Los Angeles-Washington: Abily Brace Paces Sol Over the Freedom

The argument can be made that this was a good weekend for soccer in the City of Angels.

In actuality, it was a great weekend. A solid weekend. A perfect weekend to kick a round ball around with friends and family on a Sunday afternoon.

The Galaxy got on the winning track against hapless Toronto FC. Chivas USA took care of business against the Seattle Sounders.

And as for the Los Angeles Sol? Well, they were just their old selves again.

It wasn't the WPS Inaugural Game all over again against the Washington Freedom for Abner Rogers' club on Sunday. It was an improvement.

A Camille Abily brace gave the Sol a 3-1 rout of Jim Gabarra's Freedom, capping a successful three-game homestand, which saw a draw against Chicago sandwiched between wins against Washington and St. Louis Athletica.

The midfielder from Rennes first got on the board with a 14th minute tap-in. A long pass from Shannon Boxx down the left sideline went to Aya Miyama, who brought it home to a waiting Abily.

Washington was nearly able to equalize in the 18th minute, but the Sol's defense, led by Alison Falk, held the 4-3-3 of the Freedom back.

In the 57th minute, Sonia Bompastor equalized for Washington. The French international took advantage of set piece pass by the Freedom's Cat Whitehill to send one past keeper Karina LeBlanc.

The deadlock would only last three minutes.

In the 60th minute, McCall Zerboni—who subbed in for Aly Wagner due to a head gash suffered in the 21st-served a cross for Brittany Bock. As Bock made a header, Whitehill's arm deflected the ball.

Referee Ted Unkel pointed to spot, where Abily sent Freedom goalkeeper Erin McLeod the wrong direction to make it 2-1.

Abily now leads all WPS goal scorers with six for the season.

Los Angeles put the icing on the cake six minutes after. A give-and-go from Marta saw Bock tally her second goal of the season in the 66th to make it 3-1 Sol.

"It was a great performance out there today; we are very happy with the way we played," said an enthused Rogers after the match. "We did what we had to do today to control the rhythm and win the game."

For Bock, her goal was a present for her mother, who was recognized during the match.

"I wanted to get a goal for my mom today, it's her birthday," the rookie from Notre Dame said after the match. "We really focused on the wall pass and on 2 v 1 situations in training.

"I knew I would get it back if I found Marta, because she was it in the right spot on the field to receive my pass."

Gabarra admitted that the handball fouls haunted the Freedom. "It was a fairly even game, but we made three pretty bad defensive lapses," he said after the match. "They have been taking advantage of those all year and they did again today.

"We got the equalizer, but next time they were in our end we gave up a hand ball. We are getting better defensively but, obviously [the Sol] are the best team in the league with so many weapons and so hard to stop."

Los Angeles outshot Washington 12-7 (4-3 shots on goal), but were rusty with their passes, committing five offsides to the Freedom's two.

In spite of the room for improvement, the Sol's chances of not only clinching a playoff spot, but hosting the WPS Championship Game, are already improving with each victory.

They will hit the road to face Sky Blue FC at Joe Yurcak Field on the campus of Rutgers University next Saturday. Kickoff is scheduled for 7:00PM ET and will be televised by NBA Universal Sports.

The Washington Freedom will also be in action next Saturday as they host the Chicago Red Stars in a WPS/MLS doubleheader. Kickoff is scheduled for 4:30PM ET.

 06.07.2009: Carson, CA - The Home Depot Center

WASHINGTON FREEDOM - LOS ANGELES SOL 1:3 (0:1)
      1     2     F
Washington     0     0     0
Los Angeles     1     2     3

Scoring Summary
LOS - Camille Abily (Shannon Boxx, Aya Miyama) 14'
WAS - Sonia Bompastor (ua) 57'
LOS - Camille Abily (pk) 60'
LOS - Brittany Bock (Marta) 66'

Lineups

LA: Karina Leblanc; Keri Sanchez, Allison Falk, Martina Franko, Stephanie Cox; Aly Wagner (28: McCall Zerboni (88: Katie Larkin)), Camille Abily, Shannon Boxx ©, Aya Miyama; Brittany Bock, Marta.

WAS: Erin McLeod; Jill Gilbeau (72: Rebecca Moros), Cat Whitehill, Alex Singer, Becky Sauerbrunn, Joanna Lohman, Sonia Bompastor, Homare Sawa; Allie Long (81: Parrissa Eyoroken), Lisa DeVanna, Abby Wambach ©.


Misconduct Summary
WAS - Joanna Lohman (caution) 8'
LOS - Shannon Boxx (caution) 71'

Statistics  WAS / LA
Shots 7 (4) / 12 (2)
Shots on Goal 3 (1) / 4 (1)
Saves 1 (0) / 2 (1)
Fouls 7 (4) / 7 (3)
Corners  8 (6) / 6 (4)
Offside 2 (2) / 5 (3)
 
Referee: Ted Unkel
Linesmen: Adam Brugman, Colin Arblaster
4th Official: Ryan VanDuyne

Attendance: 5,497
Weather: Sunny and 76 Degrees