WPS All-Stars Defeat Umea IK, 4-2

August 30, 2009 - Women's Professional Soccer (WPS) News Release

FENTON, Mo. (Aug. 30, 2009) - The WPS All-Stars downed Swedish national champion Umeå, 4-2, in the WPS All-Star Game presented by the Coast Guard on Sunday, Aug. 30 at The Anheuser-Busch Soccer Park in Fenton, Mo. After falling behind 2-0 after 15 minutes, the WPS All-Stars responded with four unanswered goals to win the inaugural WPS All-Star Game.

In just the second minute, Umeå IK served notice that they would be a formidable foe as Mami Yamaguchi, who won the 2007 MAC Hermann Trophy as the NCAA's best player while at Florida State, sent a through ball to Madelaine Edlund on the right side of the box. With only the Los Angeles Sol's Karina LeBlanc to beat, Edlund fired her shot past the WPS All-Star goalkeeper to give Umeå an early 1-0 lead.

Umeå kept on the attack as two minutes later Yamaguchi unleashed a dipping shot from 30 yards out, which LeBlanc had to tip out of bounds to keep from going into the upper right corner.

In the 15th minute, Umeå made it 2-0 when Edlund again found space on the right flank and cranked a shot which LeBlanc got a paw to, but the rebound went straight to Sofia Jakobsson. The Swedish forward banged a shot off the left post to increase Umeå's lead.

"We know each other so well, so of course we had the advantage," said Umeå head coach Mika Sankala. "We pressed them higher at the beginning and tried to win the ball early. And I think we did very well. We created great chances and scored goals."

Down by two goals, the WPS All-Stars began to settle into the game and find their rhythm. In the 24th minute, Marta zoomed down the left flank and attempted to serve a cross into the box, but it deflected off teammate Cristiane right back to Marta. The Los Angeles Sol forward's next serve found its mark as Lilly streaked to the top of the box to fire a shot that bounced off the left post before finally settling into the goal to trim Umeå's lead to 2-1.

Gaining momentum after their goal, the WPS All-Stars had a few prime opportunities to knot the score. In the 28th minute, Marta went on a breakaway down the left flank, but Soberg rushed out to stuff Marta's shot. The rebound fell to Megan Rapinoe at the top of the box, but the Chicago Red Stars' midfielder mishit the ball, which looped harmlessly out of bounds.

A minute later, the Sol's Shannon Boxx sent a cross into the penalty area, which Saint Louis Athletica's Tina Ellertson headed off the left goalpost.

In the 40th, Marta tied the score as she received the ball at the top of the 18-yard box from Chicago's Cristiane and threw a few fakes to set up a left-footed shot into the far corner.

"It was nice that we went into halftime tied," said Saint Louis Athletica's Lori Chalupny. "It would have been a bit of a struggle to go in down a goal and feel like you have to come out and get one back right away in the second half."

Urgency, however, marked the WPS All-Stars play when they came out of the locker room as they immediately took control of the game.

Just two minutes after halftime, the WPS All-Stars grabbed the lead as Marta, who moved to left midfield after the break, passed the ball to FC Gold Pride forward Christine Sinclair in front of the box. Sinclair knocked it into the goal to give the WPS All-Stars a 3-2 advantage.

"We got a goal immediately and I think we had momentum," said WPS All-Star head coach Abner Rogers, who also serves as the Los Angeles Sol's head coach. "We started to really move the ball around well. The movement was really good in the second half."

Two minutes later Sinclair pushed the WPS All-Stars lead to 4-2 as she dribbled down the right flank, drew Soberg off her line and fired it past the Umeå goalkeeper.

In the 52nd minute, Sinclair had a chance to notch a hat trick on a breakaway, but shot directly into Soberg's feet. Umeå then counterattacked as Jakobsson broke down the left flank, but Washington Freedom defender Cat Whitehill tracked her down to force a corner kick before she could get a shot off.

Then Marta began to work her magic in earnest. In the 69th minute, the 2009 Michelle Akers Player of the Year sent a cross into the box from the left flank which landed at Sinclair's feet. Still trying for the hat trick, Sinclair blasted a rocket off the crossbar that left the woodwork shaking.

In the 75th minute, Marta wormed her way into the left side of the penalty box and past a Umeå defender before sending a cross to Abby Wambach. The Freedom forward's shot glanced off Soberg with the rebound caroming to Sky Blue FC's Heather O'Reilly whose shot was cleared out of danger.

"I was taking it easy," said Marta. "I was feeling good in my legs. I was playing around with it a bit, just passing the ball. It was fun."

Edlund again caused trouble for the WPS All-Star defense in the 77th minute as she got free on the left and unleashed a shot that Saint Louis Athletica goalkeeper Hope Solo had to dive to her right to snag.

In the late-going, the WPS All-Stars continued to create scoring opportunities with Marta directing the attack. In the 82nd minute, Marta backheeled the ball to spring Sinclair into the penalty box on the left. Sinclair's cross found a wide open O'Reilly, but the Sky Blue FC midfielder's shot was kick saved by Soberg.

Umeå played the match without their leading scorer, Ramona Bachmann (14 goals), as the 18-year-old Swiss forward was under the weather.

The 2009 WPS All-Star Game presented by the Coast Guard concludes the inaugural WPS season. Next year two expansion teams in the Atlanta Beat and Philadelphia Independence will join WPS as the league's eighth and ninth franchises. The Beat and the Independence will begin stocking their rosters with the WPS Expansion Draft on Sept. 15 and the WPS International Draft on Sept. 22. Find fu

QUOTES

Marta

It was a party game. It was a game against a high level opponent and an opportunity to play with players we usually play against."

"It was a time to give happiness to the fans. It was fun."

Lori Chalupny

"It was a lot of fun. We had fun yesterday at practice getting together. It was just such a high level of soccer and there's not a lot of pressure, so you get to go out and enjoy yourself and to do what you do best.

"We knew it was obviously going to be a tough game and we're all competitors. At the same time you want to put on a good display for the fans and to be in positions where we can excel and do those little things that make us all special players. That definitely a goal of this game as well."

"It was exciting, it was unpredictable, and it was fun performances from a lot of the team's players."

Christine Sinclair

"For me it was just so fun to play with these players."

"I think in the first half we may have mishandled it, but we eventually started to click."

"On the first one, Marta played just a great ball across and I just made the run. On the second goal, Brittany Klein played a great ball in behind."

"I think at the start of this game I don't know what we expected from Umea. Obviously they are a very good team and they got a couple quick goals. But once we settled down and realized that we were actually in a game and that we actually had to play, we were able to put a lot of things together in a way that for instance my club team could not and we had been together all year."

Abner Rogers

"It was very crowded in the first half. We forced play. We tried to go through central positions. We didn't get it wide enough, quickly enough. We kind of played into their hands. Playing three (defenders) in the back, we were a little skeptical at first with three in the back against their three. But (Megan) Rampone is such a great leader. She organized everything and made life easy for everybody."

"I think we were a little skeptical to play three in the back against there three, but I think Rampone is such a great leader that she organized everything and made life easy for everybody."

"I was focused on the game but I felt that there was a good crowd and that they were entertained. They got to see some great soccer. There were moments of absolute brilliance and great goals and near misses, and I don't know what Sinclair was trying to do with that shot trying to smash the crossbar to death. It's such a great feeling when you hit it so perfect, but unfortunately that one didn't go in."

"That put on a great event here from start to finish. We only had one training session and it wasn't really about training. It was about them gettin comfortable with each other and I think they enjoyed the ocassion. I think that they expressed themselves a little bit better in the second half as far as playing relaxed."

Mika Sankala (Umea IK)

"We were missing seven players from our team. We had some chances to score goals. We scored a couple, and they made saves. We're very happy and proud to be here. I'm so proud of how this team worked hard for each other."

"It's too bad that Ramona Bachmann was not available. She had a fever and couldn't play. Alot of people are saying she is our next Marta and it would have been exciting to see her out there."

"I'm proud of my team today. We showed that we could play with this team in the first half. I think the difference was that that WPS All-Stars had seven substitutes at halftime and we only had one. The pace at the start of the second half was just a little too quick for us."

"It would be real fun to have a tournament, with maybe the best three teams in Sweden against the three best in WPS."

Mahmi Yamaguchi (Umea IK) - 2007 MAC Hermann Trophy Winner

"We came to win the game. Our intensity on this team is very good. I'm not sure what I really expected. We played against some of the best players in the world. I just wanted to win, have fun and enjoy every moment."

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Women's Professional Soccer Stories from August 30, 2009

• WPS All-Stars Defeat Umea IK, 4-2 - WPS
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