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A rare loss for Los Angeles
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Carson, CA - The St. Louis Athletica came into the Home Depot Center unafraid, they shocked and showed the Sol fans something they had never seen before this season, a loss at home at the hands of a visitng team. There were anxious moments as the Sol expected to clinch a spot in the inaugural WPS championship but it was not to be, at least not yet as the confident visiting team shut out Marta, Abily, and the rest of the team for only the 4th time in 16 games handing L.A their second loss of the season.
In the 11th minute of the game Athletica’s Eniola Aluko, drives the ball past the Sol defense and passes to wide open midfielder Amanda Cinalli who flicks it into the goal. The goal was only the second allowed by Karina LeBlanc in the last 6 games. LeBlanc had 5 saves against St. Louis and still leads the league with 11 clean sheets even after today’s loss.
If Los Angeles did not score, it was not for a lack of trying. They took 13 shots for the game, even though only 4 were on goal. They also earned 8 corner kicks to just one taken by Athletica.
Marta even tried being extra physical with St. Louis, receiving a yellow card for her efforts. After she was bumped by Lori Chalupny, a feisty Marta, chased her challenger aggressively, taking the ball from Chalupny and dropping her to the ground.
The Sol’s best chance to even the score came about midway through the second half. Marta ran through the St. Louis defense into the right side of the box and found Midfielder Aya Miyama open in the box. The Japanese native seemed to hesitate for a split second, a split second that was enough for the Athletica’s Lisa Stoia to get her foot in front of Miyama’s shot and deflect it out of the box. An upset Marta dropped to her knees in frustration as Miyama squandered a golden opportunity.
“ I’m disappointed in the loss, of course, I think our intensity wasn’t there today” said the Sol’s Camille Abily after the game.
Team Captain Shannon Box, ripped a desperation shot in the final minute of stoppage time but there were no last second heroics like against Washington. The Sol lost 1-0.
Athletica’s Tina Ellerston was very pleased with the victory over the team with the best record in the league.
“ We tried to keep Marta contained and we defended our butts off. We deserved the win, our team is coming together at the right time.”
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