Marta scores twice in win over Red Stars
Sol forward Marta darted across a hallway, headed for the locker room, when a fan stopped to ask for an autograph. She scrawled her signature on the side of the bobblehead doll, leaving her imprint much as she did in the game that ended minutes earlier.
Her consecutive goals in the second half Saturday propelled the Sol to a 4-0 victory against the Chicago Red Stars in front of an announced 4,653 at the Home Depot Center.
More important, it put the Sol comfortably atop the Women’s Professional Soccer standings, increasing its lead over the second-place Boston Breakers.
The Sol produced its highest-scoring game of the season and held its opponent scoreless for the 11th time in 15 games.
As in its previous home game, the Sol cobbled together a pair of first-half goals -- Shannon Boxx and Camille Abily in the 15th and 20th minutes, respectively -- for the third time this season. The Sol’s offensive production, however, dipped from six shots on goal in the first half to two in the second.
Those two, of course, belonged to Marta.
“My job, like anyone else on the team, is just to score goals,” said Marta, who tied Abily for a league-leading eight goals. “I took advantage of both opportunities that I had and scored two goals to help my team.”
The Sol (10-1-4) was also aided by McCall Zerboni (one assist) and Aya Miyama (two assists), whose passing influenced the first three goals.
The Sol travels to play the Washington Freedom at Discovery Sports Center on July 5.
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