WPS Chicago Stars FC

Red Stars, 1st-place Gold Pride Play To Draw

August 8, 2010 - Women's Professional Soccer (WPS)
Chicago Stars FC News Release


The Chicago Red Stars and the first-place FC Gold Pride played to a scoreless draw on Saturday in Women's Professional Soccer action at Pioneer Stadium in Hayward, Calif.

Red Stars goalkeeper Jillian Loyden made four saves for her fifth clean sheet of the season. Her counterpart, Gold Pride goalkeeper Nicole Barnhart, made five saves for her league-leading sixth shutout.

With the draw, Chicago (5-8-6) holds a fourth-place tie in the WPS standings. Sky Blue FC defeated the Atlanta Beat earlier in the day, 2-1, as Chicago and New Jersey share fourth with 21 points apiece. The Red Stars previously were tied with the Washington Freedom. Gold Pride (12-3-3) picks up a point and now has 39 for the season.

The Red Stars also surpassed their points total from last season (20 points in 2009).

Next up for the Red Stars is a 7:30 p.m. match on Wednesday against the Philadelphia Independence at Toyota Park. Four of Chicago's five final regular-season matches take place at home.

Scoring chances were few and far between for either the Red Stars and Gold Pride. But there were some opportunities for both squads.

The Red Stars' optimal chance came in the 56th minute when Cristiane's strike inside the box went directly to Barnhart for the save. Barnhart turned away several other opportunities, but for the majority of the match Chicago relied on deep shots outside of the box. The Red Stars did manage to out-shoot Gold Pride by an 8-7 margin.

The most dangerous chance for either team in the first half came in the 41st minute. Gold Pride's Kelly O'Hara had a low header at close range, but Loyden reached down for the stop and kept the match scoreless heading into halftime.

Chicago's newest acquisition, Spanish international forward Veronica Boquete, made her Red Stars debut when she was brought in for Brazilian forward Cristiane in the 80th minute.

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Women's Professional Soccer Stories from August 8, 2010


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