Robert Mora | isiphotos.com

Marta scored a pair of second half goals as the Sol routed the Red Stars, 4-0, on Saturday.  Marta is now tied with teammate Camille Abily for the league lead in goals with eight.

Boxscore (all statistics contained in this boxscore are unofficial)

CARSON, Calif. (June 27, 2009) - The Los Angeles Sol routed the Chicago Red Stars, 4-0, on Saturday, June 27 at The Home Depot Center in Carson, Calif.  With the victory the Sol (10-1-4, 34 points) moved closer to clinching a playoff berth while the Red Stars (2-6-5, 11 points) remain mired in last place.

In a game that kicked off at 10am PT, the Sol began their offensive barrage in the 15th minute as Shannon Boxx scored her second goal of the season.  McCall Zerboni, making her first start of the season, found Boxx inside the penalty area. Boxx fired a shot past Red Stars goalkeeper Caroline Jonsson that bounced off the far post and into goal to give the Sol a 1-0 lead.

Five minutes later, midfielder Camille Abily tallied her league-leading eighth goal of the season.  From the left flank, Aya Miyama found Abily at the top of the box. Abily settled the ball and then shot it past Jonsson.

Chicago’s best chance of the game came in the 33rd minute when Cristiane played a ball into the box for Lindsay Tarpley, who put her shot in the net but was flagged for being offside.

The second half belonged to Sol forward Marta.  The Brazilian star struck for a pair of goals, the first coming in the 62nd minute when Miyama played a through ball that slipped Marta behind the Red Stars defense.  Marta pushed a left-footed shot inside of the far post to extend the Sol's advantage to 3-0.  The assist was Miyama's fifth of the season, a league best.

During injury time, second half substitute Aly Wagner sent a cross into the center of the box from the left flank.  Standing at the edge of the six-yard box, Marta one-timed it past Jonsson to secure the final margin of victory.  The goal tied Marta with Abily for the league lead at eight goals on the season.

The Sol's 4-0 margin of victory tied a WPS record originally set by the Red Stars in a 4-0 win over the Boston Breakers on April 25, 2009.  The win extended the Sol's unbeaten streak to 10 matches.  Los Angeles also remains undefeated at home on the season (nine matches).

The victory was Los Angeles's third of the week following a 2-0 blanking of FC Gold Pride on Sunday, June 21 and a 2-1 defeat of Saint Louis Athletica on Wednesday, June 24.

"It was a big challenge today as it was our third game in seven days, but I thought we played very well," said Sol head coach Abner Rogers. "Obviously, the result speaks for itself. The number of opportunities that we created was very satisfying."

The Red Stars (2-6-5) were shutout for the fourth consecutive match and have not scored since the second half of a June 7 match at FC Gold Pride, a WPS-record period of 403 minutes.  Chicago is winless in its last nine matches.

The Sol will now enjoy a few days off before traveling to Boyds, Md. to face the Washington Freedom on Sunday, July 5 in a match that will be broadcast on Fox Soccer Channel and webcast at womensprosoccer.com (6pm ET/3pm PT).  The Chicago Red Stars, meanwhile, will host the Washington Freedom on Wednesday, July 1 at Toyota Park in a game that will be webcast at chicagoredstars.com (8:30pm ET/5:30pm PT).

Boxscore (all statistics contained in this boxscore are unofficial)