Spiga

July 11, 2011

Saturday WPS Round-Up


Philadelphia Independence 2, Western New York Flash 1

The Philadelphia Independence extended their first place margin to four points by defeating the Western New York Flash 2-1 in Chester, Pennsylvania.

Tasha Kai completed quite a week, following up her Wednesday hat trick with a goal in the 8th minute of this match to Philadelphia on top. Just before half time, Sinead Farrelly made it 2-0 as she knocked home a rebound of Kai's shot off the post. It was Farrelly's first WPS goal.

Canadian National Team player Christine Sinclair did make it back from Germany to play for the Flash. She entered as a second half substitution and scored the Flashes' only goal on a penalty kick in the 81st minute.

Val Henderson added yet another victory to her total in Nicole Barnhart's absence. Philadelphia has now posted five consecutive wins and are unbeaten in their last six. Their record stands at 7-2-3, good for 24 points, with just six games remaining. They will start a three-game road trip next Saturday in Atlanta.

Western New York suffers their second consecutive defeat, both at the hands of the Independence. They are now 6-2-2 and have 20 points. The Flash travels to New Jersey to face Sky Blue next Sunday.

Sky Blue FC 2, magicJack 2

Sky Blue fell behind by two goals in the opening half, but fought their way back to earn a 2-2 tie with visiting magicJack on Saturday evening in Piscataway, New Jersey.

Christen Press opened the scoring for magicJack in the 13th minute, chipping the ball over Sky Blue goalkeeper Jen Branam's head. It was the fifth goal for Press in her first WPS season. Jamaican Omolyn Davis followed with her first career goal in the 37th minute and magicJack headed into intermission with a 2-0 lead.

Adriana cut the lead in half for Sky Blue in the 66th minute. Michelle Wenino then tied the match at 2-2 a few minutes later. For Wenino, it was her first WPS goal ever.

It was the first tie of the season for magicJack who ran their record to 5-4-1, good for 15 points and third place in the standings. They have next weekend off before traveling to Western New York to play the Flash on Wednesday, July 20.

Sky Blue earns a point and their record is now 3-4-4. Their 13 points puts them in fifth place, just two points behind magicJack. They host second place WNY Flash next Sunday.

0 comments: