Rapinoe and the Red Stars

I took advantage of a family vacation to the Midwest to catch the final home game of the Chicago Red Stars Aug. 2. (Video highlights are at the WPS site, http://www.womensprosoccer.com ) Red Stars versus L.A. Sol matched two former Pilots on the pitch: Megan Rapinoe at midfield for Chicago against Stephanie Cox on the very stingy Sol defense; sadly for us Portlanders, another Pilot, Lisa Sari, did not get in the game for L.A. Also in the house a few rows below us was Rachael Rapinoe rooting for her twin sister. Beyond Pilot-watching, the main attractions were the Brazilian superstar forwards Christiane for Chicago and Marta for L.A., who put on an amazing display of power, speed and finesse. The game was a real crowd-pleaser. The only bummer was that we fans had to sit with the evening sun square in our eyes while the shady side of Toyota Park remained closed. The crowd of just under 8,000 was the team's largest, the anouncer said.

On paper this game should have been all L.A. -- the Sol is league champ, and until coming to Chicago had scored 4 goals for every goal allowed. Chicago, on the other hand, was next to last in the standings and didn't make the playoffs. L.A. seemed to be making all the right passes while Chicago turned over the ball too often. But Chicago jumped out to a lead on a great give-and-go between Carly Lloyd and LindsayTarpley, with Lloyd knocking it home for a 1-0 lead at the half. Tarpley doubled the margin early in the 2nd half with a header that resulted after a powerful cross by Megan. Although Marta threatened throughout, only at the very end did L.A. notch a goal. Christine semed to take it as a personal insult and attacked on the dribble 1 v. 1 against Marta (what she was doing back there as the final line of defense at that time, I can't imagine) and scored left-footed to close it out at a surprising result of 3-1.

Megan is already a crowd favorite, with many fans cheering her by name. She was a defensive stopper, a wide-ranging attacker and precision passer until being lifted late in the 2nd half. In the first half she took one wild an uncoordinated left-footed swing and miised the ball -- oops -- falling down in the process, on what would have been a great scoring chance. She signed autographs long after the game ended. For L.A., Cox demonstrating her excellent passing and defensive skills. Both the UP stars acquitted themselves well among the very talented pool of players.

Great game, great fun in the sun, great memories.

The link has an extra period that prevents it from working. Try this:

http://www.womensprosoccer.com/