WPS Weekly - Week 3

April 27, 2011 - Women's Professional Soccer (WPS) News Release

Week 3 in Review

After two weeks of waiting, magicJack kicked off their 2011 campaign on Saturday on their home turf at FAU Soccer Stadium in Boca Raton, FL. The South Florida team celebrated their home opener at FAU Soccer Stadium with a 1-0 win over the visiting Boston Breakers. The long-awaited 2011 WPS debut of Abby Wambach and the magicJack squad didn't disappoint, as the team came out looking strong. Under the guidance of first-year head coach Mike Lyons, magicJack earned its first victory of the season on a goal by Ella Masar in the 26th minute of play, which was set up by Wambach. The Breakers would generate their own opportunities to score, including a set-piece strike from English international Kelly Smith that hit the cross bar, but were turned away by magicJack goalkeeper Jillian Loyden who made 12 saves in the match.

On Sunday, Atlanta Beat hosted the Western New York Flash at KSU Soccer Stadium for the WPS Sunday game of the week, which was televised nationally on Fox Soccer Channel. All four goals in the match were scored in impressive fashion, making this one of the most exciting matches of the young season. The Flash struck first, as Canadian Christine Sinclair scored in only the second minute of play. The Flash seemed to have the upper hand in the first half but couldn't capitalize on their opportunities. The match changed in the second half as Beat captain Lori Chalupny swung the game's momentum in her favor in the 58th minute of play by burying an impressive far post shot in the side netting. Five-time FIFA World Player of the Year Marta made her 2011 WPS debut as a second half sub for the Flash, and wasted no time in kicking off her campaign to claim her third PUMA Golden Boot, scoring in the 67th minute of play to once again give the Flash the upper hand. The Beat would answer back just three minutes later as Carli Lloyd hammered home a shot from 20 yards out over the head of Flash goalkeeper Ashlyn Haris, erasing the one-goal deficit and tying up the game at 2 apiece. Beat goalkeeper Alli Lipsher turned in another outstanding performance, making 10 saves in the match including a few in the final minutes, as the Flash turned up their attack, to preserve the tie for the home team.

The Philadelphia Independence and Sky Blue FC had byes in Week 3.

2011 WPS Regular Season Standings

W L T P GF GA +/-

Flash 1 0 1 4 4 3 1

Atlanta Beat 1 1 1 4 4 6 -2

magicJack 1 0 0 3 1 0 1

Breakers 1 2 0 3 5 4 1

Independence 0 0 1 1 2 2 0

Sky Blue FC 0 1 1 1 2 3 -1

Saturday

magicJack 1, Boston Breakers 0

Sunday

Atlanta Beat 2, Western New York Flash 2

LIIPSHER MAKES IT BACK-TO-BACK PLAYER OF THE WEEK HONORS

Goalkeeper Alli Lipsher followed her heroic performance in the Atlanta Beat's first victory this season with another stunning showing and has won the Women's Professional Soccer's Player of the Week award for Week 3, the second straight week she's been honored.

The Hawaiian goalkeeper becomes the first player to win in successive weeks since WPS kicked off in 2009, and she is one of nine players honored more than once. Western New York forward Marta and magicJack forward Abby Wambach have each won five times.

Lipsher, who joined the Beat during the offseason, made 13 saves to lead the Beat in a 2-2 draw Saturday night with the visiting Western New York Flash. She made 11 saves a week earlier in Atlanta's 1-0 victory over Sky Blue FC. The Beat claimed four points in games in which they were outshot, 28-8.

The WPS Player of Week is selected by a panel of journalists from the North American Soccer Reporters.

Week 1: Allie Long (Sky Blue FC)

Week 2: Alli Lipsher (Atlanta Beat)

Week 3: Alli Lipsher (Atlanta Beat)

WPS WEEK 4 PREVIEW

Sunday, May 1 will mark the first of only two times this season all six teams will play on the same day.

Sunday, May 1

Western New York Flash vs. Atlanta Beat (4:00 pm ET)

Sahlen's Stadium | Rochester, NY

- Sunday will mark the 2011 expansion team Western New York Flash's inaugural home game and first ever WPS match at Sahlen's Stadium in Rochester, NY.

- The Beat and Flash will face off for the second time in as many weeks. This is the only occurrence in the WPS schedule where teams will meet in back-to-back weekends for a home-and-home series.

- After three weeks of competition, the Beat and Flash are currently tied at the top of the WPS Standings table. The Flash are one game behind the Beat in the schedule, the Western New York team had a bye in Week 1, while the Beat have played in all three week so far this season.

- WNY Flash forward Christine Sinclair has a track record of being a speedy producer against the Beat, scoring in the second minute of play in last week's match. Sinclair also set the WPS record for fastest goal in a game on July 3, 2010 when she scored in the first minute of play against the Beat.

magicJack vs. Philadelphia Independence (4:00 pm ET)

FAU Soccer Stadium| Boca Raton, FL

- After a successful start to the team's 2011 campaign in Week 3, magicJack will host its second consecutive home game at FAU Stadium.

- With the first meeting between these two teams being postponed due to weather, this will be the first time Philly and magicJack will faceoff.

- The Independence travels to South Florida in search of the team's first win of the season. Amy Rodriguez and the Independence team have not seen WPS action in two weeks.

Boston Breakers vs. Sky Blue FC (6 PM ET)

Harvard Stadium | Cambridge, MA | Fox Soccer Channel

- Sunday's match marks the first matchup of the season between the Boston Breakers and Sky Blue FC. Both Boston and Sky Blue FC are part of the core of founding teams that entered the league in the inaugural season in 2009. The teams have met eight times in the last two years resulting in a 4-1-3 record in favor of Sky Blue FC.

- Sky Blue FC is coming off of its first bye week of the season, and is one of two teams still seeking their first win of 2011.

- After being handed their second consecutive loss, the Breakers are looking to get back in the win column on Sunday.

- Boston is 0-1 in 2011 when playing in the WPS Sunday Game of the Week on Fox Soccer Channel. Sky Blue FC is 0-0-1 in Sunday TV games.

NEWS, NOTES AND QUOTES FROM AROUND THE LEAGUE

Breakers Raise more than $2,000 for Tsunami Relief efforts in Japan

The Boston-based team raised more than $2,000 at its Kicks for Japan Clinic. The team held the charity soccer clinic on Friday, April 15th to benefit ongoing relief efforts in earthquake ravaged Japan. Kicks for Japan was spearheaded by Breakers players Taryn Hemmings and Claire Zimmeck, who trained with the Japanese Club TEPCO Mareeze during the off-season. Both Hemmings and Zimmeck returned to the United States just two weeks before the magnitude 9.0 earthquake struck northern Japan. TEPCO (Tokyo Electric Power Company) operates the nation's nuclear power plants, including the stricken nuclear reactor at Fukushima.

Atlanta Beat Head Coach James Galanis on facing Western New York in back-to-back weekends

"It is very difficult. Especially when we are playing against a team as good as WNY. No one expected us to do so well against them and neither did they. So we are expecting WNY to come out with a mission to prove the 2-2 result was a fluke. We need to be ready for them. It's going to be hard for both teams."

Boston Breakers head Coach Tony DiCicco on the upcoming match against Sky Blue FC and his lineup for the weekend

"The Breakers need a strong game vs. Sky Blue after two losses. Sky Blue also will have a lot of incentive after their last game, which was a defeat, so we should expect a difficult match, but also need to show our home fans what we are made of."

DiCicco expects Boston's U.S. Women's National Team players - Amy LePeilbet, Lauren Cheney, Rachel Buehler, Stephanie Cox, and Kelley O'Hara - to be available, but doesn't know how much they can contribute this weekend.

"I expect the WNT players to be here for the match, but they have been working very hard and were tired for the match vs. magicJack on Saturday, so we will make line-up decisions later in the week."

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Women's Professional Soccer Stories from April 27, 2011

• Beat's Lipsher Named Player of the Week for Week 3 - Atlanta Beat
• WPS Weekly - Week 3 - WPS
• Breakers Trade Draft Pick to Sky Blue FC for Kiersten Dallstream - Boston Breakers
• Sky Blue FC Works Trade with Boston Breakers - Sky Blue FC

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