July 28, 2010 DYNAMIC DUO Rodriguez, Seger power Independence past Red Stars
Caroline Seger scored her first goal of the season to close out Philadelphia’s 3-0 win over the Red Stars. Linda Cuttone/Sports Vue Images
WEST CHESTER, Pa---For the second straight game, Amy Rodriguez and Caroline Seger took control. Rodriguez scored two goals and set up Seger’s first tally for the Philadelphia Independence in a 3-0 win over the Chicago Red Stars at Farrell Stadium Wednesday night.
Rodriguez, who has scored nine goals in the last six games, started the barrage early, finishing off a ball from Lori Lindsey into the lower right corner of the net in the 12th minute. Lindsey got hold of a bad clearance and sent the ball ahead to Rodriguez, whose shot deflected off a Red Stars defender and past goalkeeper Jillian Loyden.
Rodriguez completed her brace in the 28th, driving a left-footed shot to the upper right side of the net. Nikki Kryzsik set the stage with a long ball over the top. Rodriguez beat two defenders before chipping the ball over Loyden.
Rodriguez now has 11 goals, two behind WPS scoring leader Marta (Bay Area).
“A-Rod is in unbelievable form,” said Independence head coach Paul Riley. “She’s scored in six consecutive games. She scored another game winner. In this kind of form, she’s tough to manage. I think if she was on Chicago, they probably win the game. I think she is just a difference maker in the league right now.”
Red Stars coach Omid Namazi agreed.
“At the end of the day, you have a player like Rodriguez, she’s going to be that player that’s going to make the difference. Right now, I am missing that one player,” Namazi said.
Rodriguez, who had both her goals against Sky Blue FC last on Saturday set up by Seger, returned the favor Wednesday night, as the Swede scored her first goal of the season in the 56th minute. Rodriguez curled a ball inside the box to the unmarked Seger, who put it past Loyden.
“It was a perfect pass from A-rod,” Seger said “She had two passes from me last week, so I think she felt like she owed me one.”
Seger had three assists on Saturday, something Riley owes to confidence.
“She is a completely different player right now,” Riley said. “She’s turned the corner now. I think Seger is the kind of player that, once she got a bit of confidence, she’s going to go on and do more things. Lori Lindsey basically ran the midfield all season. Maybe it will be a chance for Seger to push on now and give Lori a breather a little bit. Maybe she is going to be the one that is going to get some production, some goals and assists.”
Riley feels the production from the midfield is a key to the team being able to continue to win and make a strong run to the playoffs. With an 8-5-3 record and 27 points, they are eight points ahead of both Boston and Sky Blue, with those teams having a game in hand. They are ten points ahead of Washington and Chicago.
“I think that I am in a good rhythm right now,” said Seger of her performance. “It’s easy to play when my teammates are doing a great job, We’re defending as a team and we’re attacking as a team and we are playing very well together. I’ve been playing the last couple of games, not injured, I didn’t have any red cards and I’m not away with the National Team, so I think that I got a good rhythm.”
The independence took 12 shots in the game, but put only five on frame. Riley said despite the win, we was not happy with the team’s overall performance, but was excited by the shutout.
“To get the clean sheet tonight was fantastic,” Riley said. “I think it puts us in good stead for the run in. The more clean sheets we get, the more confidence we get from a defensive point of view. Until we crack this clean sheet thing, we could go out of the playoffs very quickly.”
Philadelphia forward Holmfridur Magnusdottir was issued a red card in second-half stoppage time for a malicious tackle. She will miss Philadelphia's Aug. 4 match against the Washington Freedom, however Riley plans to protest the card
After losing two straight, the Independence have won their last two games convincingly, having beaten Sky Blue 4-1 on Saturday. Both wins have come with Val Henderson in goal.
“Terrific game again,” Riley said of Henderson. “She did the simple stuff well. They didn’t have a lot of shots on net and her decision-making was good. Goalkeeping to me is 90 percent decision making and she made very good decisions.
“She’s been steady. She’s in form and we’ll probably go with her again. She is starting to garner more confidence.”
Henderson only needed to make one save in the game, with Chicago taking nine total shots, only one on goal. The lone on-target attempt came in the 84th minute, when forward Cristiane challenged Henderson from distance.
“It always feels great to get a shutout,” Henderson. Paul has been talking about playing a full ninety minutes, not letting up late goals, and I think we pretty much did that tonight.”
