Sports stats



WPS Sky Blue FC

Sky Blue FC Regular Season Roster Announced

April 1, 2010 - Women's Professional Soccer (WPS)
Sky Blue FC News Release


Somerset, N.J. (Thursday, April 1, 2010) - With Women's Professional Soccer (WPS) Kick-Off Week getting started next weekend, defending league champion Sky Blue FC named its 18-player active roster and four developmental players today. Sky Blue FC will start the quest to defend its championship next Sunday, April 11th, when the team hosts the Chicago Red Stars for a 6:00 p.m. match at Yurcak Field on the campus of Rutgers University.

"It is a gratifying, and sometimes difficult, process to have come up with this final roster," Sky Blue FC head coach Pauliina Miettinen commented. "But after so many weeks of careful study, tryouts and preseason training, I am thrilled to be a part of a squad with high quality in every position. What's more, our careful attention to team chemistry has already created that essential camaraderie among them. 2010, here we come!"

Joining the returning players (Anita Asante, Yael Averbuch, Karen Bardsley, Jenni Branam, Keeley Dowling, Tasha Kai, Heather O'Reilly, Christie Rampone, Rosana, Meghan Schnur, Kacey White) are three of the best internationals in Europe (Laura Kalmari, Daphne Koster, Jessica Landstrom), as well as U.S. National Team midfielder Carli Lloyd. Newcomers Brittany Taylor (UConn), Katie Schoepfer (Penn State), Ashley Thompson (UCLA), Angela Salem (Francis Marion), Danielle Johnson (Ole Miss), Meagan Snell (Santa Clara) and Kiersten Dallstream (Washington State) round out the 2010 squad.

"I am proud to be part of the extensive process of having built what I am confident is a 2010 team well worthy of our 2009 WPS Championship defense," Sky Blue FC General Manager Gerry Marrone stated. "I carefully followed the entire preseason and traveled to Florida specifically to watch them in action in their second scrimmage. I believe this group of players has every ingredient for success."

Sky Blue FC has seen much success on both sides of the field thus far in the preseason. In five exhibition matches, the team has out-scored the opposition by a cumulative score of 22-0 despite missing many players from its last two exhibitions due to national team call-ups. Five U.S. players (Averbuch, Lloyd, O'Reilly, Schnur, Taylor) and three internationals (Bardsley-England, Kalmari-Finland, Koster-Netherlands) just completed training with their respective national teams. Taylor, who was the first round draft pick of Sky Blue FC in the 2010 WPS Draft, received her first cap with the U.S. National Team last night in a 1-0 victory over Mexico.

• Discuss this story on the Women's Professional Soccer message board...

Women's Professional Soccer Stories from April 1, 2010


The opinions expressed in this release are those of the organization issuing it, and do not necessarily reflect the thoughts or opinions of OurSports Central or its staff.

OurSports Central