The LA Sol played their last home game of the season against the St. Louis Athletica on a HOT day in LA. Athletica became the first team to defeat LA on their home turf in a 1-0 decision.

The goal was scored in the 11th minute by Amanda Cinalli. Eniola Aluko made a run down the wing where she got past Sol defenders Manya Makoski and Brittany Bock into the box and served a diagonal, where Cinalli shot the ball into an almost open net.

Marta almost tied the game in the 20th minute when she hit a low shot towards the far post, but Hope Solo dove to her left and barely got to the ball. Han Duan almost scored in the 31st minute, but Solo deflected the low shot out of danger. Neither team created any dangerous chances for the remainder of the half.

Sol came out of the locer room refreshed, and determined to score goals. They had a couple of chances, but the St. Louis defense denied their shots.

Marta had another chance in the 58th minute when she sent a corner kick to the crossber. Solo punched it out of danger.

Bock almost got the equalizer in the 63rd minute when she headed a corner kick to the near side of the goal, but Solo made a huge reaction save to keep her team in it.

In the 67th minute, Sol had probably the best opportunity of the match. Marta's pass across the goal got to Aya Miyama's feet. She took her time to try and get a goos shot on goal, but Solo saves it with her knees.

The Sol suffered their 2nd loss this season, and only their first at home. Hope Solo made four big saves to earn her 6th shutout of the season.

LA seemed a bit slower. They weren't controlling the ball well in the midfield, and they didn't seem to click like they usually do. It could be that they are a little worn out from their tough game on Sunday against the Washington Freedom. They only had one day to recover from it, and their legs were heavy, but Coach Abner Rogers says"...there are no excuses."

This loss seems to be very shocking for a team like the Sol, who have dominated from the start. Truth is, I don't think team LA is really bummed about it as they sit comfortably at the top of the league standings in 1st place with 37 points. Athletica is in second place with 23, and have widened the gap between them and the 3rd place Boston Breakers (18 points).

A win today would have made the Sol WPS season champions, and earned them the right to host the WPS Final on August 22. We'll have to wait and see what happens until July 23rd when LA takes on FC Gold Pride at Buck Shaw Stadium at 7pm PT. Coincidentally enough, both teams again will be without their starting 'keepers and a few field players as the US and Canada will play a friendly match the day before, which will be broadcast Live on ESPN at 12pm PT (more on that at the US Women's blog).

For Sol, goalkeeper Karina LeBlanc will be playing for Canada, defender Stephanie Cox will wear the US jersey for the first time this year, and midfielder Shannon Boxx will sport the red, white, and blue again.

As for FC Gold Pride, Leslie Osborne will suit up for the US for the first time since her ACL injury last year in May. Goalkeeper Nicole Barnhart will also suit up for the US, as well as defender Rachel Buehler.

The Washington Freedom hosted the LA Sol on July 5th at the Maryland SoccerPlex. This was the third and final meeting of the season between them, which ended in a 1-0 win for Sol. While the Freedom dominated the first half, the Sol found a way to win it on a late second-half goal by Marta in stoppage time.

The first big chance for Freedom was in the 14th minute when Homare Sawa intercepted a Sol pass in the Sol's defensive half which Abby Wambach took. She dribbled the ball past a defender and took a great left-footed shot that forced Karina LeBlanc to dive and deflect the ball out for a corner kick.

In the 19th minute, Shannon Boxx stole the ball from a Freedom defender near the left corner and crossed the ball to the far post where McCall Zerboni found it. Her header was cleared off the line by defender Becky Sauerbrunn.

In the 26th minute, Washington had another great chance. Cat Whitehill took a free kick and her shot cracked the far post.

In the 29th, Sonia Bompastor took a corner kick. Sawa got her head on it, but it went just over the crossbar.

Just 3 minutes into the second half, Wambach and Christie Shaner both went down hard for a 50/50 ball in the box. Shaner got the worst of it, and left the field on a stretcher with what seems to be a broken fibula and tibia. Us Sol fans certainly wish her the best.

After a long break (around 1o minutes) from the match both teams got back into action. In the 60th minute, Manya Makoski, who came in for Shaner, brought the ball up the field, and passed it out to the wing for Zerboni. She crossed it to the near post where Camille Abily got a touch on it, turned, and shot the ball just wide.

In the 88th minute, Allie Long had a chance at finding the back of the net when Lori Lindsey sent a long ball inside the small box. Long's volley went over the bar.

Aya Miyama found Marta outside the box in the 91st minute. Marta dribbled it in and got away from 3 defenders. She blasted a left-footed shot into the goal.

Marta now stands alone as the league's leading scorer with 9 goals.

The win gets the Sol 3 more points for a total of 37. Freedom stays at fourth with 16.

The LA Sol's next match against St. Louis Athletica will be the last home game at the HDC in Carson, CA. A win for LA will make them the 2009 WPS Season Champions and guarantee them a spot in the Final, which they will host. The match is set to kick off at 12 noon.

The Sol played their last weekend home game if the season against the Chicago Red Stars and defeated them 4-0. Shannon Boxx opened the scoring, Camille Abilly scored her 8th goal of the season, and Marta added a pair to join her teammate at the top of the scoring list.

With players like Carli Lloyd, Lindsay Tarpley, Cristiane, and Megan Rapinoe, one would think the Red Stars would be a high scoring team, and should be at the top of the standings, but that is not the case. Chicago has a 9-game losing streak, almost equal to the Sol's winning streak of 10, and have not scored a goal in 403 minutes. Their last goal came on June 7th in a 1-1 tie with FC Gold Pride.

The LA Sol, coming off a 2-1 win at St. Louis on Wednesday, came to the HDC on Saturday energized, and ready to rock the field. Boxx scored the first goal of the morning in the 14th minute. McCall Zerboni, making her first start as a full-time roster player, got a perfect cross in the area. Boxx found it, and blasted the ball to the far post and into the back of the net.

5 minutes later, Aya Miyama passed the ball to Camille Abily at the top of the box. Abily blasted her shot past Chicago goalkeeper Caroline Jonsson, making it her league-leading 8th goal of the season.

Marta scored the third goal as Miyama gave her a pass into the box and got a touch on the ball to deflect it into the goal. In the 90th minute, it was Marta again, who got the slightest touch on a pass from Aly Wagner to notch her 8th goal of the season.

Chicago scored 3 goals throughout the match, but all were called back for they were offsides. Karina LeBlanc made 4 saves to earn her league-leading 10th suthout.

With the win, the Sol have now clinched a play-off berth. Now they just have to make sure they stay focused and continue doing what they've done all season long to make sure that play-off berth is a berth to the WPS Final.

The last home game for the LA Sol is on Wednesday July 8th at the Home Depot Center against the St. Louis Athletica at 12pm PT. Make sure to come out and support. Spread the word!

The St. Louis Athletica hosted the LA Sol on a hot and humid Wednesday night at Anheuser-Busch Soccer Park in Fenton, MO. LA came out with a 2-1 win, and continue their unbeaten streak, which is now 9.

Athletica was putting constant pressure on the Sol's back line and out shot LA 25-12, including 10 shots on goal to 6. Athletica also had 12 corner kicks, while Sol had 2. Despite Athletica attacking, attacking, and attacking, the Sol was also doing their job defending, defending, and defending. St. Louis dominated the attack, but the Sol made the most out of the few chances they had, and kept up with their defending.

Second half substitute Han Duan scored the first goal of the night in the 50th minute. The ball was played to her at the edge of the area, where she flicked the ball over defender Tina Ellertson and shot a volley to the far post past Athletica's 'keeper, Hope Solo.

Marta scored in the 73rd minute, when Aly Wagner's pass in the area found her. She got her quick shot past Solo.

It seeemed like Karina LeBlanc would come away with a 10th shout out, but Eniola Aluko assisted Kerri Hanks' goal on the 80th minute to make it 2-1.

They made the most out of the few chances they had on goal, and came away with the win.

Sol Head Coach Abner Rogers put it best when he said “We made a few changes to start the second half. Duan came in off the bench and scored a world class goal. We only had two good chances tonight and we got goals from both.”

The Sol are now 9-1-4 with 31 points are remain comfortably in first place while Athletica sit at 4th place with 14 points.

Sol's next game is at home against the Chicago Red Stars at 10 am PT. After this, they only have one more home game left in the season.

Athletica will travel the Jersey to face Sky Blue FC on June 28 at 3pm PT, which will be broadcast live on FSC and webcast live at womensprosoccer.com.

4,593 fans at the HDC saw the LA Sol defeat FC Gold Pride for the third time this season in as many matches between both teams. Camille Abily got the first goal in the 17th minute, and Marta closed 8 minutes later.

Although, Pride came out very strongly, the Sol's defense, including Karina LeBlanc, were ready for anything that came their way. In the 6th minute, Formiga took a shot on goal, but was saved by LeBlanc. Pride had 7 shots on goal, 4 of which LeBlanc saved to earn her league-leading 9th shut out. The other shots were blocked by the defenders.

The match started out pretty evenly, but Sol were able to get past Pride's defense. In the 17th minute, LA earned a corner kick, taken by Japanese super-star Aya Miyama. Nicole Barnhart punched the ball to the outside of the box. Martina Franko kicked it back into danger, and Abilly got the outside of her foot on the ball to curve it into the net. This was her league-leading 7th goal of the season.

Marta scored the 2nd goal in the 25th minute. She recieved a long pass from Shannon Boxx over the top of the defense, dribbled it into the box where she took a left-footed shot to the far post. Barnhart did not get to the ball, and Marta posted her 5th goal of the season.

Christine Sinclair almost scored in the 29th minute. Formiga played the ball inside the box around the penalty mark to Eriko Arakawa, she played it back to Sinclair who blasted a shot from just outside the box, but LeBlanc came up with a big save. Tiffeny Milbrett slid to try and get the rebound, but Manya Makoski also went down to block it, and LeBlanc picked up the loose ball.

At half time, Mia Hamm and Joy Fawcett of the 1st place 1999 US Women's World Cup team were honored. WPS is celebrating the US Women by having different players make appearances at different games each week throughout June and July.

In the second half, the Sol continued attacking and trying to find more goals. Barnhart was huge in this half and came up with great saves to keep the score to a minimum. In the 49th minute, Marta dribbled around a defender and took a shot, but Barnhart kick-saved it, Boxx took a crack at the rebound, but Carrie Dew saved it, then Marta took another shot at the rebound, but Barnhart easily controlled it.

In the 70th minute, Han Duan took a shot on goal goal after she brought a great cross from Aly Wagner down with her chest. Barnhart was there with a great block. Miyama got the rebound but Barnhart once again made another spectacular save.

And that is how the Sol came away with another win, and an 8-game unbeaten streak. They will travel to the mid-west for a mid-week match-up against Hope Solo and the St. Louis Ahtletica. The first meeting between the two ended in a 0-0 draw. The second match ended in a 2-0 win for LA. Let's see how they do this Wednesday, June 24 against a team that is in desperate need of points.

The Sol will be back at home on Saturday, June 27th against the Chicago Red Stars . This is their second to last home game of the season. Be sure to come out and support!

Here's a post-game interview with Karina LeBlanc. Enjoy!

The LA Sol flew out to the east coast for their final meeting against Sky Blue FC at Yurcak Field on the Campus of Rutgers University in Piscataway, NJ. The first meeting between the two resulted in a 2-0 win for LA with two goals from Marta. The second time around, it was Marta again who came through for the LA Sol earning them a 1-0 win. This time the two played to a scoreless draw in front of 4,138 fans who were brave enough to sit and enjoy under the Jersey rain.

Sky Blue dominated the first half right from the beginning. They had a close shot in the 4th minute, when Rosana dribbled inside the box around a couple defenders, but her shot went over the crossbar.

Two minutes later, Heather O'Reilly raced down the field, but her shot was weak and easy for Sol goalkeeper Karina LeBlanc to handle. In the 15th minute of play, Natasha Kai had probably the best chance of the match when she tried to curve a slow-rolling shot around LeBlanc, but her shot hit the post as LeBlanc just got her hand on the ball to deflect it enough. In the 19th minute, Kai again had another chance but her shot went wide of the top right corner.

LA's first real chance on goal was in the 23rd minute when they were awarded a free kick. Aya Miyama shot at goal but Jenni Branam came off her line to catch the ball in mid-air.

Sky Blue's defense was definitely getting into the attack, and Christie Rampone got a shot on goal in the 26th minute, but it was right at LeBlanc.

Meanwhile, Sol's defense was doing what they have done all season long. They kept on clearing away chances for Sky Blue, and doing their job to keep the Sol from going down. In the 40th minute, Rosana passed a ball to O'Reilly whose shot was blocked by Martina Franko.

That was it for the first half. It was all Sky Blue. 

The Sol came out a little stronger in the second half, and had a shot on goal in the beginning minute. Aly Wagner took a shot after some miscommunication in Sky Blue's backline, but Branam saved it.

Sky Blue continued their attack, and Kai almost scored ten minutes later, but her header went just wide.

Boxx took a shot from outside the box (no pun intended) trying to do something different, but Branam had her shot covered.

Second half substitute Collette McCallum almostfound the net in the 72nd minute, but her shot went just over the crossbar.

In the 85th minute Megan Schnur hit a volley but was too soft and LeBlanc had no trouble collecting it.

Kai had yet another chance in the 89th minute on another header that again went wide. A minute later, Kai was making a run for a ball in the area, but LeBlanc came out strong to snatch the ball away.

Sky Blue dominated the entire match outshooting the Sol 14-5, but only 7 were on goal (4 from Sky Blue, 3 from Sol).

The rain certainly had an effect on the match. The ball was slowing down, the players had to run more; or when the passes were high, the ball skipped. Players couldn't get good, clean touches on the ball, and their shots were a little weak. All in all, it was a great scoreless match with a lot of action.

The LA Sol returns to action next Sunday at home for the last match against FC Gold Pride. The match is at 3 pm PT and will be aired live on Fox Soccer Channel.

After scoring 2 goals for the LA Sol against the Freedom in the 3-1 win, Camille Abily has been honored with the Player of the Week title for week 11 of WPS.

Camille is a starter in the Sol's midfield, playing next to Shannon Boxx, Aya Miyama, and Marta. She has become one of the Sol's best players having scored in the last four games. She scored in a 2-0 win against FC Gold Pride, a 2-0 against St. Louis Athletica, scored the game-tier against the Chicago Red stars, and scored 2 goals against Washington.

She has scored 5 goal this season, four of which come for the last four games, and her first goal was against the Washington Freedom in the inaugural match, which the Sol won 2-0.

She is now the Sol's highest scorer, and also the league's leading scorer, leaving Kelly Smith in second with 4 goals.

 On June 7th, Sunday afternoon Los Angeles Sol took on Washington Freedom for the second time this season. With a victory of 3-1 over Freedom, Sol continues to hold their lead in first place widening the gap behind Freedom by 12 points. Sol currently leads the standings with 24 points but as said by Shannon Boxx, "We're only half way through. We have to look at very game and can't look past a game. But there's still a lot of games and if we start to slack, teams catch us."

Within the first 15 minutes of the game, Sol lead Freedom 1-0. After great teamwork between Shannon Boxx, Aya Miyama, and Camile Abily, Sol was able to find the back of the net. With a cross from Boxx and a pass from Miyama, Abily was able to skim it off Washington goalkeeper Erin McLeod's hand and give the Sol the lead.

Freedom fired back in the 18th minute, looking to tie the game. Wambach powered the ball towards keeper Karina LeBlanc, who was able to knock it away.

The second half, Freedom came out strong, thirsting for a goal. And quenched they did. In the 57th minute, Washington was awarded a free kick 40 yards away from the goal. Cat Whitehill capitalized on the opportunity, successfully kicking it past Sol defenders and right in front of Sonia Bompastor's feet. Bompastor was then able to drive it into the net. "We were concentrating on Abby, which obviously allows other players to get free," commented Boxx, "Bompastor put herself in a great position, she's a great soccer player, and that's just a tough one to save." Freedom tied the match 1-1, but only for a few more minutes.

Three minutes later, the defense, midfield, and offense worked together effectively to return Freedom's favor. After getting it up the field, McCall Zerboni crossed the ball right in front of Brittany Bock. The ball was intercepted by Cat Whitehill, who was unfortunately called on a handball, giving Sol a penalty kick. With confidence, Abily stepped up and sent the ball in the low, left post. After questioned about Sol's uncanny ability to respond with a goal within minutes of getting scored on, Boxx said, "Mainly, we realize we shouldn't have let them score and we come right back and get one. I think that deflates the team and energizes us."

(Below, Brittany Bock scores a goal on McLeod after great teamwork with Marta.)
However, Los Angeles didn't stop there. They continued to gain momentum and after some beautiful footwork, ball control, and passing between Bock and Marta, Brittany Bock was able to get a goal, tapping the ball past Freedom's McLeod. Bock said, "I wanted to get a goal for my mom today, it's her birthday." Well Happy Birthday Mrs. Bock! Hope you enjoyed your present.

Sol continued to pressure McLeod, who came up with several spectacular saves. Sol's Karina LeBlanc also had an amazing performance, making some key plays herself. The entire Sol team played extremely well, making the game very exciting. LA took several more shots on goal. Stephanie Cox also took a couple shots on goal, playing a lot more offense this game.

In the second half, Sol's defense successfully stopped Abby Wambach and was able to shut down Freedom's offense. "We as a team had better possesion of the ball," said defender Allison Falk, "I think we fought it out and just played a better second half."

With another win, LA looks to play Heather O'Reilly and Sky Blue FC once again, Saturday June 13th. They return home to play on Sunday, June 21st against rival FC Gold Pride. And with the level of intensity that Sol is playing, they're the team to look out for and the team to beat.

 

The Sol hosted the Washington Freedom for a rematch of the inaugural match, which was also televised on FSC. It was pretty much what I expected. The Freedom are a different team, they are playing better soccer than what we saw the first few weeks of WPS.

With Erin McLeod in goal, the Freedom seem to have improved their defensive end, and seem more confident, but still are lacking. They have a very young, and "inexperienced" backline, which is anchored by central defender Cat Whitehill.

The Sol were able to take advantage of their mistakes to score three goals, but still, the Freedom was able to get one past LA 'keeper Karina LeBlanc, which showed signs of improvement among themselves as they scored against the best defense in the league.

Camille Abily scored the first goal of the day in the 14th minute on a play that started with Shannon Boxx giving a long pass to Aya Miyama in the middle of the field. Miyama then found Camille Abily with a pass behind the defense. Camille scored almost a replica of her first goal of the season in the inaugural match sending a looping shot over McLeod, who got the tip of her fingers on the ball, but couldn't quite deflect it away from the goal.

Freedom almost tied the game a couple minutes later when Abby Wambach blasted a volley that was clearly headed for the goal. Karina LeBlanc came up with a HUGE save. The Sol defense kicked it out for a corner kick.

For the remainder of the half, both teams had chances, but none were able to score. In the second half, Freedom came back to score off a set piece, where they are most dangerous. Cat Whitehill took a free kick in the 57th minute of play. Sonia Bompastor stopped the ball, controlled it and blasted a shot that went past LeBlanc. The shot was almost impossible to save. However the Sol came back to take the lead 3 minutes later.

McCall Zerboni placed a perfect cross from the right side to Brittany Bock, who headed the ball just wide right. Cat Whitehill stuck her hand out as the ball was headed out of bounds, and the referee immediately called a penalty kick (I was standing about 10 ft from the play, and I did not see her touch the ball. I think she just pretended to get the ball, but on the replay I did see a slight deflection of the ball). It was Abily who stepped up to take it. She faked out McLeod, who was going to her left, but the shot bent to the left side of the goal. It was Abily's second goal of the match, 4th in as many games, and 5th of the season.

Brittany Bock was able to get her mom a birthday present in the 66th minute. She wanted to score a goal for her mom, and a goal for mom she scored. It was a quick give-and-go play with Marta on the right side of the box. Bock dribbled in and bent a shot to the far post around McLeod.

The Sol remains in first place with a comfortable 24 points, while the Freedom stays at second with 12. Boston, St.Louis, and FC Gold Pride have 11 points each, and the Red Stars have 10, while Sky Blue sits at the bottom with 8 points.

LA has just 3 more home games left this season! Don't forget to purchase tickets. Sky Blue will host LA next weekend at 7pm ET. The next game in LA will be the last against FC Gold Pride on FSC at 3pm PT.

That is it for now, but here is a cool post-match interview with Sol midfielder Camille Abily in French (with subtitles) where she talks about playing against French national team friend Sonia Bompastor, being the top scorer in LA, and how she communicates on the field with Boxx, Miyama, and Marta.

The Chicago Red Stars came down to LA looking for a point - or three - they're first since they last defeated Boston 4-0 over a month ago, and they came away with a single point in a very dramatic fashion.

On a cloudy, chilly night in Carson, most people probably just wanted to stay warm in their homes, but both teams came out ready to play (give credit to the 3,832 brave fans who came out to support).

Just six minutes into the match, Chicago had a close chance of taking the early lead. Lindsay Tarpley blasted a shot that went wide right. A couple minutes later, she sent a ball across the box trying to find Cristiane at the end of it, but Sol goalkeeper Karina LeBlanc cam out strong to grab the ball.

In the 25th minute, Camille Abily, received a cross from Aya Miyama, dribbled into the box, but somehow Chicago's goalkeeper Caroline Jonsson was able to make the save. The Sol had another chance that same minute, but Marta's  header went wide right.

Six minutes later, Marta blasted a left-footed shot that Jonsson was able to deflect.

Both teams finished off the first half with their fair share of opportunities, and off to the locker rooms they went. They came back still looking for a goal.

The match continued to stay pretty even on both sides. After many efforts, Chicago finally broke their 396-minute scoreless drought. Second half subsitute Ella Masar created the play that led to the goal. She crossed the ball to the near post from the end line where Cristiane found and shot the ball past LeBlanc.

The Sol were urgent in the last few minutes to play after going down 1-0. It seemed like the Sol would suffer their second loss of the season to an unexpected team, until 2 minutes later, when they tied the game.

Marta took a shot at the top of the box, which looked to be the game-tier as Jonsson did not get to it on time, but her shot went off the post. Camille Abily found the ball and shot it into the open goal. The crowd went wild, Camille opened her arms in the air like an airplane, then ran and slid on her knees towards Aya. The rest of the team came down to celebrate with a huge dog pile. It was the most exciting ending of any game in the entire season. I don't think the Sol had been any happier scoring a goal before (besides their first 2 goals in the inaugural match).

Just when Chicago thought they might have their first shutout win in a month, instead of their fourth shutout loss, the Sol came back to tie the game. This is soccer, and ANYTHING CAN HAPPEN.

The Sol will only get 3 days off (or maybe one?) before they face Abby Wambach and the Washington Freedom, a rematch of the league-opener. Freedom is not the same team it was at the beginning of the season, and now have solidified to take 2nd place in the standings. They are quickly becoming one of the best teams in the league. The game kicks off at 3pm PT and we be LIVE on Fox Soccer Channel.