SANTA CLARA, Calif. – Cristiane’s second goal of the season helped the Chicago Red Stars overcome a deficit on the road to earn a 1-1 tie with FC Gold Pride Sunday night at Buck Shaw Stadium.

The Brazilian native scored in the second consecutive game for Chicago (2-3-4), which earned a pair of points on its two-game West Coast road trip.  The draw marks the first point earned by the Red Stars this season after falling behind in a match.

Trailing 1-0 in the 47th minute, Megan Rapinoe played the ball in from the left side and crossed to Cristiane, who headed it on target from directly in front of the goal.  The ball appeared to deflect off the leg of FC Gold Pride defender Rachel Buehler before going in the net but Cristiane was credited with her second goal, tying Lindsay Tarpley as Chicago’s leading scorer on the season.

Cristiane had a chance at a second goal by header in the 61st minute, but played the ball wide right off a feed from midfielder Karen Carney.

FC Gold Pride (3-5-2) opened the scoring in the 14th minute.  After being played into the box, Eriko Arakawa crossed directly in front of the goal to Christine Sinclair, who slipped behind the Red Stars defense and scored from the left side.  The tally was the fourth on the season for Sinclair and her second against Chicago.

Red Stars goalkeeper Caroline Jönsson recorded a pair of saves in the second half, equaling the total of stops by FC Gold Pride keeper Nicole Barnhart.

The Red Stars put a chance on target early in the match when Karen Carney sent an 8th minute pass through traffic to Tarpley, who fired a left-footed shot from 25 yards out, but Barnhart was just able get a foot on the shot and deflect it away.

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.  The Red Stars also maintain the league’s only unbeaten road record (1-0-3).

Chicago will now travel across the country before returning to action Saturday, June 13th at Washington.  The match will be contested at RFK Stadium.  The Red Stars return home to TOYOTA PARK June 21st 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 (2-3-4, 10 pts.) at FC Gold Pride (3-5-2, 11 pts.)
June 7, 2009 – Buck Shaw Stadium

SCORING
                                        1              2              FINAL
Chicago                             0              1              1                                             
FC Gold Pride                     1              0              1             

SCORING SUMMARY:
1. BAY – Christine Sinclair, 4 (Erika Arakawa, 1), 14.
2. CHI – Cristiane, 2 (Megan Rapinoe, 1), 47.

Chicago Red Stars – Jönsson; Dalmy, Spilger (Krzysik, 68), Oakes, Östberg; Carney, Igwe, Klein, Rapinoe (Masar, 57; Adams, 76); Tarpley, Cristiane.

FC Gold Pride – Barnhart; Robinson, Abegg, Buehler; Graczyk, Osborne, DiMartino, Formiga (Yokers, 87); Arakawa (Adriane, 90), Sinclair, Weimer (Milbrett, 56).

STATISTICS
SHOTS:                            CHI – 9 BAY – 7
SHOTS ON GOAL:             CHI – 3 BAY – 3
SAVES:                             CHI – 2 BAY – 2
FOULS:                             CHI – 17 BAY – 11
CORNER KICKS:                 CHI – 4 BAY – 3
OFFSIDES:                        CHI – 1 BAY – 4   

MISCONDUCT SUMMARY:
BAY – Leslie Osborne (caution; unsporting behavior), 27.
CHI – Chioma Igwe (caution; unsporting behavior), 43.
CHI – Frida Östberg (caution; unsporting behavior), 66.

Referee: Veronica Brito
Referee’s Assistants: Teresa Miguel, Said Ravanfar
4^th Official: Maurizio Laudani
Time of Game: 1:52
Attendance: 2,956
Weather: 70 degrees, sunny.

All statistics included in this box score are unofficial.

POST-GAME QUOTES
RED STARS HEAD COACH EMMA HAYES

“I thought the first half was really poor by our standards.  I think playing two games back-to-back takes its toll on you.  We bounced back really well, we (previously) 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.”

On the Red Stars’ Players:

“I love them I’m never going to change that opinion.  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.”

RED STARS FORWARD CRISTIANE:

 “I think we could have had more crosses in the first half in the area.  In the second half we tried to do that more and scored a goal.”

“I looked for my position in the box and for the ball to come and attacked the ball.  It was a great ball from Rapinoe.”

 “I think we played a game against LA and we were a little bit tired.  But we pushed in the second half with a lot of heart. And we had more will and desire and we scored a goal.”

RED STARS DEFENDER MARIAN DALMY:

“I thought the first half, especially in the first 15 minutes we struggled with their three forwards.  Especially with their two forwards that stayed wide because they would push back a little off us and stay wide and look to go through and get it to their feet then look to slip it in.  I thought once we figured that out we did better and stayed more compact.  I think we were a little frantic in the first 15, we didn’t stay together.  Our whole team was playing a lot of square balls but it also came from the back players and that hurt our team.”

On coming home to Santa Clara:

“I absolutely loved going to Santa Clara, it’s a second home to me anytime I get to come back and play, I have a lot of friends and family here is just incredible for me.  It feels like home, this was the first time for me on the new field which is exciting.  Its incredible, I love it.”