LA Sol 1 FC Gold Pride 0: A Play-By-Play (And Other Miscellany)

T - 120 minutes to kickoff—A hot summer-style day awaits those at the ballpark, the Staples Center Lake Show (although they are kept cool inside), the Long Beach Toyota Grand Prix circuit, and the fans flocking to Victoria Street.

Today, Marta and company take on Tiffany Milbrett, Eriko Arakawa, Christine Sinclair, Formiga, Leslie Osborne, and FC Gold Pride. Adding another dimension to the NorCal-So-Cal rivalry, FC Gold Pride look to take a bad taste out of their mouth in the form of 2-0 preseason defeats in Carson.

T - 82 minutes–I forgot to bring my mobile camera today, so I won't be on the field taking shots. Sorry if my play-by-play lacks visual color. I will do my best to make it colorful verbally. (And tastefully, too.)

T - 81 minutes–I really do not get the seating arrangements, so I decided to stay in the Media Overflow Section AGAIN. I actually am comfortable here, to be honest.

T - 76 minutes–I am flipping through the channels on the telly in my box.

Primera Division de Mexico. Flip.
Serie A. Flip.
Some chick dancing in her yellow skivvies with a slight mound of Venus with the face of a milf. Ooooh. Flip.
Golf. Flip.
Baseball. Angels 1, Twins 1. Flip.
Informercial. Flip.
Black screen. Flip.
Magic getting face time. Flip.

I'm getting bored. The teams prepare for their preliminaries while the sprinklers water the pitch.

T - 70 minutes—For the next few thousand seconds, I read a book on the history of the Archdiocese of Los Angeles. National anthem warm-up.

T - 68 minutes—Even promotional Warm-ups!? Whoa! Talk about being prepared.

T - 49 minutes—Channel 8 has the game in my press box. I take a look at the FC Gold Pride and La Sol Media Guides. The players go through their final preliminaries.
Interesting trivia regarding FC Gold Pride: they are owned by the NeSmith family and the youngest members-daughters, by the way-are a college freshman and a high school. junior. They look fresh enough to be deflowered the right way. Married to someone with a knowledge of the game of soccer combined with an astute business acumen to continue the family ownership of the club, that is. But interesting trivia, nonetheless.

T - 31 minutes—Today is Hispanic Heritage Day. So there's a mariachi band dishing out the Jarabe Tapatio outside the pitch. My gut feeling is that attendance is going to be a bit low, given the other options available, and the beach.

T - 35 minutes—The Sol acquired Martina Franko from the Vancouver Whitecaps. Franko would not be needed today. One of her former teammates, Christine Sinclair, will be leading the Gold Pride attack today.

T - 28 minutes—Los Angeles will be in their Sunday whites, while FC Gold Pride will don their black kit.

T - 23 minutes—Already watching the Lakers take on the Jazz. They would start their campaign with a 113-100 victory.

T - 14 minutes—The players already are in the dressing rooms getting final instructions. A few flag runners get ready.

T - 4 minutes—The players re-enter the field. A moment of silence for one of the people in my home town who was killed a few days after taking part in the WPS Inaugural Match against the Washington Freedom. You can look that up. I'm too upset to provide even more details about that.

Kickoff: 1:10 p.m.

1' And we are underway. The Angel City Brigade, and the marching band went AWOL today, and the stadium isn't at half capacity. More like quarter-capacity. Some annoying music over the speakers would also take place throughout the match.

2' Aya Miyama chasing a long pass, but easily intercepted by the Pride.

3' High shot from Aly Wagner, but misses the net by a few feet.

4' First set piece of the match: a FC Gold Pride Corner. Blocked.

6' Passing still suspect early on for the Sol.

8' Breakway volley by Osborne, but hits the side netting.

10' Free kick for Gold Pride. Yellow card to the Sol's Aly Wagner

11' First big save by Sol goalkeeper Karina LeBlanc.

14' Nice ball movemeny by Marta, but the passing is still a work in progress. The horns are out in force.

15' More solid defending from Brittany Bock and Stephanie Cox.

15' FC Gold Pride substitution:
IN: 20 Erika
OUT: 19 Dew

16' FC Goal Pride need to park the bus, LeBlanc and the Sol defense have outplayed their visiting counterparts this half.

17' Camile Abily and Miyama not connecting

18' A warning show by Christie Welsh stopped by Nicole Barnhart. Simon Allen of World Soccer Wrap drops in to chat about the game. Allen calls for the match to go 1-0 due to the heat, and for the team with the goal to hunker down on defense for the rest of the match.

Allen, like me, is disgruntled with the Los Angeles Galaxy's performance early this MLS season. "When AC Milan takes on the G's, I'll wear a Pirlo shirt," I said, placing a potato chip from the press pantry on my shoulder for emphasis.

19' Danger from Arakawa averted.

20' The Gold Pride midfield isn't clicking.

22' More good saves from LeBlanc.

23' Passing continues to be suspect for both teams. Could use a little WD-40.

25' Yet another stop, a kick save from LeBlanc. Gold Pride on the prowl, putting the pressure on the Sol...

26' Even the crosses are off for LA.

27' Allison Falk holding firm for a Gold Pride corner, which was stopped.

29' A bad shot by Welsh.

30' Manager Albertin Montoya and the Pride coaching staff clamor for a penalty after LeBlanc seemed to have impeded one of their players. No penalty given. Talk about respite.

31' Both teams running a tight game.

35' Seems both teams are slowing down to catch breath. The heat really taking a toll on the players.

36' First corner kick for LA

37' Offside on a would-be goal for Miyama. the home fans show their disgust. A bullet dodged by FC Gold PRide.

39' And the annoying noise that frustrated some of my friends from the LA Riot Squad got to work.

39' That's THREE corner kicks for Gold Pride. Three wasted set pieces, too.

42' Great marking by Rachel Buehler on Welsh. Buehler would be one of the players that would impress me today.

43' Poor shot selection by Miyama.

44' Great defensive marking by the Lionesses.

45' Another offsides goal. Rogers knew it. One minute of extra time to be added.

45' + 1' Not a good header by Miyama from Marta. Another easy opportunity missed. And Aya's woes weren't done with her yet.

Halftime
Los Angeles Sol 0
FC Gold Pride 0

This has been the story of the first half: Aya Miyama's bad luck has never been so pronounced. Add two goals called for offside and FC Gold Pride continue to count their blessings. But they didn't help themselves by hitting the side netting early in the opening stanza. It will be interesting to see how things unfold in the second half

Second Half - Kickoff 2:13 pm

46' The second half begins, and we can only hope for a breakout performance from either club.

47' GOAL! LOS ANGELESS #10 Marta, ASSIST #4 Aly Wagner
And there's the breakthrough goal I was mentioning. Wagner launched a pass to Marta, who used her speed to get past her markers and launch one past Barnhart. The goal is Marta's third of the season.

48' FC Gold Pride are on the ropes. A solid save from Barnhart.

49' Great marking on Miyama by Buehler.

50' And again, the Melancholy of Aya Miyama continues.

52' Another wasted cross. Miyama must be feeling like she's in purgatory today. Could it be the heat?

53' Yet another goal for LA called back for offside. Falk woould have notched her second goal of the campaign with that ripper.

54' I've lost count on how many times the Sol have been shafted by Adam Brugman and Maurizio Laudani raising their flags. I need me a calculator.

55' The Sol crowd holds its breath when Marta got smacked off a Gold Pride defensive play. She is all right though, and the home faithful breathe a sigh of relief.

56' FC Gold Pride substitution:
IN: 13 Graczyk
OUT: 7 Robinson

57' Solid defense by the Pride. This match has been a test of whose defense is better. Remove the scoreline, and it's hard to say who would win this war on the green.

59' Marta got held up on another breakway opportunity.

60' First big defensive stop from Formiga. Up until the 60th minute she was a non-factor this match. Better late than never, I suppose.

63' Gold Pride have rallied from a goal down before, in their home opener against the Boston Breakers.

64' A little hoity-toity...on both sides. Boy, don't you just get the feeling they want this match over and done?

66' Los Angeles Sol substitution:
IN: 17 Bogus
OUT: 13 Welsh
Liz Bogus was on the opening day roster for FC Gold Pride before being acquired by the Sol.

66' FC Gold Pride substitution:
IN: 15 Milbrett
OUT: 8 Weimer

68' Lazy shot from Gold Pride. They look like a spent bunch.

69' Pride assistant Jay Cooney ask for an explanation of the current state of affairs from fourth official Felisha Mariscal. Typical time-passer. (Or time-waster, depending on whose side you're on.)

70' Another save for Barnhart.

71' Well! Miyama can't finish, but she sure can clear. One can interpret it to be a break in the clouds for the No. 8 from LA.

72' A shot from Christine Sinclair saved by LeBlanc. I suppose when you have a fellow national team member shooting from what essentially is the penalty spot in terms of distance, you know where they will go...second before they take it.

75' Now it's the Sol who are dodging the bullets. There's another one that flew by them.

77' Harsh challenge. But no free kick toward the Sol. Could this be the break FC Gold Pride needs to get the equalizer?

78' Or is it this one? The Sol fouls continue to pile up, and what's more impressive is that Abner Rogers' composure is comparable to that of the ice-cold Scotsman, Melbourne Victory manager Ernie Merrick.

79' Well, it was neither of those two, nor this. Fluid ball movement by the Lionesses countered by LA's defensive presence.

80' Simply put, the Gold Pride cannot score inside the box. Every opportunity they have had, they wasted it.

82' Los Angeles Sol substitution:
IN: 12 Sari
OUT: 4 Wagner

83' Announcer calls the final result from Staples: LA Lakers 113, Utah Jazz 100. A healthy cheer from the crowd.

84' The Mexican Wave, sparked by the youth soccer teams in action at halftime, rolls around the stadium.

85' Threat dispossessed...by Marta

86' LeBlanc asking her team to press forward up ther field on a Sol goal kick.

87' And Marta had to shield her face from that Gold Pride volley.

88' Easy save of that Brittany Bock shot by Barnhart.

89' Another big save from LeBlanc. She has been the real deal at keeper for the Sol through three games.

90' Two minutes of stoppage time to be added.

90' + 1' Great marking by Alison Falk. The Sol defense continues to make every effort to preserve the shutout.

90' + 2' Los Angeles Sol substitution:
IN: 18 Larkin
OUT: 20 Abily

Final
Los Angeles Sol 1 (Marta 47')
FC Gold Pride 0