Soccer By Ives

WPS Week 16: A Look Back

 

By CHRISTA MANN

Week 16 in Women's Pro Soccer featured a midweek upset, an East Coast rivalry, and a Brazilian hat trick.  

On Wednesday the St. Louis Athletica defeated the L.A. Sol 1-0 with an early goal by Athletica midfielder Amanda Cinalli.  The 1-0 result handed L.A its first shutout loss and only home loss of the season.

On Sunday, the Boston Breakers fell 2-1 to Sky Blue FC (New Jersey) marking  the Breakers' second loss in consecutive weeks and third straight loss to SBFC. Then the Chicago Red Stars finished the weekend with a 3-1 defeat over FC Gold Pride (Bay Area) on three goals by Brazilian forward Cristiane.

WPS Week 16 was short, sweet and exciting.  Here's a closer look into what made these games, goals, and  results.

WPS Week 16: A Look Ahead

By CHRISTA MANN

When the midweek match-up between the L.A. Sol and St. Louis Athletica opened Week 16 in Women's Pro Soccer, it set the stage for tonight's games between Sky Blue FC (New Jersey) at the Boston Breakers (6:00 PM on FSC) and the Chicago Red Stars against the Bay Area's FC Gold Pride (8:00 PM Comcast).

St. Louis stunned L.A. in the 11th minute on Wednesday when Athletica midfielder Amanda Cinalli put one past Sol keeper Karina LeBlanc to finish the team's second goal this season against the Canadian GK.  Both that finish and an incredible effort from Athletica GK Hope Solo allowed St. Louis to not only pull of the win but to also solidify second place for the time being, to score in consecutive games against the Sol, and to become the only team in the Sol's most recent six games to get anything past LeBlanc.

Here are some highlights:

WPS Week 15: A Look Back

 

                                                      Photo by ISIphotos.com

 

By CHRISTA MANN

In Week 15 of Women's Pro Soccer, the Chicago Red Stars finally posted something new in the win column. As New Jersey's Sky Blue FC won its second in three games, the Boston Breakers loss their first in four and the St. Louis Athletica maintained the Arch city's current trend. FC Gold Pride (Bay Area) is still looking for some type of result while the L.A. Sol conducts business as usual.

In the Midweek match-up on Wednesday, Chicago defeated the Washington Freedom 2-1 snapping a nine game winless streak after Red Star goals by Cristiane and Lindsay Tarpley pulled off the first ever WPS come from behind victory. There were good chances on both sides of the ball and even a near tying Freedom goal in the final seconds of the game. Overall, Chicago had the clear advantage, and the Red Stars could have easily won by at least an extra goal or two.

In Saturday's New Jersey upset over the Boston Breakers, Sky Blue FC defeated its East Coast neighbor for the second consecutive time when Heather O'Reilly bent the service off a corner to finish the game's only goal. SBFC goalkeeper Jenni Branam came up with some huge saves to preserve the New Jersey result, but chances on frame were relatively even between the two teams with New Jersey taking the slight (8-6) advantage.

WPS Week 15: A Look Ahead

 

By CHRISTA MANN

 

The Chicago Red Stars opened Week 15 on Wednesday with the league's first-ever come from behind victory.  With three more games on tap for this holiday weekend, let's hope for a few more surprises from some unsuspecting Women's Pro Soccer teams. 

Today, New Jersey's Sky Blue FC will kick things off against the Boston Breakers and the Bay Area's FC Gold Pride returns from a bye week to host the St. Louis Athletica. Sunday features the top rated L.A. Sol in its third and final meeting against the Washington Freedom, so overall there should be some pretty good match-ups.

As Washington approaches Sunday's game, the Freedom looks to not only bounce back from its two previous L.A. losses but to also rebound from a not so fortunate midweek result.

 

WPS Week 14: A Look Back

 

 

                                                                   Photo by ISIphotos.com

 

By CHRISTA MANN

 

Week 14 in Women's Pro Soccer began with two midweek match-ups and continued with a couple of weekend games.

The Bay Area's FC Gold Pride had a bye for all of Week 14 and has hopefully improved its attacking runs, finishing, and combination play. The Bay Area's Head Coach Alberti Montoya has experimented with an ever-changing tandem of players in both attacking midfielder and striker roles.  Nearly every week, the starters in those positions change which makes it very difficult for the team to link-up and build together. Perhaps a week off gave did the Bay Area some good, and for fans sake, let's hope it solidified a confident starting line-up with the strongest players in their most dangerous positions.

As for the other six teams in WPS, Week 14 began on Wednesday as the Boston Breakers defeated the Washington Freedom 1-0 and the L.A. Sol took a  2-1 advantage over the St. Louis Athletica. Then over the weekend, the Sol crushed the Chicago Red Stars 4-0 on Saturday and the Athletica earned a 2-1 result over New Jersey's Sky Blue FC on Sunday. The Breakers, Freedom, and FCGP all spent the weekend away from WPS action.

WPS Week 14: A Look Ahead

 

                                                                                   Photo by ISIphotos.com

 

By CHRISTA MANN

Week 14 in Women’s Pro Soccer featured two Wednesday match-ups and will continue with one game on Saturday and another on Sunday.

In the first mid-week contest, the L.A. Sol and St. Louis Athletica maintained their respective positions at number one and number four after L.A. took a 2-1 victory on Wednesday.  The two teams battled to a scoreless  first half, but the Sol’s Han Duan hit a tie breaking  goal in the 50^th minute.  Then Marta ripped another Sol finish in the 73^rd to give L.A. a two goal advantage and enough to hold on for win.

The Athletica’s number one draft pick, Kerri Hanks, finally scored her first goal of the season in the 77th minute, but time ran out with St. Louis still trailing by one.  The goal didn't stop Hanks from being traded just two days later, along with Francielle, to Sky Blue FC, for Sarah Walsh.

WPS: A mid-season look at the league's top players

 

                                                                        Photo by ISIphotos.com

 

By CHRISTA MANN

Women's Pro Soccer is 14 weeks, 42 games, and just over halfway through its inaugural season. With a good sample of matches to try and judge the teams, styles of play, and ability of players, now seems like a fair and appropriate opportunity to compare the world's best in women's soccer. 

Overall, the U.S. tops all countries with 43 goals scored; however, individually, the international players lead in seven of nine major statistical categories.   

It's no surprise that Marta is still one the biggest and most talked about players in the WPS.  So to say that she has five goals and two assists despite most teams' efforts to mark her out of the game, is to say that she is indeed the best player in the world.  She may only rank second on her team and in the league for goals scored,  but her contributions on a game-by-game basis are creating offensive opportunities for other Sol attackers.

WPS Week 13: A Look Back

 

                                                                        Photo by ISIphotos.com

 

By CHRISTA MANN

A few surprises and a some noteworthy performances made for a successful Week 13 in Women's Pro Soccer. As usual, the internationals did what they always do: make great plays and clutch finishes, and some familiar, big name Americans finally lived up to the hype.  Of course that still means that a few others left fans wondering if they'll ever reach their potential in the WPS, but overall it was a good week.

With one tie, a couple of 2-0 results and a pair of 1-0 shutouts, Week 13 produced a combined total of eight goals from both midweek and weekend match-ups. The final game of the week featured a great televised performance by three-time FIFA World Player of the year, Marta, who finished with a goal, an assist, and who setup her teammates with at least a dozen other perfect opportunities to finish.

The week of play officially began with the two Wednesday results: a 1-1 tie between FC Gold Pride (Bay Area) and Boston Breakers followed by a 1-0 Sky Blue FC (New Jersey) win over the Chicago Red Stars. In the tie, it was Canadian international Christine Sinclair and the American-born Jennifer Nobis who scored a goal each while the Brazilian Rosana put one away in SBFC's third win of the season.

WPS Week 13: A look ahead

 

                                                                            Photo by ISIphotos.com

 

By CHRISTA MANN

Women's Pro Soccer began Week 13 with two midweek match-ups but will continue over the weekend with one Saturday and two Sunday rematches.

In the Wednesday games this week, the Boston Breakers and FC Gold Pride (Bay Area) tied 1-1 with goals by the Bay Area's Christine Sinclair in the 15th minute and  Boston's Jennifer Nobis in the 76th. 

In the second midweek game, Rosana finished a goal in the 23rd minute to give SKy Blue FC its (New Jersey) third win of the season and to finally move the club out of last place.  SBFC now sits comfortably in a three-way tie for fourth place and will take the weekend off.

WPS Week 12: A Look Back

By CHRISTA MANN

Two scoreless Saturday ties and a single goal Sunday victory summarize Week 12 in Women's Pro Soccer.

The Chicago Red Stars and the Washington Freedom fought to an even battle in their opening half, but the Freedom took the closing advantage when Chicago picked up red card early in the second half. Red Stars goalkeeper Caroline Jonsson was the only saving grace for Chicago as she once again put on another great performance.

In the second Saturday match-up, the top rated L.A. Sol took on the bottom rated Sky Blue FC (New Jersey) in some unfavorable conditions. The best and the worst team in the league battled it out in rainy New Jersey weather to finish tied at zero.

The St. Louis Athletica avenged the Boston Breakers with a 1-0 result  in the only Sunday game, and the Bay Area's FC Gold Pride spent this week away from WPS competition.

Week 12 brought some unexpected results and saw the finish of only a single goal in three games.

More WPS games to be broadcast

By CHRISTA MANN

Fans of Womens Professional Soccer can look forward to some additional broadcasts and webcasts of future WPS games in the coming weeks. This comes after a positive response to the Chicago Red Stars' web productions and will also include WPS coverage on both Fox Soccer Channel (FSC) and regional sports networks.

The likes of NBC Universal Sports (NBCU) and the Comcast Sports Group provide many of the league's regional broadcasts in order to draw larger,more diverse audiences to the WPS fanbase.  These televised games also fulfill each team's requirement to broadcast at least two home games that are not already included in the predetermined FSC Sunday match-ups.

While most WPS clubs can only meet that minimal broadcasting expectation due to budgetary concerns and to the media's priority to cover Major League Baseball over the summer, Chicago doesn't have those concerns.  In fact, the Red Stars are the only team in WPS that maintains a strong following through online webstreaming by way of its consistent home game webcasts.

"We were certainly looking to webcast a few games," said Chicago Media Relations Coordinator Rob Coons. "But a couple local companies actually reached out to us." 

WPS Week 11: A Look Back

 

By CHRISTA MANN

Week 11 in Women's Pro Soccer began  with a meeting between the L.A. Sol and Chicago Red Stars on Wednesday in the first WPS midweek match of the season. Late goals by Chicago's Cristiane in the 88th and the Sol's Camile Abily in the 90th opened this week of play with 1-1 tie.

Three Sunday games followed as Chicago and Bay Area also finished tied 1-1.  The L.A. Sol finished 3-1 against the Washington Freedom, and St. Louis defeated New Jersey's Sky Blue FC to earn the  Athletica's third shutout win in the past four games. The Boston Breakers took another break from the league as they enjoyed their second bye week.

WPS Week 11: A Look Ahead

By CHRISTA MANN

Week 11 in Women's Pro Soccer began Wednesday when the L.A. Sol tied the Chicago Red Stars 1-1 in the first-ever WPS midweek match-up of the season.  Regular league play will soon continue with three Sunday games featuring both teams from the midweek match-up and all others minus the Boston Breakers.

In Game One, St. Louis hosts New Jersey's Sky Blue FC in the battle between the two bottom teams; then, the Sol and Washington Freedom meet again (FSC 6:00 PM ET)for the first time since the inaugural game of WPS, and the Chicago Red Stars travel to the Bay Area in the final game of Week 11.

Both the Red Stars and Sol will enter into their second contests in four days as Chicago looks to finally earn its first win since beating the Boston Breakers six games ago.  However Los Angeles is still holding steady at the top of the table with nine points (three wins) ahead of the closest competitor.

WPS Midweek: Chicago Red Stars vs. L.A. Sol

The Chicago Red Stars return to Women's Professional Soccer this Wednesday against the L.A. Sol in the first WPS midweek match-up of the season.

The webcast for this contest, available on the WPS website, begins at 7:25 with a quick, five minute pregame show before the 7:30 kickoff. A team of Nick Ammazzalorso (L.A. Sol Director of Media Relations) and Aaron Heifetz (Press Officer to the U.S. Women's Team) will serve as the voices behind the live webcast from the Home Depot Center in Carson, California.

WPS Week 10: A Look Back

 

By CHRISTA MANN

Women's Pro Soccer confirmed a few things in Week 10 of its inaugural season.  The L.A. Sol is still the best team in the league, Natasha Kai is still capable of playing like her old self, FC Gold Pride will continue to struggle without a consistent starting line-up and the Washington Freedom is a good team that had a rough stretch.

In the first game of the weekend, St. Louis fell 2-0 to L.A. The Washington Freedom defeated the Bay Area's FC Gold Pride 3-1, and Sky Blue FC found its second win of the season. The Chicago Red Stars took a break with the bye but scheduled a friendly against their local W-League team, the Chicago Red Eleven.

When play began in Week 10, the Sol's Camille Abily and Shannon Boxx put away finishes in Saturday's 2-0 shutout over St. Louis to further assert the L.A. Sol as the class of the league.

WPS Week 10: A Look Ahead

By CHRISTA MANN

The fast approaching Week 10 in Women's Professional Soccer has match ups between the St. Louis Athletica and L.A Sol, Jersey's Sky Blue FC and the Boston Breakers, and the Bay Area and Washington Freedom.

The Chicago Red Stars will take a much needed bye this week to recover from a three-game skid. The Red Stars somehow lost their offensive spark a few weeks ago and have really struggled to both maintain possession and score.  If Chicago can find a way to get back on track, perhaps the Red Stars will also find a bit of luck when they return to the WPS.

The L.A. Sol is still rated the league's best and some leadership struggles have kept New Jersey's Sky Blue FC from moving out of last place. 

With rematches, controversy, and even a suspension, Week 10 of the WPS begins in southern California and returns national and international superstars to some wavering rosters.