Athletica moved up to 3rd place in the league with a win over Sky Blue. Amanda Cinalli coming of an injury scored in the 15th minute for her 1st goal of the season. Cinalli was injured on the eve of the WPS.In the 15th minute Angie Woznuk passed the ball to Eniola Aluko inside the penalty area. Aluko sent a high ball over Sky Blue FC’s defenders. Cinalli chested the ball down and shot it into the net past Sky Blue keeper Karen Barsdley for a 1-0 lead.“It was a great build up coming up the field. We worked it to Aluko and she had a great cross and I was in the right place at the right time,” said Cinalli. “It was a great feeling and it has been so much fun to be a part of this team so it was great to be out there contributing.”
Sky Blue FC’s Natahsha Kai blasted a ball toward goal in the 22nd minute. Athletica goalkeeper Hope Solo tipped it over the bar, keeping her net clean. Heather O’Reilly shot the ball toward Solo in the 33rd minute. Hope Solo punched it out of harm’s way.
Saint Louis turned up the pressure toward the end of the half. Christie Welsh, Stephanie Logterman, Elise Weber and Woznuk all had decent chances in the final 10 minutes of the first half.
In the 58th minute, Saint Louis received a scare when Aluko began running a bit slower. She was removed from the game for a hamstring strain.
Sky Blue FC continued to push for the equalizer. They came close in the 74th minute. Collette McCallum stood wide open in front of the net. With plenty of space, McCallum shot and missed the goal.
Saint Louis held on for the 1-0 win.
Sky Blue FC out shot Athletica 14-10, including six shots on goal. But the visitors couldn’t convert. Solo made six saves on the night for Saint Louis. Bardsley had three stops for Sky Blue.
“The important thing is that we took the three points today,” said Jorge Barcellos. “Stephanie Logterman gave us a lot of quality on the outside of the defense. Cinalli was a very good marking player today and she really helped the team and of course scored the goal but we will take her progress slowly as she makes her way back.”
Lineups :
Saint Louis Athletica – Hope Solo; Kendall Fletcher, Tina Ellertson, Kia McNeill (Sara Larsson 69’), Stephanie Logterman; Elise Weber, Lori Chalupny, Amanda Cinalli (Francielle 66’), Angie Woznuk; Christie Welsh, Eniola Aluko (Kerri Hanks 57’).
Sky Blue FC – Karen Bardsley; Julianne Sitch (Jen Buczkowski 70’), Christie Rampone, Anita Asante, Meghan Schnur; Heather O’Reilly, Yael Averbuch, Rosana (Kelly Parker 57’), Collette McCallum; Natasha Kai, Kacey White.
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FC Gold Pride 1 - 1 Chicago Red Stars
FC Gold Pride played the Chicago Red Stars to a 1-1- draw at Buck Shaw Stadium. The teams squared off in front of 2,956 fans under blue skies on Sunday evening.
FC Gold Pride struck first in the match, going up 1-0 on the Red Stars as Christine Sinclair, assisted by Eriko Arakawa, put away her fourth goal of the year in the 15th minute of play.
The Red Stars struck back early in the second half with a goal served up by Megan Rapinoe and headed in by Cristiane 47th minute. The teams exchanged attacks throughout the second half seeing close calls for both teams, but neither team would find the back of the net again. After 90 minutes of well played soccer the match ended in a 1-1- draw.
The physical game saw the Pride suffer 19 fouls. A trio of cautions were issued in the game, one to the Pride's Leslie Osborne in the 27th minute and two to the Red Stars' Chioma Igwe in the 43rd minute and Frida Ostberg in the 66th.
Despite the tie, Chicago drops to sixth place in the WPS standings with 10 points – but the Red Stars are just a point back of a three-way tie for third place. Boston, FC Gold Pride and Saint Louis are knotted together with 11 points each.
Both teams will be looking to pick up more points to get in the top four -playoff place and to chase LA Sol who are way out in front.
"For me its just being comfortable with the team," said Sinclair on scoring goals. "To come in late to a team where you don't really know anyone it's an interesting position to be out in to. I think the team has come together very nicely. We're starting to sort of click up front. We could have scored a couple more goals today, but for me personally, when the goals start going, your confidence starts going up, which is nice because it's something I didn't have the first couple of games this season when it seemed we were all missing open nets, that gets kind of frustrating as a forward."
"I thought the first half was really poor by our standards," said Red Stars Head Coach Emma Hayes. "I think playing two games back-to-back takes its toll on you… We bounced back really well we lost 1-0 at home to this team. For us to get a point away from home is a great stepping stone and we know we can play better than that. In the end we had chances to win the game as did they."
"I love them I'm never going to change that opinion," said Hayes regarding her players. "They showed today they have the character that represents our club really well. As I said, last time around this team beat us 1-0, this time we take a tie and next time we're off with the three points. So character matters if you're chasing championships and we showed a lot of that in the second half even when we didn't play well."
Lineups:
FC Gold Pride – Barnhart; Robinson, Abegg, Buehler; Graczyk, Osborne, DiMartino, Formiga (Yokers, 87); Arakawa (Adriane, 90), Sinclair, Weimer (Milbrett, 56).
Chicago Red Stars – Jönsson; Dalmy, Spilger (Krzysik, 68), Oakes, Östberg; Carney, Igwe, Klein, Rapinoe (Masar, 57; Adams, 76); Tarpley, Cristiane.
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Los Angeles Sol 3 - 1 Washington Freedom
The LA Sol defeated the Washington Freedom 3-1 at The Home Depot Center again. The Freedom played better than they did in the Inaugural game but so did the Sol.
The Sol opened the scoring in the 14th minute. Captain Shannon Boxx's long pass from the left side of the defense found Japanese midfielder Aya Miyama in stride in the center of the field.Miyama touched it quickly to get in behind the Washington defense then played a perfect ball to French star Camille Abily who was unmarked, she then lobbed the ball over the on-rushing Freedom GK Erin McLeod who got a touch of the ball but could not stop it going into the net. This was a carbon copy of the goal Abily scored in the Inaugural game against the Freedom but with Briana Scurry in goals. The goal was Abily's fourth in as many matches and her fifth overall this season, tying her with the Boston Breakers' Kelly Smith for the WPS lead.
Washington nearly drew even in the 18th minute, with a shot from Abby Wambach from outside the penalty area from a great pass from defender Cat Whitehill. Sol GK Karina LeBlanc was there once again to make a great save to preserve the lead. The teams traded chances in the latter stages of the half, but neither converted. The Sol looked comfortable in possession and dominated the midfield.
In the 2nd half LA kept up the early pressure with Boxx feeding Miyama at the edge of the box, but the long shot sailed over the Washington goal.The Freedom leveled the match with a Sonia Bompastor goal.They got a free kick 40 yards away from goal in the 57th minute. Whitehill's shot at goal was gathered by Bompastor in the box, who turned and took the quick shot leaving LeBlanc no chance for the save.
The Sol was quick to regain the lead, however. In the 60th minute, midfielder McCall Zerboni served a cross from the right byline for a diving Brittany Bock. Just as Bock got her head to the ball, Whitehill stepped in, only to see the ball deflect off her arm - and referee Ted Unkel wasted no time in pointing to the penalty spot. Abily calmly stepped up and drilled the ensuing effort into the left of the goal past McLeod to giver team a lead they would not surrender.
In the 66th minute, the LA extended the lead to 3-1. Bock and Marta worked a give-and-go on the left side of the area, with the rookie and recent Notre Dame graduate slotting her effort past McLeod. Good play all round and good goal by Bock who has played everywhere for the Sol except in goals.
LA were just too strong for the Freedom. They are the team to beat in WPS.
LOS ANGELES SOL HEAD COACH ABNER ON TODAY'S MATCH
"It was a great performance out there today; we are very happy with the way we played. We did what we had to do today to control the rhythm and win the game."
WASHINGTON FREEDOM HEAD COACH JIM GABARRA ON TODAY'S MATCH
"It was a fairly even game, but we made three pretty bad defensive lapses. They have been taking advantage of those all year and they did again today."
"We got the equalizer, but next time they were in our end we gave up a hand ball."
"We are getting better defensively but, obviously they are the best team in the league with so many weapons and so hard to stop."Lineups:
LA Sol: Karina Leblanc; Keri Sanchez, Allison Falk, Martina Franko, Stephanie Cox; Aly Wagner (28: McCall Zerboni (88: Katie Larkin)), Camille Abily, Shannon Boxx ©, Aya Miyama; Brittany Bock, Marta.
Washington Freedom: Erin McLeod; Jill Gilbeau (72: Rebecca Moros), Cat Whitehill, Alex Singer, Becky Sauerbrunn, Joanna Lohman, Sonia Bompastor, Homare Sawa; Allie Long (81: Parrissa Eyoroken), Lisa DeVanna, Abby Wambach ©.
