FC Gold Pride defeat the Washington Freedom, 3-2
by WPS - Staff Report
07/11/2010 - 05:07 p.m.
FC Gold Pride's Becky Edwards (14) and Solveig Gulbrandsen celebrate after Gulbrandsen scored a goal during their 3-2 win over the Washington Freedom on Sunday, July 11.
Boxscore (all statistics contained in this boxscore are unofficial)
Hayward, Calif. (July 11, 2010) -- FC Gold Pride (9-3-1, 28 points) defeated the Washington Freedom (4-4-5, 17 points) 3-2 at Pioneer Stadium on the campus of Cal State, East Bay in front of 2,431 fans.
Despite missing several U.S. National Team members and regular FC Gold Pride and Freedom starters, the first 45 minutes of the match proved to be eventful. The first ten minutes of the match featured end-to-end action as each team created a few chances on the offensive end.
Just after FC Gold Pride goalkeeper Brittany Cameron was forced to make the first save in her WPS debut, the team would capitalize on a counter attack as they jumped out to the early lead in the 12 minute thanks to Marta’s ninth goal of the season. Gold Pride forward Christine Sinclair was taken down in the box by Freedom defender Beverly Goebel to earn the penalty kick, and the WPS leading goal scorer stepped up and slipped the ball by Erin McLeod for the score.
The Freedom didn’t back down, as midfielder Sonia Bompastor found herself alone behind the Gold Pride defense in the 26th minute, however FC Gold Pride defender Kandace Wilson came speeding back to bump Bompastor off of the ball in the box. Immediately following, Freedom head coach Jim Gabarra was ejected from the game after bidding for a penalty kick.
Marta and Sinclair combined several times in the Freedom’s defensive half attempting to add to their lead, but the two international forwards were not able to beat McLeod to finish any of the chances.
It appeared the Freedom would tie the game before the end of the half when defender Cat Whitehill sent a driven ball to the far post to find a crashing Bompastor in the 40th minute but Bompastor sent her shot just high of the goal. Despite numerous chances for each team to score during the run of play, FC Gold Pride would enter halftime with a one goal advantage.
The second half started off right where the first ended, as the Gold Pride frontline was off to the races. In the 48th minute, Marta outran the Freedom backline and cut the ball back to find Kim Yokers. Yokers blasted a shot from the top of the box but McLeod came up with the save.
McLeod came up with a string of big saves in the 55th minute when she came off her line to shut down an approaching Sinclair. The ball rebounded back to Sinclair who found Yokers at the top of the box and McLeod made the save once again.
FC Gold Pride added their second goal when Marta and Sinclair combined in the 65th minute for Marta’s league-leading tenth goal. Sinclair found Marta in the box, then Marta took a touch around McLeod and cleanly placed the ball in the back of the net. Just minutes later FC Gold Pride would add their third goal, as Camille Abily served the ball to the far post in the 71st minute and found Solveig Gulbrandsen who headed it home.
The Freedom proved relentless however, and in the 79th minute, second-half substitute Brittany Bock served the ball to the far post where Lene Mykjaland placed it past Cameron for the score. In the closing minutes of the match, the Freedom again found the back of the net as Nikki Marshall outran the FC Gold Pride defenders and beat Cameron, bringing the Freedom within one. Time would run out and FC Gold Pride escaped with a 3-2 win.
Due to U.S. National Team call-ups, several players were missing from the match for both sides. The Pride played without midfielder Shannon Boxx, forward Kelley O’Hara, goalkeeper Nicole Barnhart, and defender Rachel Buehler while the Freedom were left without forward Abby Wambach, midfielder Sarah Huffman, and defender Allie Long.
The Pride will remain at home for their next match, as they host the Philadelphia Independence on Saturday, July 17, at 10pm ET at Pioneer Stadium. The Freedom will continue their road trip as they travel to Cambridge, Mass. on Sunday, July 18, to take on the Boston Breakers at 5pm ET at Harvard Stadium.
Boxscore (all statistics contained in this boxscore are unofficial)