barcellos said. “Soccer is a game when you have opportunities you have to score. If you don’t score sooner or later the other team will.”
Find more videos like this on Women's Professional Soccer
Lineups:
STL: Solo; Logterman, Ellertson, McNeill, Weber (Tancredi 27); Fletcher, Cinalli (Larsson 81), Woznuk, Chalupny; Aluko, Welsh (Hanks 58)
WAS: McLeod; Bompastor, Sauerbrunn, Whitehill, Krieger; Lindsey, Long (DeDycker 58), Sawa; De Vanna (Singer 84), Moros, Wambach (Gilbeau 41)
0 comments:
Post a Comment
Post a Comment