World Player of the Year Abby Wambach allocated to Western New York Flash
January 11, 2013 - National Women's Soccer League (NWSL)
Western New York Flash News Release
Buffalo, NY--- The Western New York Flash of the National Women's Soccer League (NWSL) is excited to announce the Six National Team players that have been allocated to the club for the 2013 season. Headlining the list of players is hometown hero Abby Wambach, who has just recently been named the FIFA World player of the year after leading the US National team to a Gold Medal at the London 2012 Olympics. Joining Wambach in WNY will be her teammate Carli Lloyd who scored two goals in the Gold Medal match against Japan.
"This is an incredibly exciting time for not only our club, but for the Western New York community. The Western New York Flash are proud to have been at the forefront of women's soccer over the past few years and look forward to leading the way with the addition of Rochester native and 2012 FIFA World Player of the year Abby Wambach along with two time Olympic gold medalist Carli Lloyd," said club president Alex Sahlen.
Wambach, 32, is a two time gold medalist, five time US Soccer Player of the year, and three time All American at the University of Florida. The Pittsford native has previously played with the Washington Freedom in the WUSA and returned with the club after the WPS was launched and continued with the club when they relocated to Boca Raton. Following the US National Team's impressive run to the World Cup Final in 2011, Wambach returned to Rochester to a WPS record crowd of over 15,000 fans where her squad was defeated by the WPS Champions WNY Flash. The Second all time leading goal scorer in US History will have a massive following in the WNY area.
Lloyd, a two time Olympic Gold Medalist, has 142 appearances for the US National team scoring 42 goals. The Rutgers University alumnus played professionally in the WPS for Sky Blue FC, the Chicago Red Stars, and the Atlanta Beat. Lloyd, 30, scored two goals to help lead the US to a Gold Medal Final in the London Olympics in August. The attacking center midfielder also scored the game winning goal in the 2008 Olympic Gold Medal Final against Brazil.
The Flash were also allocated two familiar faces in Jodi-Ann Robinson from the 2012 WPSL Elite WNY Flash Squad, and Pamela Tajonar, the starting goalkeeper from the 2010 W-League Champion Flash. Robinson, 24 this year, is a member of the Canadian National Team and has 50 appearances and 5 goals. Robinson, like Wambach and Lloyd, appeared in the 2011 Womens World Cup in Germany. Robinson came on strong for the Flash in their run to a third straight championship this past season assisting on Laura Heyboer's goal in the WPSL Elite semi-final, and assisting on the game tying goal in the final seconds of the match to send it to overtime and ultimately into a penalty kick victory for the Flash.
Tajonar, 28, will return to WNY after winning a W-League here in 2010, appearing 9 times for the Flash posting a .692 save percentage in their run to their W-League title. The Mexican National Team player is currently playing in the Spanish 1st Division for Levante Las Planas after playing in the Swedish first division with powerhouse Ldb Malmo. Tajonar has 36 caps for Mexico and has appeared in the 2004 Olympics and 2011 World Cup.
Mexican National Team player Veronica Perez and Canadian Bryanna McCarthy were also allocated to the WNY Flash. The University of Washington product was the 37th pick overall by the St Louis Athletica in the 2010 WPS Draft. Following the 2012 season, she played for the Seattle Sounders in the W-League with former Flash player Alex Morgan. Internationally, Perez is best known for her game winning goal against the United States in 2010 to send Mexico through to the 2011 World Cup. McCarthy, 21 recently finished up a solid career at the University of West Virginia, helping lead them to a 13th consecutive NCAA tournament appearance in 2012 while earning National Soccer Coaches Association of America (NSCAA) All-America Third Team honors. She was also named the Big 12 Defensive Player of the Year, becoming the program's first defensive player to earn a conference major award.
National Women's Soccer League Stories from January 11, 2013
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