Bill Barrett | isiphotos.net

The Washington Freedom's Rebecca Moros scored in the 81st minute to lead her team to a 1-0 victory over Saint Louis Athletica.

Boxscore (all statistics contained in this boxscore are unofficial)

SAINT LOUIS, MO (June 20, 2009) -- 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.

“It was on a fast break two on two, De Vanna drew the defenders in because of her speed and she fed it right to me,” said Moros. “McNeill made a valiant effort to clear the ball but it came back to me.”

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.

“When you play at home you have to win,“ Athletica 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 well.”

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.

“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.”
 
After not recording a shutout all season the Freedom now have two in a row after blanking Chicago last week at home. The Freedom had a 12-11 edge in shots for the game while St. Louis had three more shots on goal (7-4). Washington goalkeeper Erin McLeod notched seven saves while Hope Solo of St. Louis picked up three.

“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.”
 
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. Overall, the Freedom are 4-3-4 and will travel to Boston for a Wednesday night game with the Boston Breakers, to be televised on Comcast Sports Network (check local listings).  Saint Louis Athletica are now 4-4-2 and will host league-leaders Los Angeles Sol oon Wednesday at 8pm ET / 5pm PT. 

Boxscore (all statistics contained in this boxscore are unofficial)