Los Angeles-St. Louis: Sol Puts On Show Once Again

The Los Angeles Sol continue to roll.

Missouri's nickname is the "Show Me State." Given that, Abner Rogers' ladies indeed showed something to the home fans in green and silver.

At the Anheuser Busch Soccer Park in Fenton, Missouri, goals by Marta and Han Duan combined with holding off a late rally helped the Sol defeat St. Louis Athletica 2-1 and consolidate on their lead at the top of the Women's Professional Soccer standings.

In the 50th minute, Han came off the bench to break open the scoring deadlock. The goal was Han's second of the season.

In the 73rd minute, an Aya Miyama cross saw Aly Wagner feed the ball to the Brazilian No. 10 to make it 2-0. The goal was Marta's sixth of the campaign.

A late goal by Kerri Hanks from Eniola Aluko in the 81st minute for St. Louis wasn't enough for Athletica to rally against LA, who are 13 points ahead of the second-place Boston Breakers, who defeated the Washington Freedom 1-0 today.

St. Louis outshot LA 25-12, has more shots on goal (10 to six), and had a lion's share of the shots in the second half (16 to six).

Athletica also earned more corners in the match than the Sol (12 to two).

In the end, great shooting is no match for solid goalkeeping, and LA's No. 23 was clutch.

Sol goalkeeper Karina LeBlanc made eight saves, including five in the second half. 

With the victory, the Sol are 9-1-4 (31 points), and will take on the Chicago Red Stars in a morning match at the Home Depot Center on Saturday, June 27. Kickoff is scheduled for 1:00 PM ET (10:00AM PT).

Athletica's next match is on Sunday, June 28, where they will face Sky Blue FC at Yurcak Field. Kickoff is scheduled for 6:00PM ET, and will be televised by Fox Soccer Channel.