Marta's brace Sunday at Cal State East Bay powered FC Gold Pride 3-2 over the Washington Freedom in a game that was not as close as the final score suggests.

Washington was unfortunate to go down early in the 13th minute when Marta finished a penalty kick that was called on a questionable foul.  Freedom defender Beverly Goebel went to tackle FC Gold Pride forward Christine Sinclair in the box and when Sinclair fell over Goebel's body, referee Bryan Roslund pointed to the spot.  Marta stepped up and finished past Freedom goalkeeper Erin McLeod to give FC Gold Pride a 1-0 lead.

As FC Gold Pride dominated the match, the Freedom's frustration built up.  Head Coach Jim Gabarra was ejected from the match in the 26th minute after he kicked the sign boards in the technical area.  With no assistant coach on the road trip, back-up goalkeeper Ashlyn Harris had to take over responsibilities for substitutions.  Despite out-possessing Washington considerably in the first half, FC Gold Pride took only a 1-0 lead into halftime.

But Marta would strike for her second in the 65th minute, this time in style.  Christine Sinclair sent a cross into the Brazilian forward and she calmly brought the ball down, touched it around McLeod and finished to double the home side's lead.  Just six minutes later, Norwegian midfielder Solveig Gulbrandsen finished a great header off a Camille Abily cross to make it 3-0.  Gulbrandsen was playing in her second-to-last game with FC Gold Pride after mutually agreeing with the team to terminate her contract after the July 17 match against the Philadelphia Independence.  After that she will return to Norwegian club Stabaek IF, her former team.

FC Gold Pride Head Coach Albertin Montoya gave Rosie Tantillo and Kaley Fountain their first action of the year when they checked into the game in the 78th and 79th minutes, respectively, in what seemed to be an acknowledgement that the game was over, but the Freedom did not take kindly to the seeming slight on the team.  Brittany Bock found space in the 79th minute and sent a cross into Lene Mykjaland, who finished a header to get one back for the visitors.

As the Freedom pushed forward so too did the experiment to play Nikki Marshall up top and she continued to look sharp as a forward.  In the second minute of stoppage time, Marshall beat FC Gold Pride goalkeeper Brittany Cameron to make the game 3-2 and give the home team a scare, but it would not be enough for the Freedom.  Washington (4-4-5, 17 pts.) is now winless in its last six games and just 1-5-2 in its last eight games.

Washington was without midfielders Sarah Huffman and Allie Long and forward Abby Wambach, while FC Gold Pride was without goalkeeper Nicole Barnhart, defender Rachel Buehler and forward Kelly O'Hara.  All of those players are with the U.S. Women's National Team preparing for this week's matches against Sweden.  FC Gold Pride (9-3-1, 28 pts.) extended its lead at the top of the table with the win.  The idle Philadelphia Independence (6-4-3, 21 pts.) now sit seven points back of the league-leaders.

BOXSCORE

FC Gold Pride (9-3-1) vs. Washington Freedom (4-4-5)
Sunday, July 11, 2010 — Pioneer Stadium
FINAL

SCORING SUMMARY:

BAY: Marta 9 (Penalty Kick) 13'
BAY: Marta 10 (Christine Sinclair) 65'
BAY: Solveig Gulbrandsen 1 (Camille Abily) 71'
WSH: Lene Mykjaland 4 (Brittany Bock) 79'
WSH: Nikki Marshall 1 (Unassisted) 90+

FC GOLD PRIDE — Brittany Cameron, Kandace Wilson, Candace Chapman, Carrie Dew, Ali Riley (Kaley Fountain, 78'), Camille Abily, Solveig Gulbrandsen, Becky Edwards (Rosie Tantillo, 78'), Christine Sinclair, Marta, Kimberly Yokers (Tiffeny Milbrett, 59')

Substitutes Not Used: Kristen Graczyk, Kiki Bosio, Erin Guthrie

WASHINGTON FREEDOM — Erin McLeod, Rebecca Moros, Nikki Marshall, Cat Whitehill, Becky Sauerbrunn, Sonia Bompastor, Beverly Goebel, Brittany Klein (Brittany Bock, 52'), Homare Sawa, Lene Mykjaland (Kristi Eveland, 81'), Christie Welsh (Caitlin Miskel, 66')

Substitutes Not Used: Alex Singer, Ashlyn Harris

TEAM STATS:

MISCONDUCT SUMMARY:
WSH: Christie Welsh (Caution) 58'
WSH: Brittany Bock (Caution) 87'

Referee: Bryan Roslund
Referee Assistants: Colin Arblaster, Said Ravanfar
4th Official: Vicente Cortes
Attendance: N/A