WPS: St. Louis, Sky Blue earn first wins

In week seven of Women's Professional Soccer, the scoring slowed down. But the two winless teams -- Sky Blue FC and St. Louis Athletica -- both earned wins.

The Chicago Red Stars dropped their first decision of the year. And despite a scoreless draw, the Los Angeles Sol and the Boston Breakers held on to their No. 1 and No. 2 positions in the league.

EDWARDSVILLE, Ill. -- Lori Chalupny tallied the lone goal, giving St. Louis Athletica its first WPS win.

St. Louis (1-2-2) hadn't scored a goal until last weekend when it tallied three. This weekend the scoring continued and the club won its first WPS match.

Chalupny took a corner kick for St. Louis in the 16th minute. She bent the left-footed shot behind FC Gold Pride goalkeeper Nicole Barnhart and just inside the far post.

FC Gold Pride (2-3-1) had 12 shots on the night, with five on goal. Athletica goalkeeper Hope Solo made five saves, including stopping late chances by forwards Eriko Arakawa and Christine Sinclair and defender Carrie Dew.

"I feel a lot more relaxed," Athletica head coach Jorge Barcellos said. "It is kind of hard when you are representing a town and a city and you can't get a win in four games. When you get the win, you are relieved that you finally got what you are looking for."

BRIDGEVIEW, Ill. -- Forwards Sarah Walsh and Natasha Kai netted goals as Sky Blue FC earned its first win.

Sky Blue midfielder Collette McCallum sent the ball to Walsh. She crossed the ball into the left side netting to give her club a 1-0 lead in the eighth minute.

In the 79th minute, Sky Blue (1-2-2) doubled its lead. Kelly Parker crossed the ball to Kai in the right side of the box. Kai tapped it in for her first goal of the campaign.

"Obviously coming in to play such a strong side like Chicago, we had our work cut out for us," said Sky Blue FC head coach Ian Sawyers. "I'm very proud of my team. They played with a lot of heart and poise tonight. And we started scoring goals, which is a good sign for us.

Red Stars goalkeeper Caroline Jonsson has now allowed just three goals on the year. Chicago (2-1-2) suffered its first loss of the season.

CARSON, Calif. -- The Los Angeles Sol and Boston Breakers, No. 1 and No. 2 in WPS, had trouble finding the net Sunday afternoon.

The game wasn't without opportunities. Boston (3-2-1) led the attack with 11 shots, including three on goal. But the Los Angeles defense and goalkeeper Karina LeBlanc were too tough to get through.

Los Angeles (3-1-2) had eight shots with one on goal in the first half.

The top two goal-scorers in the league Kelly Smith (Boston, four goals) and Marta (Los Angeles, three goals) were held without a shot on goal.

"Getting the point on the road is not a bad result," Breakers head coach Tony DiCicco said. "I'm not totally satisfied, but I think it was probably the right result. It was an even game and hard-fought by both teams."