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FC Gold Pride Adds 11th Game to Unbeaten Streak with 1-1 Tie

September 1, 2010 - Women's Professional Soccer (WPS) - FC Gold Pride News Release


FC Gold Pride (14-3-5) closed out its 2010 road schedule with a mid-week match against Sky Blue FC on Wednesday evening. The Bay Area team extended its unbeaten streak to 11 games, tying the WPS record set by the Los Angeles Sol in 2009.

Sky Blue FC, still seeking a playoff berth, came out and played the Pride with purpose, finding opportunities to possess the ball, and looking to score. The Pride who has already secured its ticket to the WPS Championship proved with last Saturday's WPS record-setting six-goal performance, they're not going to ease up on their opponents. Both teams came out with equal intensity in the opening half, but the first 45 minutes came to a close in a 0-0 tie despite multiple goal scoring chances by both teams.

It took 72 minutes for Sky Blue FC to find their way to the back of the net as Heather O'Reilly served a ball in to Tasha Kai who put the moves on Pride goalkeeper Nicole Barnhart and put away the first goal of the game. Following the goal, Sky Blue FC proceeded to pack it in on their defensive end, determined not to let FC Gold Pride get back in the game. After the Pride scored a flurry of goals in the team's 6-1 defeat of Atlanta only four days earlier, it had appeared there were no more goals left in the bag for the Pride; that was until Becky Edwards, assisted by Camille Abily, came up with the equalizer in stoppage time. This was the first goal of the season, and first as a professional for the Pride rookie.

"It was exciting being able score, and I was happy to help the team out when we were down a goal," said Becky Edwards on scoring her first career goal in the final minutes of Wednesday night's match. "In the second half, I thought we did a good job of putting high pressure, created chances, and believed in ourselves to keep pushing to get that goal."

The Pride was 0-3 in games when the team trailed after the 75th minute until Wednesday's late game comeback.

"This team is special because we have different players that can come up big and change a game at any given time," said Pride Head Coach Albertin Montoya. "I thought that the first half was outstanding but we lacked finishing, but in the second half, we created opportunities and kept plugging away to get that equalizing goal."

The WPS Regular Season Champions will now return to the Bay Area to play their two final home games on Sept. 5 and 11 to close out the regular season.

Up next, the Pride will take on Rookie of the Year candidates Jordan Angeli, Lauren Cheney and the Boston Breakers, who are likely candidates to join the Pride in the postseason. The Pride, 3-0 against the Breakers, looks to sweep the season series with a home victory on Sunday, Sept. 5. Kick off for the Pride's penultimate regular season match is set for 6 pm PT.

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