July 28, 2010 (West Chester, PA)-- The Philadelphia Independence hosted the Chicago Red Stars for the first time tonight, shutting out the Red Stars in a 3-0 victory in John A. Farrell Stadium.  Two goals from Rodriguez and a goal from Seger, along with an outstanding defensive team performance, earned the Independence three points at home.

The Independence got on the board early with a 12th minute goal from leading scorer Amy Rodriguez.  Lori Lindsey intercepted a bad clearance in the center of the park and found Rodriugez streaking past the defense on the left side, taking a touch and hitting a shot that deflected off her defender past Red Stars keeper Jillian Loyden to make it 1-0.

In the 17th minute, Holmfridur Madnusdottir took a hit to the forehead and left the field, but returned to her spot in the defensive line just five minutes later. The Chicago Red Stars settled into more consistent possession after the first goal, but the Independence struck again in the 26th minute with yet another goal from Amy Rodriguez.  A long clearance from Nikki Krzysik sailed over Chicago’s back line and Rodriguez, with her lightning speed, beat both central defenders and chipped the onrushing Chicago keeper to make it 2-0.  Rodriguez’s two goals tonight put her at eleven on the season, just two behind league leader Marta.

The Red Stars didn’t back off, and just one minute after the second Independence goal Karen Carney nailed a header off the Independence crossbar. In the 31st minute, Asllani nearly slipped a shot in at the near post, but keeper Val Henderson was there to deflect it wide for a corner. A final push in the 45th minute was a shot from Red Stars midfielder Cristiane that rocketed over the bar.

Less than ten minutes into the second half, the Independence made it a 3-0 lead when Caroline Seger scored her first goal of the season for the Independence in the 53rd minute.  Amy Rodriguez played a curling ball in behind the defense from the left flank and found Seger unmarked inside the box to bury it past Loyden.  Seger was named WPS Player of the Week yesterday after serving up three assists against Sky Blue FC this past Saturday night.  

The Independence remained hungry, and Joann Lohman nearly got on the board in the 66th minute when her headed corner kick ricocheted off the crossbar.  Both Tina DiMartino and Danesha Adams came off the bench for the Independence and created a stir offensively.  In the 84th, Adams back-heeled a ball to put DiMartino in one on one with Loyden, but DiMartino’s shot was directly into the keeper’s gloves.

Brazilian midfielder Cristiane had the most dangerous offensive opportunities for the Red Stars.  In the 74th minute, second half substitute Ella Masar beat her defender in the corner, serving a ball that found the head of Cristiane but popped over the bar.  Ten minutes later, Cristiane created some space for herself in the middle of the park and ripped a shot from 25 yards out that dipped and challenged Val Henderson with a nasty spin.  

Henderson anchored a solid defensive unit tonight, earning her second shutout of the season with a final score of 3-0.  In the final seconds of the match, the defense lost Holmfridur Magnusdottir to a red card awarded by the referee for a dangerous tackle.  Despite going down to ten men for the remaining minute of the game, the Independence protected the 3-0 lead and kept Chicago scoreless.

The Independence have a week until they face the Freedom in another mid-week matchup, traveling to Washington for a game next Wednesday night.  Kickoff is scheduled for 7pm on August 4 at the Maryland SoccerPlex in Boyds, MD.

I think we played great football tonight. It wasn’t a pretty win, but it was a good win for us.  These three points put us in good stead moving forward.

We’ve been talking about defense all week long, talking about playing a full ninety minutes and getting the shutout.  I thought our back line was fantastic tonight. Nikki and Falk have great chemistry, and I think both Nikki Krzysik and Estelle Johnson had their best games of the season.  Nikki played for Chicago last year and to be fair she probably had more invested in tonight’s game.  It really challenges Larsson when she’s healthy again, because how do you keep Nikki off the field after a performance like that?  So maybe it’s a different twin towers for a while, who knows.  Same goes for Estelle at right back, her performance tonight puts the fire under Mitts when she is healthy again. 

What’s left to say about Amy? She should have had four goals tonight! (Joking).  She’s been playing brilliantly and I think she was sensational again. There are very few game-changers in WPS, and she’s proven herself to be one of those players.

It always feels great to get a shutout.  Paul has been talking about playing a full ninety minutes, not letting up late goals, and I think we pretty much did that tonight.  Kirby [Allison Falk] and Nikki have great chemistry, they communicate really well, and this game the back line did a really good job of staying compact.  It’s nice to have Estelle and Frida [Magnusdottir] on the outsides because they are both dangerous carrying the ball up the line, so we have extra offensive threats coming from the back.  All in all I thought it was a solid defensive performance.

I told my team at the end of the game, sometimes you just have to take your hat off and tip it to the better team.  We lost to the better team tonight, they deserved it.

We need to match their physicality and their intensity, especially in the middle of the park.  We also have to adjust better for Rodriguez’s speed up front, both with our defenders and our goalkeeper coming out of the back.