The 3rd week of WPS play kicked off with FC Gold Pride facing off with the Atlanta Beat. Philadelphia hosted the Washington Freedom, the Chicago Red Stars hosted Sky Blue FC, and the Boston Breakers made their way to St. Louis to play against the Athletica.

A late goal from Carrie Dew gave the Pride a 2-1 win over the Atlanta Beat. Tiffeny Milbrett, assisted by Camille Abily, scored the first goal of the night in the tenth minute. The Beat responded in the 24th minute on a goal from Mexican forward, Monica Ocampo, assisted by Angie Kerr. Both teams had chances in the second half but the game-winner came in the 89th minute on a cross from Ali Riley which Dew headed into the goal.

The Philadelphia Independence earned their first win of the season against the Washington Freedom. The Freedom gave up a 1-0 lead to a determined Philly team who came back and scored three unanswered goals. In the 50th minute, Abby Wambach crossed the ball to Lisa DeVanna, from Australia, who was unmarked and was easily able to score. Three minutes later, Amy Rodriguez brought a pass down with her chest, and blasted a rocket from 25 yards out to beat goalkeeper Meagan McCray and get Philly back in the game. Four minutes later, Allison Falk scored a header from a Lori Lindsey cross to double the team’s tally. The last goal came in the 67th minute as Lindsey got her second assist of the night cutting a defender and sending a cross to English international Liane Sanderson, who finished the play with a header.

The Chicago Red Stars continued their season on their streak of bad luck falling to Sky Blue FC 1-0. Natasha Kai score the lone goal in the 52nd minute lobbing a shot over Red Stars goalkeeper Jillian Loyden. Both Sky Blue wins have come against the Red Stars in the 1st and 3rd weeks. Chicago has only found the back of the net once this season.

The week closed with the Boston Breakers taking on the St. Louis Athletica in a wet field filled with puddles from a tornado that passed in St. Louis the day before. The field certainly had an effect on the speed and quality of play, and the game ended in a 1-1 draw. Boston scored first as Kasey Moore blasted a low shot from 18 yards out through a sea of Athletica defenders in the 21st minute. In the 27th minute, Tina Ellertson headed an Aya Miyama cross into danger in front of the goal, which Carolyn Blank got to knocking the ball in to equalize.

Next week, all four games will be played on Saturday, May 1st with an unusual FSC broadcast of a WPS game on a Saturday. That game will be Sky Blue FC vs FC Gold Pride at 6pm ET.

~Alondra Hernandez

View Original Post at prettytough.com

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• Soccer, Sports, WPS

This post is related to the following ongoing stories:

• 2010 WPS Season