WPS Weekly
Published on June 8, 2010 under Women's Professional Soccer (WPS) News Release
With a new coach at the helm in Chicago and several new stars scattered across the leagues' seven rosters, Week 8 in WPS provided some exciting action. The weekend's games saw FC Gold Pride hold on to its' first-place spot in the league standings, while the Philadelphia Independence proved once again that they will be a strong contender for the title in their expansion season in WPS.
The Washington Freedom hit the road to take on first-place FC Gold Pride in Castro Valley, CA, on Saturday, June 5. Freedom forward, Allie Long, put her team up by one in the first half, thanks to a long-distance blast from 25 yards out which beat Pride 'keeper Nicole Barnhart to the far post. FC Gold Pride scored the equalizer in the second half as Marta received a pass from the newest member of FC Gold Pride, Shannon Boxx, and beat Freedom 'keeper Erin McLeod for the score late in the game. After an offensive battle that saw 28 combined shots, the game ended in a 1-1 draw as the Pride remain in first-place with 16 points.
Sunday's action featured a battle between two teams tied in the league standings, as the Philadelphia Independence hosted defending WPS Champions Sky Blue FC on June 6, at John A. Farrell Stadium. It was an eventful first half, as all three goals were scored in the first 30 minutes of the match.
Philadelphia took the early lead as midfielder Lori Lindsey scored her second goal of the 2010 campaign. Sky Blue would answer back just eight minutes later, when forward Laura Kalmari scored her fourth goal of the season sending her shot just outside the reach of Independence goalkeeper, Val Henderson. Philadelphia forward, Amy Rodriguez, scored the game-winner in the 29th minute as she slipped her shot past Sky Blue FC 'keeper Karen Bardsley. With the 2-1 victory, Philadelphia moved into second-place in league standings, where they are tied with the Washington Freedom, with 14 points a piece. Sky Blue FC sits in fifth-place, with 11 points on the season.
In their first game under new head coach Omid Namazi, the Chicago Red Stars hosted the Atlanta Beat on Sunday, June 6, at Toyota Park. The game featured several new faces on the Atlanta side, as the team spent the week signing several former Saint Louis Athletica stars including Tina Ellertson, Eniola Aluko, Lori Chalupny and Hope Solo. Solo would register her first shutout as a member of the Atlanta Beat, as the game ended in a 0-0 tie. It was the second point earned for Atlanta, ending their five game losing streak and giving them two points on the season. Chicago moved into fifth place in the league standings, with eight points. The Boston Breakers, who sit in seventh-place with seven points, had a bye.
Saturday
FC Gold Pride 1, Washington Freedom 1
Sunday
Philadelphia Independence 2, Sky Blue FC 1
Chicago Red Stars 0, Atlanta Beat 0
League Leaders
Goals
Eniola Aluko (Atlanta Beat) 4
Laura Kalmari (Sky Blue FC) 4
Marta (FC Gold Pride) 4
Christine Sinclair (FC Gold Pride) 3
Kelly Smith (Boston Breakers) 3
Abby Wambach (Washington Freedom) 3
Assists
Abby Wambach (Washington Freedom) 7
Lori Lindsey (Philadelphia Independence) 4
Shannon Boxx (FC Gold Pride) 3
Sonia Bompastor (Washington Freedom) 3
Kristine Lilly (Boston Breakers) 2
Kelley O'Hara (FC Gold Pride) 2
Heather O'Reilly (Sky Blue FC) 2
Saves
Karen Bardsley (Sky Blue FC) 47
Erin McLeod (Washington Freedom) 36
Jillian Loyden (Chicago Red Stars) 30
Hope Solo (Atlanta Beat) 29
Philadelphia's Rodriguez is WPS's Week 8 Player of the Week
U.S. women's national team forward Amy Rodriguez is Women's Professional Soccer's Player of the Week for Week 8 after leading the Philadelphia Independence to a 2-1 triumph Sunday over defending champion Sky Blue FC in the first meeting between the I-95 rivals.
The former USC All-American set up Lori Lindsey's third-minute goal and netted the 27th-minute winner for the expansion Independence, which improved to 4-2-2 and climbed into a second-place tie with Washington, two points behind first-place FC Gold Pride.
Rodriguez, the top pick in the 2009 college draft, scored just one goal last season for the Boston Breakers, but has made a big impact with Philadelphia. Her strike Sunday was her second goal of the season. Rodriguez is the second Independence player to win WPS's weekly honor. Lindsey was selected in Week 3.
The WPS Player of Week is selected by a panel of journalists from the North American Soccer Reporters.
Week 1: Eniola Aluko (Saint Louis Athletica)
Week 2: Abby Wambach (Washington Freedom)
Week 3: Lori Lindsey (Philadelphia Independence)
Week 4: Sonia Bompastor (Washington Freedom)
Week 5: Karen Bardsley (Sky Blue FC)
Week 6: Marta (FC Gold Pride)
Week 7: Kosovare Asllani (Chicago Red Stars)
Week 8: Amy Rodriguez (Philadelphia Independence)
Starters, Captains and Head Coaches for 2010 WPS All-Star Game to be Announced on Wednesday
Following almost three weeks of fan voting, as well as player, media and coach balloting, WPS is set to announce the starting 22 players, as well as the two captains and coaches, for the 2010 WPS All-Star Game presented by U.S. Coast Guard Reserve on Wednesday.
The game will be played June 30 at KSU Soccer Stadium in Kennesaw, Georgia, with kick-off scheduled for 8pm ET with a pre-game show starting at 7:30pm ET on Fox Soccer Channel live from the stadium.
The two captains will come from the highest overall vote totals among players, with the highest vote-getter being named captain of the Home team (green) along with the head coach whose team is second in the WPS standings, while the player with the second-highest vote total will be captain of the Away team (white) and will be paired with the coach whose WPS team is atop the WPS standings.
Team captains and their coaches will select the starting teams at a special pick-em event for fans on June 28 in Atlanta. The reserve players for the WPS All-Star Game will be announced later.
Goals By-the-Numbers: Where Have the Goals Gone?
Scoring Drought... With just a 1.67 total goals per game average this weekend, the average goals per game on the season have dropped to 2.03 in WPS - below last year's season-long average of 2.14 goals per game. A WPS team has not scored three goals in a game since May 1, a drought of over 5 weeks.
Play to a Draw... With a 1-1 tie and a 0-0 draw this weekend, WPS teams have played to 9 ties so far this season in 30 games. That total of 30% of games ending in a tie in 2010 is up from 23% in 2009. The scoreless draw was the fourth one of the 2010 WPS Season.
All Defense... Last year through the first week of June, a team scored at least three goals in a game on eight occasions. This year, a team has scored three goals on only 4 occasions - half the number through this time last year. And no game this season has featured more than 4 goals in a game.
Close Encounters... With the current low-scoring pace, an impressive 73% of games have been decided by one goal or less, keeping games tight until the final whistle.
Namazi Named Red Stars Head Coach
BRIDGEVIEW, Ill. - The Chicago Red Stars of Women's Professional Soccer introduced Omid Namazi as Red Stars Head Coach, the organization announced last Thursday. Namazi becomes the team's second full-time head coach, succeeding Emma Hayes, who coached during Chicago's inaugural 2009 season and the first six WPS matches of 2010.
Red Stars President and General Manager Marcia McDermott, who coached the team for one match last Saturday - a 1-0 win over first-place FC Gold Pride - passed the torch to Namazi last Sunday when Chicago played the Atlanta Beat to a 0-0 tie. Helping Namazi on the sidelines in Week 8 were University of Illinois women's soccer coach Janet Rayfield as an assistant, and Nathan Kipp for goalkeeping.
Namazi last coached in the women's game when he was the head coach of the San Diego Spirit of the Women's United Soccer Association. In his 2003 season with the Spirit, he led the squad to its only postseason appearance.
Team Media Guides
A reminder to media that team media guides for five of the seven WPS teams can be downloaded on the media section of the WPS website: http://www.womensprosoccer.com/news/media-info
WPS Week 9 Preview
Saturday, June 12
Washington Freedom vs. Chicago Red Stars (7:00 pm ET)
Maryland SoccerPlex, Boyds, MD
* This is the first match-up between these two teams this season.
* In a week of transactions, the Chicago Red Stars agreed to terms with free agents Anita Asante, Elise Weber, and Nikki Washington.
*This match marks the first time in three weeks the Red Stars will hit the road. Chicago had a solid homestand with a win against FC Gold Pride and tie against the Atlanta Beat.
* With a league-leading 13 goals, the Freedom offense coule meet their match in a Chicago defense that has kept opponents to .75 goals against average.
* Chicago's offensive front will have to crank-up their efforts against goalkeeper Erin McLeod, as she has let in just two goals in the last four matches.
Sunday, June 13
Boston Breakers vs. Sky Blue FC (4 pm ET)
Harvard Stadium, Cambridge, MA
* After a bye week, the Boston Breakers are set to face their Week 7 opponent Sky Blue FC for the second time in a row.
*Two weeks ago these rivals played to a 0-0 tie, making it five matches in which Sky Blue FC has remained undefeated against Boston.
*Sky Blue FC captain, Christie Rampone made her first appearance since the 2009 WPS Championship last Sunday against the Philadelphia Independence.
* The Breakers signed free agent forward Lindsay Tarpley last week to help fill the scoring void up top as the team netted just one goal in May and has not won a game since the opening weekend of the season.
* Finnish international, Laura Kalmari, leads Sky Blue FC with four goals and is tied with Marta and Eniola Aluko for the league lead.
Philadelphia Independence vs. FC Gold Pride (6 pm ET - FSC)
John A. Farrell Stadium, West Chester, PA
* A match-up of No. 1 vs. No. 2 in the league standings with first place on the line to the winner.
* FC Gold Pride (16 points) owns first-place by two points over the Independence (14 points), with the two sides holding nearly identical numbers in goals scored and allowed.
* With the Saint Louis Athletica shutting down 10 days ago, national team star Shannon Boxx moved to her third WPS team in six months last weekend. The midfielder made her first appearance with FC Gold Pride on Saturday and will match up Sunday against Philadelphia's Lori Lindsey in the midfield.
* FC Gold Pride midfielder Camille Abily was back in the mix Saturday after suffering an ankle injury in early May.
* Independence midfielder, Caroline Seger, will sit-out Sunday's match serving an additional one-game suspension that was handed out by the WPS Disciplinary Committee.
Bye Week: Atlanta Beat
Women's Professional Soccer Stories from June 8, 2010
- WPS Weekly - WPS
- FC Gold Pride Celebrates the 2010 World Cup - FC Gold Pride
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.
