Leroux leads US to Victory in CONCACAF U-20 Championship

UCLA standout Sydney Leroux scored in the 87th minute to lead the US to a 1-0 victory over Mexico in the CONCACAF U-20 Championship in Guatemala. Both teams are qualified for the U-20 World Cup to be held in Germany in July and August. Costa Rica edged Canada for the 3rd qualifying spot for the World Cup.

The Wheels Are Turning-Gold Pride Waives Arakawa

According to the WPS Official Website, FC Gold Pride has waived Eriko Arakawa on Friday. This opens up a spot on the roster for another international player, presumably looking forward to the Thursday dispersal draft of Los Angeles Sol players. To my knowledge, there has not been a statement from FC Gold Pride regarding this move.

This leaves Gold Pride with 4 internationals on their roster, Christine Sinclair, Candace Chapman, Solveig Gulbrandsen, and Camille Abily. Whether this means Gold Pride is looking toward drafting Marta or perhaps, Aya Miyama is unclear at this point. Gold Pride will draft 3rd in the dispersal draft behind Atlanta and Philadelphia.

Ebay Auction to Benefit Michelle Akers Horse Rescue

Women's Professional Soccer is auctioning off game day items from its Inaugural Season to benefit the Michelle Akers Horse Rescue (MAHR), a farm founded by soccer legend Michelle Akers to protect, heal, and provide a happy home to hurting, unwanted, and problem horses. There are several great items open for bidding including an autographed inaugural All-Star game ball. Bidding is open until Thursday. The link to those auction items at ebay:

WPS Ebay Page

2010 WPS camp battles now have added twist due to Sol player reallocation

As Jeff Kassouf and his Equalizer website notes -- Reallocating the players (dispersing them, if you will), is a complete change of life for these Sol players.

That said, it is also a major change of life for many of the 3rd, 4th, and 5th round 2010 WPS draftees who were much more confident at that start of the day regarding their professional options.

Even more so, imagine the emotions running through the minds of Kiki Bosio, Estelle Johnson, Mary Casey, and Lindsay Browne at this very moment.

Heading into camps knowing these teams passed on them, and in Browne's case every other team said thanks but no thanks.

Let's hope that these athletes have the belief-in-self to survive what will be a grueling few weeks.

Sol Equalizer

A massive amount of Sol news and notes w/quotes over at The Equalizer - Jeff Kassouf's women's soccer site

WPS Releases Statement Regarding Los Angeles Sol and Dispersal Draft

The league has released a statement regarding the disbanding of the Los Angeles Sol and a dispersal draft of their players, which will be held on Thursday, February 4th.

WPS Press Release regarding Los Angeles Sol

AP releases news on the demise of the Los Angeles Sol

Via ESPN Soccernet L.A. team folds; Marta, players to be dispersed to new homes

Marta Moves - 2009 WPS Season w/ Los Angeles Sol

It was a great year for the Brazilian superstar....



Via WPS YouTube Video Channel

Los Angeles Sol cease operations

Go to Set Piece Analysts for a solid report on the story -- Breaking news: Los Angeles Sol cease operations

Atlanta Beat open at home versus Sky Blue FC

Here is my short news item at Goal.com about the event.

And here is the press release via the WPS League Office:

Atlanta Beat’s New Stadium Set to Open May 9

First Stadium Built Specifically for a WPS Team Will Debut During National Television Game on Fox Soccer Channel

SAN FRANCISCO, CA (January 26, 2009) – Women’s Professional Soccer and the Atlanta Beat today announced that Sunday, May, 9 will be the home opener for the expansion Atlanta Beat as the team will play host to reigning 2009 WPS Champions Sky Blue FC (New Jersey/New York) at its brand-new stadium in Kennesaw, Georgia.

The contest will be nationally-televised on Fox Soccer Channel as part of WPS Sunday on FSC at 6pm ET/3pm PT.

"We are excited to make this announcement," said Beat General Manager Shawn McGee. "The opening of the world’s first women’s soccer-specific stadium of this magnitude means a great deal to both soccer in the Southeast and to women’s sports on a national scale."

The stadium, which holds 8,300 fans "will really be something special," said Beat Owner and Chairman T. Fitz Johnson. "We are bringing in the defending champions, which will immediately test our squad and provide a great show for our fans."

McGee "expects a packed house and a captive audience for those across the country watching on Fox Soccer Channel."

"This will be an important and historic day in the continued growth and development of our league," said WPS Commissioner Tonya Antonucci. "A stadium built specifically to play host to the world’s best soccer league for women with the atmosphere and fan-friendly characteristics that we look for in a venue. Huge credit goes to Fitz Johnson and the Atlanta Beat organization for their vision. Soccer fans everywhere will be circling May 9 on their calendars."

The Beat opens its WPS inaugural season away at the Philadelphia Independence on April 11 before returning to Atlanta for a home kick-off on May 9. The WPS will release the remainder of the 2010 schedule in early February.

Aly Wagner Retires

For the 2nd time in just 3 months, a USWNT veteran has retired. Aly Wagner, a two time Olympic Gold Medalist and former member of the Los Angeles Sol has announced her retirement according to www.ussoccer.com.

Wagner was a familiar face on US Women's National Teams for the past decade and was one of the top offensive players in women's soccer. Before that, she was a star player with Santa Clara University and helped lead the Broncos to an NCAA title. Among other accolades, she was the MAC Hermann Award winner in 2002.

Wagner was one of the original 21 WPS allocated players in 2008. She, along with Shannon Boxx and Stephanie Cox, was allocated to the Los Angeles Sol. For the Sol in 2009, she played in 15 matches and notched 4 assists, even though she was plagued by injuries throughout the season.

Wagner follows Angela Hucles, another long-time member of the USWNT, in announcing her retirement from professional soccer.

Jamaal Shabazz and his T&T Soca Princesses face a tough U.S. Squad in CONCACAF U-20 action

Read a report from the island nation regarding the Soca Princesses first round loss against Mexico via Trinidad and Tobago Guardian.

Will T&T score against the U.S.?

CONCACAF Under-20 Women's Championship - News and Updates

Live streams, video recaps, solid match reports...it is all there at CONCACAF's website.

Find it below:

CONCACAF Under-20 Women's Championship

Kate Ryan Reiling returns to lead Macalester College program

Kate Ryan Reiling, captain of Macalester’s 1998 NCAA Division III national championship squad, returns to lead her alma mater.

She replaces John Leaney who has retired after a long career.

Read on at the Macalester College Athletic site -- Kate Ryan Reiling returns to Macalester to lead women's soccer program

Interviews upcoming, check back soon

WSW with some exclusive interviews over the next several days.

Portugal's Algarve Cup 2010: 24th February - 3rd March 2010 [Preview 1]

GROUP A
Germany
Denmark
China
Finland

GROUP B
USA
Sweden
Norway
Iceland

GROUP C
Romania
Austria
Portugal
Faroe Islands

All six Nordic nations are competing now with Faroe Islands being the sixth.

Video: PUMA Unveils 2010 WPS Uniforms

2010 WPS Draft Recap at GOAL.com

Congrats to KC Albertina, my colleague and friend, who has recently seen his women's soccer writing published throughout the Internet.

Great to see him getting the recognition he rightfully deserves.

Looking forward to WSW soccer coverage in 2010.

Read his draft recap at Goal.com -- Women's Professional Soccer Draft Recap

The Many Sides of a Trade

Any time that a trade is made in any sport, there are multiple sides to look at. Coaches and general managers have to look at it from the standpoint of improving their team. For players, it’s means friends moving on and losing a teammate and roommate, but gaining a new one. For the traded players, it’s the beginning of a new adventure and in some cases, an opportunity for more playing time. And it can be a bittersweet day for fans. It’s a day when they have to say goodbye to one of their favorite players, but also welcome a player that they know will help the team and become part of the family for the coming season. Friday was such a day.

Chicago traded Lindsay Tarpley to Saint Louis for Jill Loyden. It's a trade that should help both teams. Tarpley has been a member of the USWNT since 2003 and has 119 caps and 30 goals. For Chicago, she scored 4 goals and 4 assists in 2009. She should definitely help Athletica's sometimes anemic offense. Loyden had an 0.33 goals against in 3 games for Athletica in 2009. From there, she starred for Central Coast in the Aussie W-League, where she was voted Goalkeeper of the Year. She was recently called into USWNT camp in preparation for the Algarve Cup.

As I mentioned when I started writing for Women's Soccer Weekly, I am a fan first and sometimes that aspect of my writing will rise to the surface. Living in the Saint Louis area, I have become a big fan of Athletica. So I sometimes take the personnel moves they make personally. It caught me off guard when I learned of the trade just minutes before the start of the WPS draft.

There is a special place in the hearts of Saint Louis fans for Jillian Loyden. Although only playing 3 games, she was a big part of the success that Athletica enjoyed in the 2009 season. Indeed, she was one of the best, if not the best, backup keepers in the league. I had braced myself for the possibility of losing her in the expansion draft, because I didn’t think Saint Louis would protect two keepers. After Atlanta and Philly both obtained keepers through trades, I thought Loyden was safe in Saint Louis for another season. However, Chicago suddenly found themselves in the market for a starter and Loyden became the answer.

Turn back the clock exactly one year. I have to admit that I did not know much about Loyden when Athletica drafted her in the 6th round of the January draft in 2009. I knew that she was a highly regarded young keeper that played her college soccer at Villanova and that she had received some recognition in the various college All-American teams. In addition, she had a couple of years of experience with Jersey Sky Blue of the W-League. Of course, the other thought in the back of my mind, and I’m sure others at the time, was that Hope Solo was Athletica's number one keeper and it wouldn’t probably matter much who number two was. That thought couldn’t have been more wrong.

Over the next few months, I had several opportunities to speak with Jillian, as well as a few chances to see her in action. With Hope Solo being called away for national team duty, Loyden was asked to step in and start on three occasions. And she rose to the occasion in each instance, earning two shutouts, making several saves, and giving up just one goal on a freakish deflection off of her own defender. No one could have asked more from a starter, let alone a backup keeper. By the end of the season, all Athletica fans were confident that if she needed to play in an emergency, that she could handle those duties and even excel.

But it wasn’t just her on field abilities that impressed me about Loyden. While all of the players have been wonderful about making themselves accessible, Loyden has more than gone out of her way when it comes to fans. She would be the first person to walk up to a fan and introduce herself. She was always available to give tips and speak with young fans. And you could bet that she would be the one still signing autographs after many of the players had hit the locker room.

One of my favorite moments of the 2009 season involved Loyden. Saint Louis was in 3rd place at the time with 4th place Sky Blue FC coming to town for a crucial late season contest that would go a long way in deciding Athletica’s playoff hopes. With Solo playing for the US National Team, Loyden got the start. Early in the 2nd half, Eniola Aluko scored to put Athletica up 1-0. Loyden made several great second half saves including an unbelievable game saver on Kacey White in stoppage.

After Athletica matches, several members of Laclede’s Army, the Saint Louis supporters group head for a patio area just outside the player locker rooms. From there, they greet the players as they make their way up from the field. As usual, Loyden spent a long time signing autographs and was one of the last players to reach the area, a good 45 minutes after the game was over. She had two little girls in tow, who she was escorting up to the Athletica locker room area so that they could get more autographs. As she went by, she greeted us and said, “I’ll be back in a minute guys, I just want to take them up first.” She re-emerged a couple of minutes later and was greeted by cheers and congratulations. Her first comment to us was “Thanks guys, but I really didn’t do that much.” The comment is typical of Jillian’s humility. She gave us all hugs and talked with us for about 10 minutes, obviously still excited about the match and full of joy for having the chance to play.

I think it was that evening that it hit me, that in all likelihood, Loyden would not be with Athletica in 2010. She had performed so well, it was almost a certainty that either an expansion team or another team would want her as a starter. She made it through the expansion draft, but the Red Stars needed a goalkeeper for 2010 and the trade for Tarpley became a reality.

So today, I am a little sad that Jillian is no longer a member of Saint Louis Athletica, but happy that she will have the opportunity to become a full-time starter, an opportunity which she has earned and deserves. To Chicago fans, I will tell you that you are not only getting a very good goalkeeper, but a quality person, too. Athletica received a quality person and player in return in Lindsay Tarpley and I’m sure she will quickly become a fan favorite in St. Louis as well. Welcome to St. Louis, Lindsay.

So this coming season, when Jill is protecting the Red Star net instead, Athletica's fans will likely razz, boo, or otherwise give her a hard time. But I can assure you, it will be out of respect, not dislike. She has more than earned that respect.

Best wishes and good luck, Jillian Loyden.

Duke's Nicole Lipp Video Interview

Duke Athletics, a leader in collegiate new media/social media, now has video content at the site. Here is a recent interview with Nicole Lipp, who was a freshman in '09.

Women's Soccer Weekly Interview List

Professional Players:

• Goal.com Profile: Boston Breakers' Amy Rodriguez - 4/22/2009
• Goal.com Profile: Washington Freedom's Becky Sauerbrunn - 5/13/2009
• Washington Freedom's Becky Sauerbrunn -- More From The Interview - 5/13/2009

Collegiate Players:

• Karissa Henage: Idaho State Defender - 4/18/2009
• Chelsey Hannesson: Eastern Washington Defender - 4/29/2009
• Frankie Ross: Portland State Midfielder - 4/29/2009
• Lindsey Bailey: Buffalo Forward - 4/30/2009
• Kelly Hathorn: Duke Forward - 5/26/2009
• Erin Guthrie: Rutgers Goalkeeper - 1/15/2010

Coaches:

• Tim Crompton: Weber State - 5/5/2009

Penn State's Alyssa Naeher and Katie Schoepfer Interview

WSW spoke with Alyssa and Katie prior to the 2010 WPS Draft.

You can find the Q and A interview(s) here -- Give and Go: Penn State Katie Schoepfer and Alyssa Naeher at Goal.com

Behind the Scenes Photos of the 2010 WPS 1st Rounders

Women's Professional Soccer :: 2010 WPS Draft Behind the Scenes Photo Gallery

WPS Draft - 2nd Round Recap

The 2nd round of the WPS draft has now concluded. A recap....

12. Gold Pride-Becky Edwards, defensive mid, Florida State....Wow, they waited and still got her. No big surprise with Gold Pride taking her.
13. Philadelphia-Malorie Rutledge, MF, LSU....A solid midfielder, but I didn't think she would go quite this high. I also thought Philly would go for a scorer.
14. Los Angeles-Michelle Enyeart, F, Portland...A great player who would have been in the top 5 or 6 pick if she had been healthy. With all their selections, LA could take a chance that the wait for her to recover from the ACL injury would be worth it.
15. Chicago-Jessica McDonald, F, North Carolina.....The first non-senior taken in the draft. Surprised me because I frankly didn't know she had declared for the draft.
16. Boston-Jordan Angeli, D, Santa Clara....No surprise here at all. Angeli should pair well with Amy LePeilbet on the Breakers' back line.
17. Saint Louis-Kristina Larsen, MF, UCLA....A bit of a surprise here after the acquisition of Tarpley. I thought they might look for a defender here. Still, Larsen was UCLA's leading scorer in 2008 and scored 9 goals in 2009. She's got a good, hard shot.
18. Washington-Carly Dobratz, MF, Washington State.
19. Saint Louis-Ashlyn Harris, GK, UNC....Harris takes Loyden's place as Solo's backup.
20. FC Gold Pride-Kaley Fountain, F/D, Wake Forest....A versatile player is a good value at the 20th pick.

1st Round Completed with a Few Surprises

The first round of the WPS draft has been completed and there were a few more surprises toward the end of the round.

6. Sky Blue-Brittany Taylor, D, Connecticut
7. Washington-Nikki Marshall, F/D, Colorado. Washington has already said that she would most likely be a defender in the WPS.
8. Los Angeles-Casey Nogueira, F, North Carolina. Nogueira falls all the way to 8th, but not necessarily a big surprise given Sky Blue and Washington's need for defense.
9. Los Angeles-Kiersten Dallstream, F, Washington State. A bit of surprise to me, but a very good player. I had pegged Kaley Fountain for this selection and basically Dallstream is similar in that she is a forward, but has some background as an outside defender.
10. Gold Pride-Ali Riley, D, Stanford. Strangely enough, this is who I chose for Gold Pride in Bleacher Report's mock draft last weekend. But I chose Riley because Becky Edwards was gone by that time. Edwards is still very available today, so I was a little surprised, but I really like Riley's two way ability.
11. Boston-Alyssa Naeher, GK, Penn State-Boston needed at least a backup keeper, but Naeher will certainly challenge Lipsher for the number one spot. This could start a run on keepers.

I now look for Gold Pride to select either defensive mid or one of the top keepers, Kelsey Davis or Ashlyn Harris. We'll see.......

No Huge Surprises Early On in WPS Draft

The first 4 selections have been announced:

1. Atlanta-Tobin Heath, MF, North Carolina
2. Boston-Lauren Cheney, F, UCLA
3. Gold Pride-Kelley O'Hara, F, Stanford
4. Chicago-Whitney Engen, D, North Carolina

My guess is that once Chicago signed Cristiane, they had 3 solid forwards with her, Masar, and Asllani and then they decided to go with a defender at number four.

5. Los Angeles-Nikki Washington, MF, North Carolina

With Engen gone, Los Angeles takes Nikki Washington. A great player who will be a heck of a threat from the right side. Look for LA to go defensive now at selections 8 and/or 9.

Atlanta Beat Make Heath Number One

The Atlanta Beat have chosen midfielder Tobin Heath as the 1st selection in the 2010 WPS draft. Heath was a star at North Carolina and a member of the US National Team.

Heath is widely considered the most talented player in the draft and is the type of player that can make an immediate impact. She will also make the players around her better. Great skills and passer.

Loyden for Tarpley - The Fireworks Have Begun

Saint Louis Athletica have traded backup goalkeeper Jillian Loyden to Chicago for forward/midfielder Lindsey Tarpley.

Loyden started 3 games for Athletica, giving up just one goal. She also played for Central Coast Mariners of the Australian W-League and was voted Goalkeeper of the Year in that league. She has recently been called in to USWNT camp.

Tarpley scored 4 goals and led Chicago in assists with 4 in 2009. She suffered a serious late season injury that has prevented her from participating with the national team since August. Tarpley's rehab has been reported to be going well, but it is unknown as to whether she will be ready for the start of the 2009 season.

Erin Guthrie speaks with WSW prior to 2010 WPS Draft

Photo Credit: Tom Ciszek, Rutgers Athletics
2009 Big East Goalkeeper of the Year, Erin Guthrie, a captain at Rutgers this past fall, answered several questions via email prior to the 2010 WPS Draft.

Q. How much did Karina LeBlanc mean to your development?

I owe so much to Karina for my overall development at Rutgers during these past 4 years. I am a completely different keeper now than I was as a freshman. All around Karina developed my technical abilities, confidence and tactics and honestly without her training and motivation pushing me everyday I would not have accomplished what I did at Rutgers as well as help Rutgers soccer accomplish all we did as well.

Q. Are you satisfied with how the team finished this season?

I am very proud of how the team performed under all the adversity we faced with injuries this year. Being that it was my last collegiate game I did not want it to end and obviously wanted us to go further even though we put up a great fight. I believe our team accomplished a lot and I do think we had the potential to go even further.

Q. And from an individual standpoint, are you happy with your performance?

For the most part I'm never totally satisfied with how I do. Whenever we lose or give up a goal I feel as though there were things I could have done to prevent it. In general I feel pretty happy with how I performed in my college career.

Q. Are you looking forward to the WPS Draft?

I am looking forward to the draft and hopefully I will have good news come January 15th.

Q. What have you done between the end of your collegiate career and the WPS Draft to prepare for a potential professional career?

Since the season ended I have worked to stay fit as well as continued to strength train. I have also trained with Paul Blodgett once a week to keep my technical game sharp in hopes of having a career in the WPS.

Q. Do you have a favorite save from the season?

I would have to say my favorite save from the season was in the West Virginia game. There was a cross that went to a player on West Virgina who was on the 6 yard line and she redirected it in the opposite direction so I dove back and grabbed it on the goal line. It was my favorite save because we had been working on situations with crosses just like that in practice for awhile.

Q. And a favorite clean sheet?

A favorite clean sheet from this year would be the South Florida game. We tied 0-0 in South Florida. We had just come from the freezing rain in Marquette a day earlier. We were dead tired in the heat as a team so to give up no goals in circumstances like that spoke measures of the Rutgers team.

Q. Can you give us a preview of how the Rutgers women's team will do in 2010?

2010 is going to be a great year for Rutgers Women's Soccer. The talent that the team will have is going to be some of the best and I am predicting a memorable season for them. Returning Gina DeMaio is huge for the team who had to red shirt this year for a knee injury is huge for Rutgers.

Photo Credit: Tom Ciszek, Rutgers Athletics

A Final Preview of the WPS Draft

A year ago, I sat in an overcrowded room at America's Center in Saint Louis and watched as WPS Commissioner Tonya Antonucci announced Amy Rodriguez as the 1st selection in the 2009 WPS Draft. It was an exciting day to be sure and a landmark day in the history of the league. Tomorrow, the drama will be in Philadelphia for the 2010 WPS draft.

Looking back at my mock draft from last year, I wasn't very accurate. My 2009 mock draft was as follows:

1. Boston-Amy Rodriguez (everyone got this one right).
2. Chicago-Carrie Dew (Chicago chose Megan Rapinoe instead. Dew was drafted in the 2nd round by FC Gold Pride).
3. FC Gold Pride-Megan Rapinoe (With Rapinoe gone, FCGP selected Tina DiMartino. I had DiMartino pegged for Washington at the 8th pick).
4. Sky Blue FC-Yael Averbuch (my 2nd correct pick in the 1st round).
5. Los Angeles-Kerri Hanks (LA took Hanks' teammate Brittany Bock instead).
6. Saint Louis-Brittany Bock (I had the 5th and 6th picks switched).
7. Washington-Nikki Krzysik (Washington chose Allie Long who I thought would be picked in the 2nd round. Krzysik was picked at no. 13 by Chicago).

I am hoping I will do better this year, but I'm not counting on it. There are a lot of question marks, primarily what Boston will do at number two. Then there is always the possibility of a trade or two. So here is my final pre-draft analysis of the 1st round:

1. Atlanta Beat-Tobin Heath, MF, North Carolina
Atlanta desperately needs defenders and this is their only selection in the first two rounds. Still, it's hard to see them passing on Heath, pretty much the consensus as the most talented player in this year's draft. I think she is the type of player who will have immediate impact and will make the players around her better. There are other possibilities, although they are probably long shots. Atlanta could take Kelley O'Hara who is from the Atlanta area or they could trade down to pick up some additional picks in the opening rounds. Still, I think it's Heath.

2. Boston Breakers-Lauren Cheney, F, UCLA
Here is where things get complicated, because Boston could go a lot of different directions. They also need defenders to go with LePeilbet and Scott. The best available center back is Whitney Engen of North Carolina. But like the 1st pick, Cheney may be too good to pass up. She's a strong forward who can get a shot off in tight space. Cheney strikes me as being very composed and she has a lot of national team experience. She is equally adept at passing or scoring. Boston could take Engen or even possibly Kelley O'Hara, but I think they take Cheney.

3. FC Gold Pride-Kelley O'Hara, F, Stanford
Gold Pride was the lowest scoring team in the league last year and O'Hara could give them a boost on offense. I think she would pair very well with Sinclair. She's fast and tenacious. O'Hara has big time scoring ability (26 in her senior year at Stanford). I don't think this pick can go any other way, unless either Atlanta or Boston pulls a surprise.

4. Chicago Red Stars-Casey Nogueira, F, North Carolina
The Red Stars also had trouble scoring last year and could stand to add a forward, but the signing of Cristiane and Asllani may change their thinking. Also, if Boston would opt for Engen, then Cheney or O'Hara could fall to this position. Nogueira is one of the greatest clutch players in women's soccer. But she has been inconsistent and at times, a bit of an enigma. The potential is there for her to be a star, but she might be a risky selection. However, she could be the kind of player that Emma Hayes could bring off the bench late in the game to make a difference.

5. Los Angeles Sol-Whitney Engen, D, North Carolina
With Franko and Falk gone, the Sol need to solidify their central defense and Engen could be the answer. By many accounts, she is far and away the best defender in this year's draft. She is a very solid defender, who is one of the toughest tacklers in college soccer. I still think there is a chance that Los Angeles packages some of their picks to move up. They have 6 of the first 25 selections.

6. Sky Blue FC-Brittany Taylor, D, Connecticut
Rampone's pregnancy and Asante's injury make center back more of a priority than it ordinarily would have been for Sky Blue. In 2009, Taylor played for Sky Blue's affiliate, Hudson Valley Quickstrike Lady Blues and that connection could well be a factor here. That aside, Taylor is a talented center back who was recently called up for the US National Team camp. This seems like the perfect fit.

7. Washington-Ali Riley, D, Stanford
This selection is a tough one to gauge. Washington needs to shore up it's defense which gave up a league high 32 goals last season. Riley would give them an outside left back who plays solid defensively, but can also be dangerous making forward runs up the flank. She has international experience with New Zealand. The other direction Washington might go is for a defensive mid and Becky Edwards. I could see either being a possibility, but Riley's two-way ability gives her the edge.

8. Los Angeles-Nikki Washington, MF/F, North Carolina
If it hadn't been for her injury last fall, Washington very well could have been in the top 5. She can be extremely dangerous from the right side. I feel she is one of the most exciting midfielders in college soccer. Injuries always leave a big question mark, but Los Angeles has plenty of selections and Washington is well worth the gamble.

9. Los Angeles-Kaley Fountain, F/D, Wake Forest
This is probably my biggest long shot. I just love her versatility and I think she could be another Brittany Bock, who played several different positions for LA last year. She scored 11 goals and 10 assists last year at Wake, but has also played a lot of defender over her career.

10. FC Gold Pride-Becky Edwards, D/MF, Florida State
Defensive midfielder is one of Gold Pride's biggest needs and Edwards is the top player at that position. She is a top notch college defender, who has good vision and distributes well. She spent most of her college career on the back line, but moved up to defensive mid as a senior.

11. Boston-Nikki Marshall, F/D, Colorado
Marshall is very good offensive player from Colorado, but she may well fit into Boston's back line picture. She started all 6 games at the 2008 U-20 World Cup as a center back. The coach of that team was none other than Tony DiCicco. I can see them being reunited tomorrow.

My 2nd round:
12. FC Gold Pride-Kelsey Davis, GK, Portland.....A tough call between Davis or Naeher. Very athletic keeper in the mold of Hope Solo. Extensive junior national team experience. Career goals against under 0.45 at Portland.
13. Philadelphia Independence-Katie Schoepfer, F, Penn State.....Philly needs a scorer and Schoepfer will provide that. Scored 9 goals in just 6 games for U-23 team in 2009. A good target forward.
14. Los Angeles Sol-Gina DiMartino, MF/F, Boston College.....The Sol get their 2nd DiMartino in a week. Like her sister Tina, great with the ball at her feet and an excellent passer.
15. Chicago Red Stars-Alyssa Naeher, GK, Penn State.....The Red Stars need a backup for Jonsson. Starting keeper for the 2008 U-20 World Cup champions. Decent size and excellent agility. Just called up to USWNT camp.
16. Boston Breakers-Ashlyn Harris, GK, North Carolina.....Boston also needs a keeper and they get Harris. Aggressive keeper who shut out 5 opponents in 6 NCAA tournament games in 2009.
17. Saint Louis Athletica-Kristi Eveland, D, North Carolina.....Barcellos addresses playoff weakness against Sky Blue by getting a solid right back. Great speed and size and can be a weapon on corners with her heading ability.
18. Washington Freedom-Carolyn Blank, MF, West Virginia.....A tough, aggressive defensive mid that will enable the Freedom to move Homare Sawa into the attack where she can be most effective.
19. Saint Louis Athletica-Kiersten Dallstream, F, Washington State.....Athletica adds an offensive threat to team with Aluko and Edlund. Scored 13 goals and 7 assists in 2009. Versatile...played outside defender with 2008 U-20 team.
20. FC Gold Pride-Kat Reynolds, D/F, Santa Clara.....Gold Pride also gets a versatile player who can play several positions. Adds depth defensively for FCGP.

Good luck to all players, coaches, general managers, and fans at tomorrow's draft.

Cristiane Returns to Chicago

After a long wait, the Red Stars have re-signed Brazilian star Cristiane for 2010. Cristiane was the Red Stars leading scorer last season and a member of the WPS All-Star team, as well as being a finalist for the FIFA Player of the Year.

Cristiane ended up 4th in the WPS in goals in 2009. She scored 7 goals, trailing only Marta, Camille Abily, and Abby Wambach in that category. She played in 18 matches for the Red Stars, starting 14 of them. She is the only WPS player to have scored a hat trick in league action, scoring 3 times on July 12th against FC Gold Pride.

The signing of Cristiane gives the Red Stars their maximum of 5 international players. The others are Karen Carney, Caroline Jönsson, Katie Chapman, and Kosovare Asllani.

It will be interesting to see how this signing will affect Chicago's approach to tomorrow's draft in Philadelphia.

2010 PUMA WPS match ball to arrive at NSCAA Convention tonight...

Tonight, at the NSCAA Convention in the City of Brotherly Love, PUMA will unveil the official 2010 WPS match ball.

Don't forget to keep clicking here to find out where the PUMA ball will end up next.

Here are the final two photos from PUMA's journey to the NSCAA Convention...

Carla Overbeck selected to join North Carolina Sports Hall of Fame

DURHAM, N.C. – Duke University assistant women’s soccer coach Carla Overbeck has been selected to be inducted into the North Carolina Sports Hall of Fame. The ceremony will take place on May 13, 2010 at the North Raleigh Hilton in Raleigh, N.C.

Overbeck is one of seven 2010 inductees -- Don McCauley, Herb Appenzeller, Jim Donnan, Carla Overbeck, Mike Quick, Karen Shelton, Paul Simson.

A 1990 graduate of the University of North Carolina, Overbeck recently completed her 18th year on the Duke women’s soccer staff. During her time with the Blue Devils, Duke has advanced to the NCAA Tournament 16 times, including an appearance in the 1992 NCAA Championship game.

A three-time All-America selection at North Carolina, Overbeck was a member of four unbeaten Tar Heel national title squads from 1986-89. North Carolina posted a phenomenal 95-match unbeaten streak (89-0-6) during her career.

Overbeck was a four-time member of the NCAA All-Tournament Team and a two-time All-ACC selection. In addition, she was a member of the 1986 Soccer America All-America Freshman Team and was the Most Valuable Defensive Player of the 1988 NCAA Tournament.

Overbeck’s playing accomplishments include competing for the United States National Team. She was an instrumental player for the U.S. in winning the 1991 Women’s World Cup in China. She captained the 1995 U.S. World Cup squad that advanced to the semifinals and also served as captain of the 1996 U.S. Olympic Team that won the gold medal.

In 1998, Overbeck competed on the gold-medal-winning Goodwill Games squad. She again captained Team USA to the 1999 World Cup Championship and to a silver medal in the 2000 Olympic Games in Sydney, Australia.

Overbeck was elected to the National Soccer Hall of Fame on May 6, 2006.

Via Duke Women's Soccer Release

Fruit and Free Kicks - Follow the official PUMA WPS match ball to the NSCAA Convention

Tomorrow at the NSCAA Convention in the City of Brotherly Love, PUMA will unveil the official 2010 WPS match ball. Keep an eye out, you never know where you will find it next.

Don't forget to keep clicking here to find out where the PUMA ball will end up next.

Follow Me to Philly - PUMA soccer ball to be unveiled

Keep updated on the Puma ball's journey to its unveiling at the 2010 NSCAA convention on Thursday, January 14th, by clicking here to find out where the soccer ball is heading next...

Atlanta Beat - The Offseason So Far

For the final installment of this series, we'll look at the Atlanta Beat.

Building the Roster

Atlanta drafted 6 players in the WPS expansion draft. Of those, Sara Larsson was never signed to a contract and declared a free agent. She eventually signed with Philadelphia. The other five players were Leigh Ann Robinson, Amanda Cinalli, Katie Larkin, Sharolta Nonen, and Noelle Keselica.

Offensively, Amanda Cinalli had the best 2009 WPS season among the draftees. After missing several matches early in the season, Cinalli started 12 of the final 13. She managed two goals and an assist over that time. She has been a mainstay on the US U-23 team the past couple of years and can play attacking mid or forward. Katie Larkin got only 5 starts for LA, but she saw a lot of action off the bench. The BYU alum is normally a wing or forward, but she did play some outside defender in her rookie WPS season. Keselica saw action in 5 matches for Sky Blue.

Leigh Ann Robinson was somewhat of a surprise as the number one pick in the expansion draft, but she did have a solid season with Gold Pride. She primarily played outside defender, scoring one goal for the season, a game winner against Sky Blue. She can be very dangerous on forward runs. Nonen, who played for the original WUSA version of the Beat, played briefly with Los Angeles late in the 2009 season. The Canadian defender has 63 caps with her national team.

The international draft saw the Beat tap into Umeå IK's talent for their top 3 selections. They have now signed all of those players and they should form the core of Atlanta's offense. Ramona Bachmann, who just turned 19 on Christmas day, might be the most exciting of these players. The young Swiss forward scored 14 goals for Umeå in 2009. At the age of 15, she played for the Swiss in the U-20 World Cup in 2006.

Of the other two Umeå imports, one is very familiar to US college soccer fans. Mami Yamaguchi, winner of the 2007 Hermann Award, starred at Florida State. She scored 24 goals in her final season with FSU. She can play forward, but I'm guessing she will fill the role of a creative midfielder for Atlanta. The third signing was Johanna Rasmussen. The veteran Danish striker has scored 17 goals over the past two seasons with Umeå.

Atlanta added Monica Ocampo to their list of signings last week. Ocampo was claimed as an international discovery player by Atlanta last fall. She has played several seasons with FC Indiana and she led the W-League in assists last season with 11 in just 9 games played. Ocampo was also a teammate of Nonen at FC Indiana.

Atlanta has been equally aggressive in signing domestic free agents, with 4 already on the roster, three of which have WPS experience. Stacy Bishop and Sophia Mundy both saw action with the Boston Breakers in 2009. Bishop started 6 games for the Breakers at midfield and earned two assists. Mundy also started two games for the Breakers. The Beat also recently signed McCall Zerboni, another midfielder. Zerboni played in 10 matches for Los Angeles and had one assist. A fourth free agent signing was that of Tracy Hamm. Hamm had been a 4th round selection of Gold Pride in the WPS General Draft in 2008. The former Cal defender has spent several seasons with the WPSL California Storm.

The Beat also made a major trade, sending two draft picks to FC Gold Pride for goalkeeper Allison Whitworth and a 3rd round choice. Whitworth got 4 starts with FCGP and had a 1.25 goals against average. The Alabama native returns to SEC territory where she played her college soccer at Auburn.

Current Roster

Goalkeepers (1)- Allison Whitworth.
Defenders (3)- Tracy Hamm, Sharolta Nonen, Leigh Ann Robinson.
Midfielders (6)- Stacy Bishop, Amanda Cinalli, Katie Larkin, Sophia Mundy, Mami Yamaguchi, McCall Zerboni.
Forwards (4)- Ramona Bachmann, Noelle Keselica, Monica Ocampo, Johanna Rasmussen.

Internationals- Bachman, Ocampo, Rasmussen, and Yamaguchi with one slot open.
Draft Choices (in first 3 rounds)- Nos. 1, 21, and 23.

Needs to Address

What do they do with the first overall selection in the draft? Their obvious glaring need is defenders and lots of them. After their trade for Whitworth, this selection is the only pick they have in the first two rounds. Whitney Engen is probably the consensus best defender in this year's draft, but I doubt that Atlanta will pass on Tobin Heath. She has too much talent and the Beat should be able build their team around her. That would mean that Atlanta must concentrate on defense with their remaining selections.

The other outside possibility is that they would trade the number one pick for a package of selections and the team they would most likely make that trade with would be Los Angeles. The Sol have 6 of the top 25 selections in this draft and may be willing to part with some of those picks to move up to number one. However, Atlanta has not given any indication that they were interested in trading the top spot. Still, nothing is definite until the selection is made on Friday morning.

Obviously, the Beat also needs a backup keeper and I would think there would still be a couple of solid choices left in the 3rd or 4th round of this draft.

I would expect that Atlanta would use 4 or 5 of their selections on defenders come Friday. They have some great offensive weapons on this team and some great international talent. Bachmann, Yamaguchi, and Ocampo are all still very young and all dangerous offensive players. They also have a lot of talented young American players in the midfield which the addition of Heath would only improve. If this team can build a solid defensive unit, they could be very good.

Interviews upcoming

Now that my colleague has had the opportunity to select these athletes in the mock draft, Women's Soccer Weekly will be bringing you exclusive interviews with several players...

Stay tuned!

GM for a Day - It's Harder Than It Looks

I was contacted on Friday by WPS Director of Communications & Broadcast Relations, Robert Penner, about taking part in a WPS mock draft that was being held on Twitter by the good folks over at Bleacher Report. I happily, although somewhat warily, accepted. Participating in a mock draft always leaves one open to criticism for those who want to second guess the second guessers.

First, I want to thank Rob for contacting me and everyone over at Bleacher Report for allowing me to participate. It was challenging, but fun. The results of the draft are on this link. They have done a nice job providing info and a short bio on each of the selections that were made. Please check it out.

I was chosen to play the part of Ilisa Kessler, the GM for FC Gold Pride. I also want to thank Ilisa, who was kind enough to respond to my tweet and email for advice.

I kind of thought it might be interesting to go through my thought process as the mock GM. I had already made a pretty good list of who I thought the top players at each position were and Todd Civin at Bleacher Report provided me with some additional statistical information to help. I had already assessed FC Gold Pride's needs in a series I have been doing for Women's Soccer Weekly. My assessment is that they need a forward/scorer, a defensive midfielder, an outside back preferably on the left side, and a backup keeper. I tweeted Ilisa asking for advice and luckily for me, she was thinking along the same general lines as I was.

So before the draft, I'm thinking I'm probably going to get Kelley O'Hara or Lauren Cheney with the 3rd pick. My guess was O'Hara would be the one available. Here is the draft progressed:

1st Round

Atlanta-Tobin Heath, MF, North Carolina (No surprise here).
Boston-Kelley O'Hara, F, Stanford (That caught me off guard. I had thought they would either go for Cheney or Engen. I was still going to get one of the two forwards I had targeted).

FC Gold Pride-Lauren Cheney, F, UCLA (I expected O'Hara, but I still got Cheney and I'm happy. My next target for the 10th pick is Becky Edwards, defensive midfielder/defender from Florida State. It's my feeling that she is the best holding midfielder in the draft).

Chicago-Whitney Engen, D, North Carolina.
Los Angeles-Kara Lang, MF, UCLA.
Sky Blue-Casey Nogueira, F, North Carolina.
Washington-Becky Edwards, D/MF, Florida State (Okay, I have to go to plan B now. I don't see another pure defensive mid that I value that highly, so my next target is the outside defender).
Los Angeles-Nikki Washington, MF, North Carolina.
Los Angeles-Gina DiMartino, F/MF, Boston College.

FC Gold Pride-Ali Riley, D, Stanford (I consider Riley to be an excellent outside back that is good both defensively and offensively. Additionally, she is one of the few top outside backs that plays the left side. I've now accomplished two objectives and am very happy with the way things are going, in spite of not getting Edwards).
Boston-Michelle Enyeart, F, Portland.

2nd Round
(Okay, I'm up again. Now I have a tough decision to make. Again, I don't see an available defensive mid that I value quite this high in the draft. However, my other need is goalkeeper and none have been taken yet. There are at least 3 or 4 that I would be plenty happy with. So what do I do here?)

FC Gold Pride-Alyssa Naeher, GK, Penn State (I decided to go ahead and get the keeper. I kind of figured that once one had been chosen, there might be a run on keepers and I didn't want to take that chance. I would have been happy with Naeher, Kelsey Davis, Ashlyn Harris, or even Kristin Olsen. In the end, it was pretty much a coin flip for me between Naeher and Davis and I chose Naeher).

Philadelphia-Ashlyn Harris, GK, North Carolina (At this point, I'm thinking here comes the run on keepers and maybe it was a good idea to use the number 12 pick for one. As it turned out, it didn't really happen, but I was still happy with my choice).
Los Angeles-Jill Hutchinson, F, Wake Forest.
Chicago-Kate Megna, MF, UW-Milwaukee (Now I'm starting to think about the defensive mid for the 20th selection. My target for this pick is now Carolyn Blank of West Virginia, who I consider the best defensive mid left on the board).

Boston-Brittany Taylor, D, Connecticut (I'm extremely surprised she fell this far. I was thinking top 10, maybe top 8).
Saint Louis-Katie Schoepfer, F, Penn State (Again surprised she fell this far. I had her as the 4th forward on my board behind O'Hara, Cheney, and Nogueira and considering Enyeart's injury).
Washington-Kristi Eveland, D, North Carolina (Had she played the left side instead of the right, I would have strongly considered her when I made the selection at no. 10).
Saint Louis-Emily Pallotta, MF, Boston University.

FC Gold Pride-Carolyn Blank, MF, West Virginia (I got my player. A very tough and tenacious defender. Since we're only going 3 rounds in the mock draft, I'm through for the day).

3rd round

Atlanta-Dea Cook, D, UCLA.
Los Angeles-Mick Imgram, MF, Tennessee.
Atlanta-Kristin Olsen, GK, USC.
Chicago-Erin Guthrie, GK, Rutgers.
Boston-Jessica Fuccello, F, Pennsylvania.
Sky Blue-Kelly Henderson, D, Boston College (Another player I thought would go earlier).
Washington-Nikki Marshall, F/D, Colorado (Also a good value for the 3rd round).
Saint Louis-Carly Dobratz, MF, Washington State.
Sky Blue-Sylvia Kowalski, MF, Canisius.

That concluded the draft. I was stunned that a few players weren't chosen like Kelsey Davis, Kaley Fountain, Kiersten Dallstream, Kat Reynolds, and Jordan Angeli. I also wasn't sure about the WPS international status of Kara Lang and Sylvia Kowalski, both of whom are Canadian. Michelle Enyeart's injury is the only thing that prevented me from considering her in the first round.

If I had to do this in real life, I would die of stress within a week. It was even a bit nerve-racking doing this on a mock level. The unpredicatability of the process calls for a Plan A, B, C, and maybe even Plan D. And that is only the start of the fun. Then you have to worry about the business end of it...contracts, budgets to sign the players, etc. Then there are the uncontrollables like injuries. Make no mistake, a general manager's job is not easy. And of course there's us, the second guessers...the analysts...the woulda, shoulda, couldas.

Good luck to all teams and general managers on Friday!

Free Agent Zerboni Signs with Atlanta Beat

In what has been an extremely busy week, the Atlanta Beat have now signed free agent midfielder McCall Zerboni. Zerboni played for the Los Angeles Sol in 2009. She played in 10 games, starting in four contests, and assisted on one goal.

Zerboni played her college soccer at UCLA, where she scored 13 goals and 9 assists. She was a 7th round draft selection (#47 overall) in the 2009 WPS draft.

Atlanta also signed Sharolta Nonen, an expansion draft selection, to a contract. Nonen also played for Los Angeles in 2009 and is a veteran on the Canadian National Team. She does not count against the Beat's international player total.

The Beat will continue to be busy next week at the WPS draft next Friday. They have the 1st overall choice in that draft.

Athletica Holds Open House

Pictured from left Laura, Johnny, Elizabeth (all of Laclede's Army), Athletica players Angie Woznuk, Hope Solo, Lori Chalupny, and Austin, and Keith (also of Laclede's Army). Laclede's Army is a supporter group for Saint Louis Athletica.

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Saint Louis Athletica held an open house for their fans on Sunday. Season ticket holders were allowed to choose their seat for the 2010 season. Additionally, there were attendance prizes, drawings, discounted merchandise, and a silent auction. The proceeds will go to benefit SPENSA, a soccer program for kids with special needs.

Athletica team members Lori Chalupny, Hope Solo, and Angie Woznuk were at the event and talked to fans, signed autographs, and posed for pictures. The event was very well attended.

Atlanta signs Mexican Star Monica Ocampo

The Atlanta Beat has been very busy in the international market and have announced the signing of their fourth international star, Monica Ocampo of Mexico.

Ocampo is just 22 years old and has already accumulated several years of experience both with the Mexico National Team and the W-League FC Indiana Lionesses. She recently scored a goal against Brazil in Mexico's 3-2 loss in the four-nations tournament played in December.

Ocampo joins internationals signees Ramona Bachmann (Switzerland), Mami Yamaguchi (Japan), and Johanna Rasmussen (Denmark) on the expansion Atlanta side. The Beat has now signed their top three choices in the expansion international draft held in September, plus Ocampo, leaving one international spot open on their roster.

Philadelphia Independence - The Offseason So Far

Okay, in this case offseason is a bit of a misnomer. The 2010 season will be the inaugural season for Philadelphia. If you look closely, however, you could almost swear that this team resembles a team that could have been put together at the beginning of 2009.

Building the Roster

First, let's look at how the original seven teams were built. There was the USWNT allocation. Then there were three drafts...the international draft and discovery process, the general draft, and the January draft. Finally, teams supplemented their rosters by signing free agents. So who is on Philly's roster right now? One player from the original USWNT allocation, two international players (one of which played in WPS in 2009), three players from last year's general draft, and 7 players from last year's January draft. Add a free agent or two for good measure.

The Independence got the USWNT allocation in signing Heather Mitts in October. Mitts is a 10-year veteran of the US National Team and was one of the original USWNT allocations to Boston. She has logged 104 caps for the US and has been a mainstay at outside defender.

Philadelphia has signed two international players so far, Caroline Seger and Sara Larsson, both from Sweden. Seger is a talented midfielder that has played for the Swedish National Team since 2005. She has scored 9 goals over the past two seasons with Linköpings of the Damallsvenskan. Larsson is a veteran defender, also on the Swedish National Team, who spent last season with Saint Louis. She played in 15 matches for Athletica, starting 12. Philadelphia still has three international openings. Those will presumably be filled by 3 of their 4 choices from the international draft, which includes Fara Williams, Lianne Sanderson, Charlotte Rohlin, and Holmfridur Magnusdottir.

In the expansion draft, Philadelphia chose Danesha Adams, Lori Lindsey, and Sue Weber. They were the 6th, 17th, and 18th selections from the WPS General Draft conducted in October, 2008. Adams was bothered by injuries in 2009, but still appeared in 12 games for the Chicago Red Stars. Lindsey had an excellent season with the Washington Freedom, starting 18 games and scoring 2 goals from her midfield position. She has even garnered consideration for the US National Team. Weber was also hampered by injuries, but started 8 games for Boston and will be reunited with Mitts, her back line mate from the Breakers.

As mentioned, Philadelphia has acquired 7 players that were selected in the 2009 January draft, either by draft or trade. They are Amy Rodriguez (#1 choice overall), Allison Falk (#10), Nikki Krzysik (#13), Val Henderson (#33), Jen Buczkowski (#39), Kelly Schmedes (#41), and Sarah Senty (#49). It's almost as though Philadelphia had actually participated in the 2009 draft.

Out of those players, the Independence has built a solid defensive group to go along with Mitts and Weber. Perhaps the most notable is Allison Falk, who had an excellent rookie season with Los Angeles and is considered to be one of the best young defenders in the league. Krzysik (Chicago) and Senty (Washington) also started several games for their teams in 2009. After being a part-time starter in the regular season, Buczkowski filled in for Anita Asante in the playoffs and was an important part of Sky Blue's championship run. Henderson looked very good in her one appearance in goal for Los Angeles, earning a shutout.

On the offensive side, Schmedes is a hard working forward who started 10 games for Boston and scored one goal. However, the most intriguing of all may be Rodriguez. The much heralded forward out of USC entered the league with an Olympic gold medal and high expectations, but struggled in 2009. She scored only one goal for Boston, but the potential is there for a much better season in 2010 for Philadelphia. Rodriguez has 6 goals and 38 US National Team caps to her credit. Philly also added free agent forward Lyndsey Patterson to their offensive arsenal.

Current Roster

Goalkeepers (1)- Val Henderson.
Defenders (6)- Allison Falk, Nikki Krzysik, Sara Larsson, Heather Mitts, Sarah Senty, Sue Weber.
Midfielders (3)- Jen Buczkowski, Lori Lindsey, Caroline Seger.
Forwards (4)- Danesha Adams, Lyndsey Patterson, Amy Rodriguez, Kelly Schmedes.

Internationals- Larsson and Seger with 3 slots open.
Draft Choices (in first 3 rounds)- No. 13.

Needs to Address

Philadelphia has a lot of talented young players with WPS experience and has sprinkled in some seasoned veterans. The price they paid for that talent was surrendering most of their choices in next week's draft. They have only one remaining selection in the first 3 rounds and need to make the most of it. Their three remaining international players could well hold the key to a successful inaugural season.

Determining what Philly's biggest needs are will depend on which of the international stars they are able to sign. If they can sign Williams and/or Magnusdottir, they should probably go after a forward in the draft. If they sign Sanderson, they need to concentrate on getting a couple of midfielders. The area in which they appear strongest is on defense and if they could add Rohlin, I would put their defensive group as one of the top units in the league.

The Independence will need to pick up another goalkeeper. While Henderson has proven herself with UCLA, Pali Blues, and with US Junior National teams, she has yet to face the constant pressure she will see from the great international forwards in WPS. She played an excellent match in her only WPS start against Gold Pride, but that was with LA's defense in front of her and against the lowest scoring team in the league. I believe Henderson will be a very good WPS goalkeeper, but drafting another to push her for the number one spot will only make her better.

There are a lot of ways to build an expansion team. Philadelphia has chosen to build through already proven players rather than through the draft. In spite of that, they have a pretty young roster. Nine of their 14 players will be 25 or under on opening day 2010. They have a nice mixture of youth and veterans. The question is how soon will they be able to develop team chemistry. If this happens quickly and they are able to make a few international signings, they may well challenge for a playoff spot in their opening campaign.

Los Angeles and Boston Complete A Deal

Per the WPS official website:

Jan. 8, 2010: The Los Angeles Sol traded the rights to an international discovery player and its seventh round pick (65th overall) in the 2010 WPS Draft to the Boston Breakers for its third round pick (25th overall) in the 2010 WPS Draft.

Unconfirmed at this point is the international discovery player, but it appears to be Laura Del Rio. The league no longer releases specific information on transactions involving discovery players, leaving the individual teams to do so at their discretion.

If it is true, this would be at least the 3rd different WPS team to have had the international discovery rights to Del Rio. Previously, the Chicago Red Stars had named her as an international discovery player in October, 2008. Los Angeles had named her as a discovery player in June of 2009. Neither team was able to sign her or work out a loan deal with her team. Del Rio is currently playing for FFC Frankfurt of the Frauen Bundesliga in Germany. She has 6 goals for the German club this season.

O'Hara wins MAC Hermann Award

Stanford senior forward Kelley O'Hara has won the 2009 Hermann Award, presented to the top male and female soccer players in NCAA Division I soccer. The award is annually presented by the Missouri Athletic Club in St. Louis, Missouri. The winner of the men's award was Teal Bunbury of the University of Akron.

O'Hara led Stanford to a 25-1 season, losing only to North Carolina in the finals. She scored a phenomenol 26 goals and added 13 assists for the Cardinal. She scored 57 goals over her four year college career.

O'Hara had been a semifinalist for the 2007 Hermann Award. She is expected to be one of the top selections in next week's WPS draft which will be held Friday, January 15 in Philadelphia.

The other two finalists for the women's award were Tobin Heath of North Carolina, who was 1st runner up, and Lauren Cheney of UCLA, who had previously been a finalist back in 2007.

Congratulations to Kelley!

WPS Mock Draft on Twitter

BleacherReport.com will be holding an online WPS mock draft on Saturday, January 9th at 3 pm eastern time. For those wanting to follow the draft, go to Twitter.com/br_wps to follow the action.

As an added note, I have been asked to take part in the mock draft and will be playing the part of the FC Gold Pride GM. I'm sure I won't do as well as the real general manager of FC Gold Pride, Ilisa Kessler, but I'm going to try my best. She's already had a pretty good week in trading for Camille Abily, so I'll try not to ruin it for her.

When the draft is completed, I will post a link to the final results.

US Women's National Team calls 26 players into camp as 2010 Algarve Cup looms

USWNT coach Pia Sundhage camp roster includes:

GOALKEEPERS (4): Nicole Barnhart (FC Gold Pride), Jillian Loyden (St. Louis Athletica), Alyssa Naeher (Penn State), Hope Solo (St. Louis Athletica)

DEFENDERS (8): Lori Chalupny (St. Louis Athletica), Stephanie Cox (Los Angeles Sol), Amy LePeilbet (Boston Breakers), Heather Mitts (Philadelphia Independence), Meghan Schnur (Sky Blue FC), Brittany Taylor (UConn), Cat Whitehill (Washington Freedom)

MIDFIELDERS (7): Yael Averbuch (Sky Blue FC), Shannon Boxx (Los Angeles Sol), Tobin Heath (UNC), Lori Lindsey (Philadelphia Independence), Carli Lloyd (Sky Blue FC), Heather O’Reilly (Sky Blue FC), Megan Rapinoe (Chicago Red Stars)

FORWARDS (7): Lauren Cheney (UCLA), Ella Masar (Chicago Red Stars), Alex Morgan (California), Casey Nogueira (UNC), Kelley O’Hara (Stanford), Amy Rodriguez (Philadelphia Independence), Abby Wambach (Washington Freedom)

WPS Surpasses 200,000 Followers on Twitter

League to Provide Behind the Scenes 2010 WPS Draft Coverage on Twitter.com/womensprosoccer

SAN FRANCISCO, CA (January 8, 2009) – Women’s Professional Soccer, since its inception a strong proponent of social media as a powerful fan-engagement platform, surpassed 200,000 Twitter followers on its Twitter.com/womensprosoccer account last week to start the New Year. The benchmark continues the impressive growth that WPS has seen in its social media platforms. Recently, WPS was listed in USA Today Snapshots® stat of the day in the December 3 sports section as fifth among sports leagues for Twitter followers behind the NBA, NFL, MLB and NHL.

“We are proud of the growth of our social media initiatives and continue to use it as an important and efficient medium to engage with our fan base in meaningful, compelling ways,” said Head of New Media Karyn Lush. “We expect to have more in store for the 2010 season for WPS fans.”

For the 2010 WPS Draft, WPS will offer immediate behind-the-scenes draft news and a variety of updates by posting TwitPic and TwitVid to its account. “We don’t have the benefit of live television coverage that other leagues might at the draft,” said Lush. “So this is a great way for fans to get immediate results, interviews, color and reactions from draft day.”

WPS was an early adopter of Twitter and became one of the first leagues to integrate it as a medium to deliver news when WPS announced the allocation of the U.S. National Team players to its teams via Twitter in September 2008. The league then used Twitter for fans to follow the 2009 WPS Draft in real-time. In March 2009, the league integrated Twitter with sideline “tweets” coming from select players on the gameday roster during its WPS Inaugural Match on March 29, 2009 and continued to use Twitter during games on a trial basis throughout the season.

WPS incorporates other social media platforms as well, and will integrate its Fan Corner into the 2010 WPS Draft. The league will run a unique giveaway promotion in which the first person to correctly predict all 11 names of the first round draft picks with correct teams will win a prize. Contestants must enter by submitting a comment on the Fan Corner at fancorner.womensprosoccer.com. The contest will be promoted on WPS’s Facebook account at facebook.com/womensprosoccer.

Via WPS Press Release

Abily to Gold Pride, DiMartino to Los Angeles

The deal sending Camille Abily to FC Gold Pride is, in fact, a reality. Los Angeles has traded Camille Abily and their 2nd round draft choice (20th overall pick) in the 2010 draft to FC Gold Pride for Christina DiMartino, FC Gold Pride's 2nd round draft choice (14th overall pick) in the 2010 draft, and the rights to one of Gold Pride's 2009 International Discovery Players.

Abily, a member of the French National Team, was the Sol's 2nd leading scorer last season with 8 goals and 1 assist. The talented midfielder was a major factor in LA's regular season title, but she was unable to participate in the championship game due to her national team duties. Additionally, she was selected to the WPS All-Star team, but was playing for France in the 2009 Euros.

DiMartino was FC Gold Pride's 1st round selection (3rd overall) in the 2009 WPS draft. She also has 5 caps for the US National Team and scored her first international goal against Denmark in the 2009 Algarve Cup. For Gold Pride, DiMartino assisted on one goal while starting 18 games. She returns to Los Angeles where she played her college soccer for UCLA.

The Atlanta Beat Sign Johanna Rasmussen

The Atlanta Beat has signed yet another international star in Danish forward Johanna Rasmussen. The 26-year old striker has 65 caps and 13 goals for the Danish National Team. She has played the last two seasons with Umeå in Sweden, where she scored 10 goals in 2008, followed by 7 goals in 2009.

Rasmussen joins Umeå teammates Mami Yamaguchi and Ramona Bachmann on the Atlanta Beat roster. Atlanta still has two remaining international slots open.

Umeå's top 3 goal scorers from 2009 have now signed with WPS teams. In addition to Atlanta signees Rasmussen and Bachmann, Madelaine Edlund signed with Saint Louis in November.

Rumor-LA Trades Abily to Gold Pride

At this point there are no details or confirmation, but there was briefly a news headline on the FC Gold Pride website that they had acquired Camille Abily from the Los Angeles Sol. The headline seems to have been removed, possibly awaiting league approval of the deal before releasing info to the public.

Updates, if any, to follow.

Atlanta Signs Mami Yamaguchi

The Atlanta Beat has announced the signing of former Florida State star Mami Yamaguchi. Yamaguchi was Atlanta's 3rd pick in the international draft held for expansion teams last fall.

Yamaguchi won the prestigious MAC Hermann Award as the outstanding college female soccer player in 2007 while at Florida State. She is the all-time leader in career assists for Florida State, and is 2nd in career points and 3rd in career goals.

Yamaguchi has spent the last two seasons with Umeå of the Swedish Damallsvenskan. She scored 3 goals in 2008 and 4 goals in 2009.

Above: Mami Yamaguchi (left) challenges Amy LePeilbet at the WPS All-Star Game.

Sky Blue FC - The Offseason So Far

When Last We Left Them...

Sky Blue finished 4th in the WPS regular season with 26 points. A very slow start left them in last place with a 2-5-3 record by midseason. At that point, they had scored only 6 goals and already had a coaching change behind them. Under new coach Kelly Lindsey, SBFC made a strong move going 3-0-1 to start July. Just when things were going well, Lindsey resigned and defender Christie Rampone was named as Sky Blue's 3rd coach. A loss to Washington in their last regular season match put them in the precarious position of needing help from Los Angeles, which they received as Boston dropped a 2-1 decision, putting Sky Blue in the playoffs.

So let's see, two coaching changes, a losing record in the regular season, a terrible record against the other three playoff teams (0-7-2) and what does that mean. Well, in Sky Blue's case, it means a WPS Championship. They put together a memorable playoff run of 3 one-goal victories, defeating Los Angeles 1-0 in the final. So what changed?

For one thing, Jen Branam became the league's hottest keeper in the playoffs, in spite of her 40 yard adventures into the midfield. After spending most of the early season on the bench, Yael Averbuch finally got a chance to start and became a big part of their playoff run. After missing the first 3 games of the season, Rosana became a consistent force in the offensive end. Natasha Kai's ailing shoulders held together just long enough and two seldom used subs, acquired in late June from Saint Louis, both got key game winning goals. Kerri Hanks scored in stoppage to defeat Chicago in mid-July and Francielle scored the game winner in the 1st round playoff match against Washington.

And then there was Rampone, whose leadership on and off the field enabled Sky Blue to weather a lot of storms, overcome adversity, and win a championship.

Roster Moves

It wouldn't be Sky Blue if we didn't start off this section by mentioning that they have hired their 4th head coach, Paula Miettinen of Finland. The 2010 version of Sky Blue will have a decidedly more European flavor to it on the field as well.

Back will be 12 players from their championship roster, including their top 4 goal scorers, Rosana, Natasha Kai, Heather O'Reilly, and Kacey White. They will also return their entire back line with Rampone, Anita Asante, Keeley Dowling, and Meghan Schnur.

Sky Blue did lose Jen Buczkowski and Noelle Keselica in the expansion draft. Buczkowski was a key factor in New Jersey's playoff run. She held down Asante's back line position in the playoffs and did a great job. She started 8 regular season games and all 3 playoff matches, seeing action at defensive mid and center back. Keselica played in 5 regular season contests at forward. Sky Blue also lost Julianne Sitch, who was signed by Chicago. Sitch played in 16 and started 11 games for Sky Blue, scoring one goal.

Sky Blue's first acquisition was to sign free agent midfielder Carli Lloyd. Lloyd is coming off of a disappointing season in Chicago, where she scored 2 goals and an assist for the Red Stars. She has a powerful shot, but will need to focus on better accuracy. Only 7 of her 40 shots last year were on goal.

Then Sky Blue turned its attention to the international market. Gone from last year's international group are Kelly Parker, Francielle, and Collette McCallum. SBFC signed Dutch defender Daphne Koster in October. Koster will be 29 when the 2010 season opens and she has nearly 100 caps for the Dutch National Team. Next, Sky Blue signed two Scandanavian strikers, Jessica Landström of Sweden and Laura Kalmari of Finland. In two seasons at Linköping, Landström scored 23 goals. The 25-year old has been on the Swedish National Team since 2007 and has earned 30 caps, while scoring 9 goals. Kalmari has 119 caps and 36 goals in her career with the Finnish National Team and is their all-time leading goal scorer.

Current Roster

Goalkeepers (2)- Karen Bardsley, Jen Branam.
Defenders (6)- Anita Asante, Keeley Dowling, Ashleigh Gunning, Daphne Koster, Christie Rampone, Meghan Schnur.
Midfielders (5)- Yael Averbuch, Carli Lloyd, Heather O'Reilly, Rosana, Kacey White.
Forwards (4)- Kerri Hanks, Natasha Kai, Laura Kalmari, Jessica Landström.

Additions- Gunning, Kalmari, Koster, Landström, and Lloyd.
Subtractions- Jen Buczkowski (drafted by Philadelphia), Noelle Keselica (drafted by Atlanta), Julianne Sitch (signed by Chicago), Collette McCallum (waived), Kelly Parker (waived), Francielle (waived).

Other Free Agents from 2009 roster- Cori Alexander, Mele French, Katie Hooker, and Lauren Sesselmann.
Internationals-Asante, Kalmari, Koster, Landström, and Rosana.
Draft Choices (in first 3 rounds)- Nos. 6, 26, and 29.

Needs To Address

Quite frankly, there aren't many because Sky Blue has already addressed their most pressing needs. On defense, there is certainly some doubt as to when Rampone would be ready after coming back from her pregnancy, but Sky Blue signed Koster, so that problem is solved. With McCallum, Parker, and Francielle gone out of the midfield, there might have been a need there, but SBFC signed Carli Lloyd. There also had to be concern about Natasha Kai's shoulder surgery and their lack of scoring in 2009, but Sky Blue has added Kalmari and Landström. In fact, Sky Blue already has 17 players under contract for 2010, so there aren't many openings.

In light of this, Sky Blue should be able to use the 6th overall pick to choose the proverbial "best player available." Or it could mean that they could take more of a chance on a player with a lot of raw ability that still needs to develop. In either case, it's an enviable position to be in.

One thing that Sky Blue will miss is the solid play they got out of role players like Buczkowski and Sitch. These are the type of players that aren't big headliners, but that every championship team needs, the ultimate team players if you will. Who will take on that role for Sky Blue in 2010?