CARSON, Calif. - Brazilian striker Cristiane scored her first goal of the season as the Chicago Red Stars earned a 1-1 tie against WPS leader Los Angeles Wednesday before 3,832 fans at The Home Depot Center. 

The Red Stars (2-3-3) snapped a three-match losing streak and Women’s Professional Soccer-record scoreless drought with the draw.

The first mid-week match in WPS history seemed destined to finish a scoreless affair until a flurry of offensive activity took over late.

On as a late substitute, Chicago forward Ella Masar came up with a huge play in the 88^th minute.  From just off the end line Masar played a beautiful near post cross to Cristiane, who fired a shot to the right side of the net and past a helpless Karina LeBlanc.  The goal ended a 396-minute scoreless drought for Chicago, dating back to the second half of an April 25^th win over Boston.

But Chicago’s defense, which did a good job controlling three-time FIFA Player of the Year Marta for most of the match, couldn’t quite finish off a clean sheet.  In the 90^th minute the Sol’s Brazilian star shot from the top of the box and hit the left post.  Red Stars goalkeeper Caroline Jönsson dove but was unable to stop the rebound as it bounced right to Camille Abily who drove home the equalizer, her fourth goal of the season.

Despite a scoreless first half, the Red Stars had a pair of strong chances early in the match.  In the sixth minute, Lindsay Tarpley blasted a shot off her left foot that went just wide right of the net.  Minutes later Tarpley attempted to connect with Cristiane, who came streaking in to the top of the box, but LeBlanc just beat the Brazilian to the ball and was able to corral it to defuse the chance.

Jönsson was busy midway through the first half.  Los Angeles put two shots on goal in the 25^th minute – one a shot by Abily and the other a Marta header that went wide left.  The Sol nearly scored in the 31^st minute when Marta fired a left-footed blast on net but Jönsson managed to deflect the ball off her left leg and out of harm’s way.  The Swede ended up with six saves on the night.

The draw earns Chicago its first point in over a month.  The Red Stars move into sole possession of fifth place in the WPS standings with nine points.  The Sol, meanwhile, earned their 21^st point, nine better than second-place Washington.

Chicago returns to action on Sunday, June 7^th at FC Gold Pride.  The 7 pm match will be televised live on Comcast SportsNet Chicago.  The Red Stars return home to TOYOTA PARK June 21^st for a 3 pm match with the Boston Breakers.  Tickets are available by calling (866) WPS-2009 or logging on to www.chicagoredstars.com.

Chicago Red Stars (2-3-3) at Los Angeles Sol (6-1-3)
June 3, 2009 – The Home Depot Center

SCORING
                                         1              2              FINAL
Chicago                              0              1              1                                             
Los Angeles                        0              1              1             

SCORING SUMMARY:
1. CHI – Cristiane, 1 (Ella Masar, 1), 88.
2. LA – Camille Abily, 4, 90.

Chicago Red Stars – Jönsson; Dalmy, Spilger, Oakes, Östberg; Carney, Klein, Igwe, Rapinoe (Masar, 87); Tarpley (Adams, 74; Krzysik, 93+), Cristiane.

Los Angeles Sol – LeBlanc; Cox, Bock (Zerboni, 85), Falk, Franko; Boxx, Abily, Makoski, Miyama; Duan (Larkin, 72), Marta.

STATISTICS
SHOTS:                 CHI – 10     LA – 17
SHOTS ON GOAL:  CHI – 3       LA – 7
SAVES:                  CHI – 6       LA – 2
FOULS:                  CHI – 5       LA – 4
CORNER KICKS:      CHI – 1      LA – 5
OFFSIDES:             CHI – 3       LA – 2   

MISCONDUCT SUMMARY:
None

Referee: Felisha Mariscal
Referee’s Assistants: Mike Kampmeinert, Marlene Duffy
4^th Official: Daniel Radford
Time of Game: 1:53
Attendance: 3,832
Weather: 60 degrees, cloudy.

All statistics included in this box score are unofficial.