Week 4: The Flash Makes Their Home Debut

There will be a full slate of matches this weekend in WPS and all matches will be played on Sunday. Highlighting this week's games is a rematch of last week's Atlanta-Western New York matchup which will also serve as the Flashes' home opener.

Atlanta Beat at Western New York Flash (4 pm Eastern, Sunday)
Sahlen Stadium, Rochester, New York.

Atlanta Beat (1-1-1)
Coach: James Galanis
Roster:
Goalkeepers - A. Lipsher, A. Whitworth.
Defenders - K. Dowling, H. Mitts, K. Reynolds, C. Whitehill, C. Flanagan, A. Marquez.
Midfielders - L. Chalupny, M. Jesolva, C. Lloyd, K. Wright, A. Salem.
Forwards - M. Lenczyk, K. Larsen, L. Sesselmann.
Not active - K. Fraine, B. D'Agostino, V. Strnadova, I. Trotter, K. Bethke, L. Patterson.

Western New York Flash (1-0-1)
Coach: Aaran Lines
Roster:
Goalkeepers - A. Harris, B. Cameron.
Defenders - C. Chapman, W. Engen, A. Riley, K. Wilson, J. Sitch.
Midfielders - B. Bock, B. Edwards, C. Seger, B. Goebel, M. Zerboni.
Forwards - A. Morgan, C. Sinclair, Marta, G. Davison, K. Parker, K. Fountain.
Not active - A. Bowers, K. Brandao, G. Lewandowski (injury), A. Sahlen (injury), Y. Averbuch, Maurine.

When these two teams met a week ago, nearly an hour into the match it had all the makings of a yawner. The Flash held a 1-0 lead and was having trouble cracking the Beat's defense, while Atlanta had very little semblance of offense at all. Then Lori Chalupny's goal seem to spark both teams to the last 35 minutes being played at a fever pitch, with some of the most exciting soccer we've seen in WPS.

The venue has moved to Rochester for this week's rematch, with the Flash getting their first chance to impress the home crowd. They certainly have a lot of crowd pleasers on their team with the likes of Alex Morgan, Christine Sinclair, and Marta. Marta instantly made an impact in her first action of the season, flicking home a header that temporarily put WNY back up by a 2-1 margin.

Coach Aaran Lines will be looking for better stuff from his team this week. The Flash were unable to take advantage of an early edge in both scoring chances and possession to build a lead and they paid for it in the final third of the match.

Goalkeeper Ashlyn Harris gave up two goals in the contest against Atlanta, but both were well-struck balls. Her defense, which turned away anything that was remotely a threat in the first half, showed vulnerabilities in the 2nd half after Lori Chalupny took to testing the right side of the Flashes' defense. Right back Kandace Wilson will have to do a better job this week to protect against attacks from her side.

Alli Lipsher, coming off of two consecutive Player of the Week awards, gave up two goals as well, but she also saved the game in the final five minutes of the match. The Flash will need to better exploit their speed advantage and test the Beat's back line. It was a great team effort on defense that kept the Beat in last week's match early on.

For Atlanta, it seems like most of their offense comes from the midfield. Chalupny and Carli Lloyd are often the keys to their success, and the Beat also get Megan Jesolva back for this match after she missed the one last week.

Out of the forwards, only Meghan Lenczyk has scored, although Kristina Larsen has knocked on the door with numerous shots in their first three matches.

The Beat have been the surprise of the young season, accomplishing much more than most of us thought was possible. This week will be a new challenge, their first match of the season on the road, and against a quality team at that. The Flash would like nothing better than to show the fans of Western New York just what they can do.


Philadelphia Independence at magicJack (4 pm Eastern, Sunday)
FAU Soccer Field, Boca Raton, Florida.

Philadelphia Independence (0-0-1)
Coach: Paul Riley
Roster:
Goalkeepers - N. Barnhart, V. Henderson.
Defenders - E. Johnson, N. Krzysik, K. McNeill, L. Robinson, L. Fowlkes.
Midfielders - J. Buczkowski, C. DiMartino, S. Farrelly, L. Lindsey, J. Lohman, M. Rapinoe.
Forwards - T. Kai, A. Rodriguez, L. Sanderson, H. Magnusdottir.
Not active - R. Jones, L. Barnes, A. Falk (injury), D. Adams, V. Boquete, L. del Rio, G. DiMartino.

magicJack (1-0-0)
Coach: Mike Lyons
Roster:
Goalkeepers - H. Solo, J. Loyden.
Defenders - M. Dalmy, C. Rampone, B. Sauerbrunn, M. Schnur, T. Ellertson, N. Marshall.
Midfielders - S. Boxx, S. Huffman, L. Tarpley, K. White, M. Klingenberg, A. DaCosta.
Forwards - E. Masar, C. Press, A. Wambach, L. De Vanna, R. Moros.
Not active - B. Maron, L. Vandenbergh, O. Davis, S. Schmidt, J. Rasmussen.

magicJack started the Florida chapter of their history with a 1-0 victory over the Breakers, with Ella Masar picking right up where she left off the 2010 season, scoring a goal. This week, magicJack hosts Philadelphia, a team that has to be anxious to play a game following two consecutive weeks off due to a rain out and a bye week.

One thing to watch for in this match is likely to be Hope Solo's first start in nearly eight months, following shoulder surgery last fall. While Jill Loyden did well last week, earning a shutout, Solo is expected to be the starter when not with the USWNT. It will be a matchup of national team goalkeepers, with Nicole Barnhart as the Independence starter.

These are two teams expected to have high-powered offenses, with both depth and quality up front. magicJack has Abby Wambach, Lisa De Vanna, and Christen Press to go along with Masar. Meanwhile, the Independence have Tasha Kai, Amy Rodriguez, and Lianne Sanderson.

When these two teams met last season, there was plenty of scoring. Wambach scored four goals against Philadelphia, while Sanderson scored three against the Freedom and Rodriguez scored four, including the game winner in overtime of their first round playoff match.

Defensively, the Independence are very thin right now with Allison Falk still sidelined with an injury. Philly does have a very impressive midfield unit with Lori Lindsey, Tina DiMartino, Sinead Farrelly, Megan Rapinoe, and Jen Buczkowski.

At issue last week was the width of the playing surface at FAU Field. The league supposedly specifies 68 yard wide minimum and by most accounts, the width at FAU was somewhat narrower. With two strong, physical teams as these, a narrow field could become quite crowded on Sunday afternoon.

One could argue that this match may determine who the number one challenger to Western New York is this season, although there is still a lot of soccer to be played before things are sorted out. Still, while both teams may be playing only their second matches, important it will certainly be.


Sky Blue FC at Boston Breakers (6 pm Eastern, Sunday)
Harvard Stadium, Cambridge, Massachusetts.

Sky Blue FC (0-1-1)
Coach: Jim Gabarra
Roster:
Goalkeepers - K. Bardsley, J. Branam.
Defenders - A. Asante, C. Dew, D. Johnson, B. Taylor, J. Clark.
Midfielders - C. Blank, T. Heath, A. Long, H. O'Reilly, T. Sjögran, A. Kerr.
Forwards - E. Aluko, L. Kalmari, C. Nogueira.
Not active - K. Arnold, E. Guthrie, K. Fletcher (injury), L. Johnson (injury), M. Wenino, A. Mautz, Adriana.

Boston Breakers (1-2-0)
Coach: Tony DiCicco
Roster:
Goalkeepers - A. Naeher, K. Davis.
Defenders - R. Buehler, S. Cox, A. LePeilbet, A. Scott, I. Dieke, L. Bogus, K. Moore.
Midfielders - L. Osborne, N. Washington, K. Winters, K. Schoepfer, N. Cross.
Forwards - L. Cheney, K. O'Hara, K. Smith, T. Hemmings.
Not active - A. Phillips, J. Angeli (injury), L. Blayney, E. Reed, C. Zimmeck, K. Dallstream.

Both of these two teams have to be a little disappointed with their season so far, at least from a record standpoint. After opening with a win over Atlanta, the Breakers dropped tough matches to Western New York and magicJack. Meanwhile, Sky Blue gave up a 2-0 lead in their opener, settling for a tie against Philly and then went down to Atlanta and were defeated by the Beat.

There is certainly a bit of tradition with this match. These are the only two of the original teams to still be playing in the same location as they did when the league kicked off over two years ago. They have met eight times, with Sky Blue winning four close games, Boston winning one blowout, and three games ending in scoreless ties.

Both teams also have veteran coaches in Tony DiCicco for Boston and Jim Gabarra with Sky Blue.

For the second year in a row, Boston has gotten off to a slow start. With four of the league's six teams making the playoffs, a slow start is not fatal, but for a team that will lose a large percentage of its squad to the World Cup, it is crucial that they start to turn things around.

After the opener, scoring has been an issue with the Breakers. They managed only a stoppage time goal against WNY and nothing against magicJack. That has to change if Boston is indeed going to challenge this year. In Kelly Smith, Lauren Cheney, and Kelley O'Hara, the Breakers have three national team players that can score. But the loss of Jordan Angeli has notably hurt the midfield.

Boston's defense is one of the best in the league and is usually solid, but they have yet to produce a shutout in three matches.

As for Sky Blue, they are a bit of an enigma right now. After playing very well in a preseason tournament in Turkey, they have struggled at times in the regular season. The problem seems to be in finishing their opportunities. Like Boston, the quality players seem to be in place, but they have to show it on the field. Sky Blue will have to get Eni Aluko untracked and their midfield is going to have to dominate possession.

Defensively, Sky Blue is also a little shorthanded at the moment, with starter Kendall Fletcher out with an injury, which should push Danielle Johnson into starting duty.

Coach DiCicco entered this match a little worried that his USWNT players might be tiring. They are training with the national team during the week and then rejoining their club teams for the weekend. This could certainly be a factor for both teams.

Both Boston and Sky Blue will be looking to change their momentum on Sunday evening at Harvard Stadium.

Midweek Notes: April 27, 2011

Lipsher Wins Player of the Week...Again

Atlanta goalkeeper Alli Lipsher has won WPS Player of the Week honors for the second consecutive week, becoming the first player to ever do so. Lipsher was credited with 13 saves in the Beat's match against the Western New York Flash, which ended in a 2-2 draw.

Lipsher also took Player of the Week honors a week ago for her 11 saves and shutout against Sky Blue FC, after Allie Long of Sky Blue FC received the honor the first week of the season. The Player of the Week is voted on by a panel from the North American Soccer Reporters.

Dallstream Traded to Boston

Forward/Defender Kiersten Dallstream has been traded by Sky Blue FC to the Boston Breakers. In return, SBFC will receive the Breakers' second round draft choice in 2012.

Dallstream played in 12 matches for Sky Blue in 2010, but had not appeared in either of their first two matches of 2011. She was originally a first round draft choice of the Los Angeles Sol in 2010, before being drafted by Sky Blue in the dispersal draft.

In college, Dallstream starred at Washington State and was a member of the 2008 U-20 World Cup Champions for the United States. That team was coached by current Breakers' head coach Tony DiCicco.

Western New York To Play First Home Game This Week

After starting out on the road for two matches, Western New York will make their home debut this Sunday against the Atlanta Beat. The two teams tied last weekend 2-2.

The Flash play their home matches at Sahlen Stadium in Rochester, New York. The Flash will play four consecutive home games, facing every team but Philadelphia during the home stand.

Beat and Flash Play to a 2-2 Draw

In the battle for the early lead in WPS, the Atlanta Beat and Western New York Flash played to a 2-2 draw at FSU Soccer Stadium in Kennesaw, Georgia. The game featured a scintillating 2nd half after a slow and fairly uneventful first half.

Western New York drew first blood and it didn't take long. Brittany Bock was able to force a turnover in the Atlanta midfield and passed it to Christine Sinclair. Sinclair unleashed a shot from 22 yards out that beat Beat keeper Ali Lipsher lower left to make it 1-0 before the match was two minutes old.

Atlanta nearly forced a penalty in the 5th minute. On a set piece from 30 yards, Cat Whitehill tried to thread a low pass through to Keeley Dowling. Dowling went down in the box, but no call was made and it was inconclusive just how much contact had been made.

The rest of the half saw little action, with the Flash getting the majority of possession and scoring opportunities, but unable to crack the Beat's defense. Atlanta was unable to mount any attack of substance and seemed content to keep the Flash from increasing their lead with strong team defense. Both Carli Lloyd and Lauren Sesselmann earned yellow cards late in the half.

Halftime substitutions brought Marta into the match in place of Gemma Davison. She was seeing her first action of the WPS season. Atlanta sent India Trotter in for Sesselmann.

The game continued at much the same pace for the first ten minutes of the 2nd half, but a hard-working Lori Chalupny started challenging the right side of the Flash back line and her hard work paid off in the 57th minute.

Cat Whitehill sent a ball from the center circle to the left side to Chalupny. Chalupny cut back to the middle of the field, beating defender Kandace Wilson. From 25 yards, Chalupny struck a perfectly placed, slicing shot that grazed the inside of the right post and into the net.

That goal seemed to ignite both teams and the pace picked up considerably thereafter. In fact, the final 35 minutes of this match were among the most exciting played in WPS.

Western New York nearly answered in the 60th minute as a high corner got loose in the box, with Ali Lipsher making a save from close range on Sinclair.

However, in the 66th minute, Marta made her presence felt and Lipsher was unable to stop that one. Christine Sinclair sent a beautiful cross from the left side to the near post. Marta was able to get inside Keeley Dowling on a run to the net and headed the ball past Lipsher with a stunning flick to put the Flash back on top 2-1.

Just when Western New York appeared to be in control again, Atlanta answered quickly in the 68th minute. Off of a throw in, Lloyd got the ball to Chalupny who in turn sent it back to Lloyd. Lloyd dribbled to within 25 yards without defenders challenging and blasted a shot just under the crossbar and out of the reach of a leaping Ashlyn Harris. The game was once again tied.

Both goalkeepers made big saves in the closing minutes of the contest. Two Atlanta 2nd half substitutions, Analisa Marquez and Kristina Larsen, nearly connected for a goal in the 78th minute. Marquez crossed the ball to Larsen at the 18. Larsen turned in heavy traffic and shot to the top center of the net with Harris making a brilliant save tipping the ball over the net.

It was Lipsher's turn to make a game-saving stop in the 87th minute as Caroline Seger shot from 12 yards appeared to be heading just under the crossbar, but the Beat goalkeeper was able to tip it over the net. Just two minutes later, a Sinclair blast was deflected either by an Atlanta defender or Lipsher and rattled off the top of the post and over.

The game ended 2-2 after a furious tempo over the final third of the match that had to exhaust all involved.

So both teams end the evening where they started it, tied atop the WPS table. Western New York is now 1-0-1 with four points. Atlanta is 1-1-1 with four points. The two teams will meet in a rematch next Sunday in Rochester.

WPS Standings after three weeks:
Western New York Flash 1-0-1, 4 pts.
Atlanta Beat 1-1-1, 4 pts.
magicJack 1-0-0, 3 pts.
Boston Breakers 1-2-0, 3 pts.
Philadelphia Independence 0-0-1, 1 pt.
Sky Blue FC 0-1-1, 1 pt.

magicJack Opens with Win in Florida

The name and location may be new, but magicJack continued their home success with a 1-0 victory over the Boston Breakers in Boca Raton. It was two former Red Stars that led the way, with Ella Masar getting the goal and Jill Loyden earning the shutout.

magicJack showed early dominance in the match and it wasn't until the 27th minute, after Masar's goal, that the Breakers took their first shot. "They came out and took it to us," Breakers' coach Tony DiCicco said. "We kind of took over the game after (Masar's goal)."

Abby Wambach sent a pass across the box to Masar, who finished past Breakers' keeper Alyssa Naeher to give magicJack the early one goal lead, which stood up.

The narrow field, just 63 yards wide at FAU, gave the Breakers problems early on. "They play on a 63-yard-wide field, and they pressured us and were all over us," said DiCicco. "We just didn't handle it well. I think we were ready to play, but we had to play a more direct game. Once we got that organized, we were better. It was a learning experience for us."

For Loyden, it was her 9th career shutout. She posted two with Saint Louis in 2009 and six last year with the Chicago Red Stars.

magicJack hosts the Philadelphia Independence next Sunday. Boston, who dropped to 1-2, host Sky Blue next Sunday.

Flash and Beat To Battle for 1st Place

The Western New York Flash are in Atlanta to take on the Beat in a 6 pm eastern time match today. We will likely see Marta's debut with the Flash in this match.

Both teams are coming off victories. The Flash defeated Boston 2-1 last weekend on goals from Christine Sinclair and Gemma Davison. Meanwhile, the Beat edged Sky Blue on a goal by Meghan Lenczyk to even their record at 1-1. The young Atlanta squad will be looking to build on that win, but this week will be a tougher assignment.

Indeed, Western New York looked to be in mid-season form against the Breakers and Brazilian stars Marta and Maurine didn't arrive until after that match.

The Flashes' speed is likely to cause all kinds of problems for the Beat's defense. With Alex Morgan and Marta at forward, the Flash are plenty fast up front, which seems to perfectly complement Sinclair's precision runs. Then the Beat will have to deal with a pair of speedy outside backs as well, with Kandace Wilson and Ali Riley.

On top of it all, the Flashes' midfield of Becky Edwards, Brittany Bock, and Caroline Seger seemed to be well in control of last week's match and Maurine can now be added to that mix.

Atlanta will need to be accurate with their passes and can ill afford to make turnovers in their own end of the field. The back line of Heather Mitts, Cat Whitehill, Kat Reynolds, and Keeley Dowling will surely be tested a good portion of the match. Indeed, it will need to be quite the team effort to keep the Flash from scoring multiple goals in this one.

One question to be answered is who James Galanis will have in goal for the Beat. Allison Whitworth started the first match, but because of a red card, Ali Lipsher got the start last week and earned player of the week honors in the process.

The Beat have scored a goal in each of their two previous matches, but one was a penalty by Carli Lloyd. Lenczyk's goal last weekend should boost her confidence and Kristina Larsen has been taking a lot of shots, although she is still lacking a goal.

Last week, Atlanta started a 4-5-1 formation with Kylie Wright, Lori Chalupny, Megan Jesolva, India Trotter, and Lloyd in the midfield. I found it a bit perplexing that when this week's roster report came out that Jesolva was listed as not rostered for this match, given she has shown quite a bit of promise and it is a home match where 18 players can be active.

Unless there is a tie, one of these teams will finish the evening in first place. The match will be nationally televised on FSC.

Atlanta Beat
Coach: James Galanis
Record: 1-1-0
Goalkeepers: Allison Lipsher, Allison Whitworth.
Defenders: Keeley Dowling, Colleen Flanagan, Analisa Marquez, Heather Mitts, Katherine Reynolds, Cat Whitehill.
Midfielders: Lori Chalupny, Bianca D'Agostino, Carli Lloyd, Vendula Strnadova, India Trotter, Kylie Wright.
Forwards: Kristina Larsen, Meghan Lenczyk, Lauren Sesselmann, Lyndsey Patterson.
Not active: Katie Bethke, Katie Fraine, Megan Jesolva, Angela Salem.

Western New York Flash
Coach: Aaran Lines
Record: 1-0-0
Goalkeepers: Brittany Cameron, Ashlyn Harris.
Defenders: Candace Chapman, Whitney Engen, Ali Riley, Kandace Wilson.
Midfielders: Brittany Bock, Becky Edwards, Beverly Goebel, Maurine, Caroline Seger.
Forwards: Gemma Davison, Kaley Fountain, Marta, Alex Morgan, Kelly Parker, Christine Sinclair.
Not active: Yael Averbuch (unavailable), Ashleigh Bowers, Kim Brandao, Gina Lewandowski (injury), Alex Sahlen (injury), Julianne Sitch, McCall Zerboni (injury).

Women's Professional Soccer Comes to Florida

This evening, the first WPS regular season game in Florida will be played as magicJack hosts the Boston Breakers in a 7 pm eastern time match. This match will be magicJack's home and season opener. MagicJack was supposed to play their season opener last weekend, but weather washed away their match in Philadelphia.

It will be interesting to see how Dan Borislow's team is received in the Sunshine State. There hasn't been a whole lot of marketing, advertising, or even news from magicJack's camp. Their new home is FAU Stadium in Boca Raton, home of Florida Atlantic University, which seats somewhere between 1100 and 1500. Apparently, the team will drop their former red, white, and blue colors in favor of green.

What we do know is that this franchise has undergone numerous changes from the top on down. The team that coach Mike Lyons brings to the field on Saturday will have only six players from last year's Washington Freedom. The other thing we know is that this team has a lot of talent, including several national team players from the United States and other countries.

MagicJack has brought together five long-time members of the USWNT, including Hope Solo, Christie Rampone, Shannon Boxx, Lindsay Tarpley, and Abby Wambach. That's a total of 747 national team caps if you're counting and that doesn't even include caps from current USWNT player Becky Sauerbrunn or other players that have made appearances like Meghan Schnur, Kacey White, Jill Loyden, Marian Dalmy, Tina Ellertson, Sarah Huffman, Meghan Klingenberg, and Ella Masar.

Solo, for one, will not be playing in the match against Boston. She was handed a suspension at the end of last season and was unable to serve it last week. That means magicJack fans will see either Jill Loyden or Brett Maron in goal today.

MagicJack should score goals. The trio of Abby Wambach, Lisa De Vanna, and Ella Masar have all proven that they can put the ball in the net at this level. Christen Press, the rookie out of Stanford, hasn't yet, but we could see good things from her.

The fact is magicJack is pretty solid at every position, which should put them in position to challenge for the league title.

Boston, on the other hand, is coming off of a loss to this year's juggernaut, the WNY Flash. The Breakers played a reasonably solid match against the Flash last weekend, but it just wasn't enough to win that game. Because of that loss, this match becomes very important. Last year's team was able to dig itself out of deep hole early in the season, but this year's team would have six fewer matches to do that, so the better course of action is obviously to not dig the hole.

The loss of Jordan Angeli dealt the Breakers...and Angeli, a huge blow. She is one of the bright young talents in this league. The Breakers are very thin in the midfield without her and it showed to some extent last week against the Flash, who were able to exploit space between the midfield and back line at times.

In fact, Boston has only seven total forwards and midfielders rostered for this match, although "defender" Liz Bogus can play anywhere on the field giving the Breakers a little more depth.

South Florida will get a heavy dose of magicJack in coming days, as the team plays three consecutive weekends at home. The team needs to build a following since they no longer have loyal Washington Freedom fans to count on.

The Freedom had one of the largest home vs. road differentials in the league over the past two seasons. The Freedom lost just four regular season home games in two years, one to the '09 regular season champions LA Sol, one to the '10 WPS champion Gold Pride, and strangely enough, two to the Breakers. Can Boca Raton offer the same home field advantage for magicJack?

magicJack
Coach: Mike Lyons
Record: 0-0-0
Goalkeepers: Jill Loyden, Brett Maron.
Defenders: Marian Dalmy, Tina Ellertson, Nikki Marshall, Christie Rampone, Becky Sauerbrunn, Meghan Schnur.
Midfielders: Shannon Boxx, Sarah Huffman, Meghan Klingenberg, Lindsay Tarpley, Kacey White.
Forwards: Lisa De Vanna, Ella Masar, Rebecca Moros, Christen Press, Abby Wambach.

Not active: Hope Solo (suspension), Sophie Schmidt (unavailable), Lydia Vandenbergh, Amanda DaCosta, Omolyn Davis, Johanna Rasmussen.

Boston Breakers
Coach: Tony DiCicco
Record: 1-1-0
Goalkeepers: Alyssa Naeher, Kelsey Davis.
Defenders: Liz Bogus, Rachel Buehler, Stephanie Cox, Ifeoma Dieke, Amy LePeilbet, Kasey Moore, Alex Scott.
Midfielders: Leslie Osborne, Katie Schoepfer, Nikki Washington, Keelin Winters.
Forwards: Lauren Cheney, Kelley O'Hara, Kelly Smith.

Not active: Jordan Angeli (injury), Leah Blayney (injury), Ashley Phillips, Niki Cross, Elli Reed, Claire Zimmeck.

Flash Win Opener 2-1 Over Breakers

The new kids in town served notice that they are going to be a tough bunch to deal with, even without their top gun. Western New York opened its history with a strong 2-1 victory over the Boston Breakers on Sunday evening in Cambridge.

In what was a fast-paced match from the outset, it was an impressive piece of soccer put on by the Flash. It's not even like Boston played a bad game, because they really didn't. It was just a night where the Flash had too much energy to overcome and all of this without Marta.

The first half of the contest was scoreless, but in spite of the lack of goals and scoring chances, it was certainly not without exciting action. Play seemed to go from end to end in the early going, with the match being fairly even.

Boston escaped a few close calls in the opening half, the first coming in the 5th minute. Christine Sinclair fed a beautiful pass to Caroline Seger, who tapped the ball past Breakers' keeper Alyssa Naeher. Stephanie Cox was able to clear the ball just inches off of the line.

Later, in the 31st minute, it was the Flash again nearly scoring. Becky Edwards sent an inswinging corner from the left side. Brittany Bock skied to head the ball from a seemingly impossible angle on the far side of the net. The header went off and through Naeher's hands toward the center of the goal where Alex Scott headed it off the line to save a goal.

Perhaps the best Boston opportunity of the half came very early with Kelly Smith sending Kelley O'Hara through with a nice pass, but O'Hara's shot from a steep angle only hit the outside of the net.

The halftime break did nothing to slow down the Flash as they came out attacking in the 2nd half. The Breakers dodged yet another bullet in the 56th minute as Naeher came well out of the box in an attempt to clear a Sinclair pass. Alex Morgan was able to touch it past Naeher and had the open net 25 yards in front of her, but her shot sailed well wide of the net.

Throughout the match, it appeared that Western New York was able to find a little more space behind the Breakers' midfield to set up their attack. It finally paid off in the 66th minute.

The Flash gained possession at the center circle and Whitney Engen sent a long ball forward. Alex Morgan was able to run onto it and outmuscle Rachel Buehler for the ball. Morgan drove deep into the right side of the penalty area and slipped a nice pass back to the center where Sinclair was cutting in front of Amy LePeilbet. Sinclair got a step around LePeilbet and slid a low shot into the lower left to make it 1-0.

Boston tried to press the attack for the equalizer, but for the most part, the Flash defense were sturdy in disrupting every attempt. The closest the Breakers came was in the 82nd minute, when O'Hara cut back to the inside on former Stanford teammate Ali Riley and ripped a shot from 15 yards out, but Candace Chapman headed the ball away before the ball reached Flash goalkeeper Ashlyn Harris.

The Flash stretched their lead to two as second half substitution Gemma Davison made a run from 40 yards out, raced straight past Breaker defender Ifeoma Dieke and struck a shot into the lower left corner of the net in the 90th minute.

Just when it appeared the game was over, Boston cut the lead in half. Nearly two minutes into stoppage, Lauren Cheney blasted a shot from the left edge of the box, which rattled off the bottom of the crossbar straight to Kelly Smith who head tapped it in from just inches in front of the goal.

Unfortunately for the Breakers, only seconds were remaining and they were not able to get the ball into the attacking half after that.

Boston falls to 1-1, while Western New York is 1-0. Boston travels to Florida to take on magicJack next Saturday. Western New York heads to Atlanta to take on the Beat next Sunday.

WPS Standings after Week 2
Western New York 1-0-0, 3 pts.
Boston 1-1-0, 3 pts.
Atlanta 1-1-0, 3 pts.
Philadelphia 0-0-1, 1 pt.
Sky Blue FC 0-1-1, 1 pt.
magicJack 0-0-0, 0 pts.

Flash Play Opener at Boston Today

The Western New York Flash will make their WPS debut today, traveling to Cambridge, Massachusetts to play the Boston Breakers. For the Breakers, it is their home opener.

The newest entry in WPS has a lot of star power on its side, but not all of those stars will be in the house on Sunday. Brazilian star Marta and the recently signed Maurine will apparently not arrive in Buffalo until Monday, thus missing today's match.

Even without the talented Brazilian players, WNY has a lot of talent. With Canadian star Christine Sinclair and USWNT striker Alex Morgan up front, they won't be lacking firepower. In fact, forward is the Flashes' deepest position when you add the likes of Gemma Davison and Kelly Parker.

With Yael Averbuch listed as being unavailable for this match, the midfield might be a bit thin. Still, Swedish captain Caroline Seger will help control the tempo of the match in the middle and Becky Edwards, a fine defensive player, comes over from Gold Pride where she had a solid rookie season.

We may be seeing the two best back lines in the league this afternoon. Western New York brought in three quarters of Gold Pride's starting defense from last season, Candace Chapman, Ali Riley, and Kandace Wilson. They are joined by former Red Star Whitney Engen and Gina Lewandowski, a veteran of the Frauen Bundesliga.

The fourth member of that Gold Pride back line, Rachel Buehler, joins the Breakers' defense for 2011 that already includes Alex Scott, Amy LePeilbet, and Stephanie Cox. For depth, you can add Kasey Moore, who scored in last week's opener, and Ifeoma Dieke of the Scottish National Team.

Boston will certainly miss Jordan Angeli, one the most talented young players in the league. Angeli suffered a season ending injury in the opener last week. But the Breakers still have veteran Leslie Osborne and Keelin Winters, a rookie out of Portland who scored in her WPS debut a week ago.

The Breakers have quite an attack of their own with English veteran Kelly Smith, USWNT players Lauren Cheney and Kelley O'Hara. Smith is always among the league leaders in goal scoring and must be accounted for at all times on the field.

The goalkeeping matchup should be an interesting one with two netminders that had exceptional rookie seasons in 2010. Alyssa Naeher returns for the Breakers after posting three shutouts and a sterling 9-4-2 mark in goal last season. Ashlyn Harris comes over to the Flash from the Washington Freedom, where she earned four shutouts in just nine matches down the stretch.

It is expected to be a very windy day at Cambridge, which should present quite a challenge to these two talented teams. It should be an exciting match between two teams that are likely to be in the title hunt at the end of the season.

Lipsher & Lenczyk Lead Beat to 1-0 Victory

Meghan Lenczyk scored her first WPS goal and Allison Lipsher posted a shutout as the Atlanta Beat defeated Sky Blue FC 1-0 at KSU Soccer Stadium on Saturday evening.

Lipsher recorded 11 saves against Sky Blue in her first WPS action since the 2009 season. She spent the 2010 season as a developmental goalkeeper for the Boston Breakers after starting 10 matches in 2009.

"Allie is a class goalkeeper," said Beat coach James Galanis. "She played in Australia for a year and she's played every minute of every game there. She's gained the experience that she needed to take into the WPS. We're very, very proud of her."

Sky Blue appeared to have the edge for most of the match, outshooting Atlanta by an 18-4 margin, but were unable to put anything past Lipsher. The game was scoreless at the half.

Galanis subbed Lenczyk into the match for Kristina Larsen at the half and the move paid instant dividends. In the 50th minute, Lenczyk was able to get the ball past Sky Blue goalkeeper Karen Bardsley with Carrie Dew's sliding effort to keep the ball from crossing the line falling just a bit short.

"I think we worked really hard," said the former Virgina striker. "I think the goal came from us pushing up in the second half. India Trotter played it right in and all I had to do was touch it."

Galanis has shown a lot of confidence in his young players, including Lenczyk. "I just said to her, 'hang in there and the goal is going to come.' And we came out today, and it couldn’t have been more important."

Though Sky Blue was able to keep the pressure on throughout the match, they were never able to finish any of their chances. "Yeah it was very disappointing for us," said SBFC coach Jim Gabarra. "A number of chances were created but we hit the side of the bar, and the keeper kept making a save. We had three or four great opportunities in the first half and probably as many in the second half."

Atlanta improved their record to one win and one loss. They will host Western New York next Sunday. Sky Blue suffered their first loss of the season to go with last week's draw. They have a bye week before traveling to Boston for a May 1st matchup.

magicJack at Philadelphia Independence Match Postponed

The match between magicJack and Philadelphia that was to be played last evening at Widener University was postponed because of strong winds and lightning strikes. No date has been given as of yet for rescheduling the match.

MagicJack will play their home opener next Saturday against the Boston Breakers, before hosting Philadelphia the following Sunday, in what is the Independence's next scheduled match.

Note: Information and quotes for this story was obtained from WPS and Atlanta Beat press releases.

magicJack Makes Debut in WPS Week Two

The team known as magicJack makes their WPS debut today as they travel to Philadelphia to take on the Independence. For Philly, it will be their home opener after they came from two goals down to tie Sky Blue last weekend.

The erstwhile Freedom enter the season with almost a completely new roster and a new head coach. Mike Lyons takes over the only WPS team to make the playoffs both seasons. The roster that takes the field for magicJack today will be very much a veteran group. Most of the young players, with the exception of forward Christen Press, are not even active for this road match. Even Nikki Marshall, one of the top rookies in the league last season, was not rostered for this match.

What magicJack should have is a lot of offense, which was also true for the 2009-10 Washington Freedom. Abby Wambach returns for a third season with 21 career WPS goals, second only to Marta. There is some question as to whether Wambach is 100% with a heel injury that has slowed her over the past few months. More than likely, we will not see her on the field for the full 90, but magicJack is very deep at that position.

Another returnee at forward is Australian speedster Lisa De Vanna. De Vanna missed much of last season with an injury suffered in the Asian Cup. MagicJack also brought in Ella Masar, who led the Red Stars in scoring with eight last season. Christen Press, an outstanding scorer for Stanford in college, is the one rookie we will see active for magicJack for this match.

To describe magicJack’s midfield group as veteran might be an understatement, with USWNT regulars Shannon Boxx and Lindsay Tarpley. Joining them will be former Sky Blue winger Kacey White and Freedom midfielder Sarah Huffman.

Defensively, magicJack should be strong, led by former Sky Blue coach and captain Christie Rampone in the middle. She is joined by ironwoman Becky Sauerbrunn, who has yet to miss a minute of WPS action. MagicJack made some nice additions to the back line with outside backs Marian Dalmy and Meghan Schnur and center back Tina Ellertson.

Hope Solo will be magicJack’s regular starter in goal, but she has to serve her suspension for twitter comments made after last season’s finale, so we will probably see Jill Loyden, with Brett Maron being the other possibility.

Philadelphia has to be plenty happy that they were able to force a draw last weekend. They were badly outplayed in the first half and were still trailing at the 90 minute mark of the match, before Tina DiMartino’s goal tied it late.

There is no doubt that the insertion of Amy Rodriguez into the match at the half made a difference. She scored the first goal for the Independence and Sky Blue’s defense had to be wary of her for the entire half. Rodriguez, paired with Tasha Kai, gives Philly two of the fastest strikers in the league. But young Lianne Sanderson played a strong match for the Independence last week as well. Another forward, Laura del Rio, came off the bench to assist on the game-tying goal.

Like magicJack, Philly has a mostly veteran midfield, with the exception of rookie Sinead Farrelly, who played well in her first match last weekend. Four midfielders return from last year’s team, led by USWNT veteran Lori Lindsey and of course, DiMartino, who continues to impress with her skills.

There were times when the Independence defense looked a bit shaky against Sky Blue and they are presently thin at that position as Allison Falk is out with an injury. Although Estelle Johnson and Leigh Ann Robinson showed promising signs on flank runs last weekend, the defense may be a little suspect and the high-powered magicJack offense will surely test it.

Nicole Barnhart got the call for the opener and made a game-saving stop in the 2nd half of that match. With Val Henderson, the Independence have excellent depth at the keeper position.

One would suspect this might be a high scoring match, with all the offensive firepower of both teams. However, the weather might have a say in that as well, with cool temperatures and stormy weather predicted. Hopefully, the weather will not impact the match too much and we will see how magicJack starts a new chapter in the team’s history.

Sky Blue FC at Atlanta

Sky Blue FC enters the weekend after a disappointing tie last week at home. This will be their first road test of the year and they will be facing a fairly inexperienced Atlanta squad at KSU Soccer Stadium.

One would hate to use the word collapse, because Sky Blue played such a strong first half and very nearly won the contest, but coach Jim Gabarra could probably be none too happy with his team’s 2nd half performance in week one. He’ll look for better things and a full 90 minutes this week against the Beat.

Meanwhile, in spite of a 4-1 loss and the red card for starting goalkeeper Allison Whitworth, Atlanta could take heart in the fact that they played a very competitive second half last week against Boston. They even outshot the Breakers by a decent margin. Young players, such as Megan Jesolva, had impressive debuts giving the Beat hope for the future.

Jen Branam started the opener in goal for SBFC and only a deflection kept her from getting the win. She and English keeper Karen Bardsley give Sky Blue a great goalkeeper tandem. After a solid first half, the defense seemed a touch slow later in the match against Philadelphia. Captain Brittany Taylor had a very strong match and looked particularly dangerous on overlapping runs, assisting on the first goal.

Allie Long, named player of the week for her performance against Philly, leads the midfield. When Sky Blue was controlling the match in week one, it was through strong midfield play from veterans like Therese Sjögran. It should get even stronger with the addition of Tobin Heath, who played only 22 minutes in the opener, and Heather O’Reilly, who didn’t play at all.

While Eni Aluko didn’t score last weekend, she was certainly a threat. Laura Kalmari and Casey Nogueira did score, both playing attacking mids in Gabarra’s 4-5-1 or maybe more properly 4-2-3-1 formation.

Atlanta fell down early to Boston and were never really in the match from a scoring point of view, but a solid second half showed the Beat improving as a team. However, the only goal they managed was on a penalty, in spite of several good opportunities.

The insertion of USWNT midfield Carli Lloyd into the 2nd half of that match seemed to boost the Atlanta attack. With the always hardworking Lori Chalupny, joined by promising rookie Jesolva, the Beat has the makings of a strong midfield.

There were some defensive lapses last week and once again, the Beat back line didn’t seem quick enough at times. This week will see Allison Lipsher in goal, with Allison Whitworth suspended for her red card late in last week’s contest.

For offense, Atlanta will depend a lot on the midfield and a trio of young offensive players, Kristina Larsen, Meghan Lenczyk, and Vendula Strnadova. Again, they show promise, but patience will be necessary with such a young group.

Coach James Galanis has said that with such a young group, it will be about making progress and improving from week to week. Meanwhile, Sky Blue will be looking to bounce back from last week’s disappointment in hopes of getting their first win of the 2011 season.

Angeli To Miss Season with ACL Injury

For the second time in two years, the Boston Breakers have lost a key midfielder to injury. Jordan Angeli, who scored the Breakers' first goal of the season on Saturday evening, suffered a knee injury later in the 1st half. An MRI on Monday confirmed the worst, she had injured her ACL and will miss the rest of the 2011 season.

Angeli had scored seven goals in her WPS rookie season last year. She had been one of the leading candidates for rookie of the year honors. The Santa Clara alum was drafted in the second round of the 2010 WPS draft by Boston. She was a sixth-year senior in 2009 after missing both the 2007 and 2008 seasons, also with ACL injuries.

Last season, the Breakers lost Leslie Osborne to a mid-season injury. "The team and I feel very badly for Jordan and the fact she has to deal with an operation and extended rehab," said Boston Head Coach Tony DiCicco. "She has been an inspiration not only on the field but how she handled herself in the locker room and in the community. Her play on the field has been outstanding all spring, and from the coaches' view, she will be hard to replace. Jordan is a natural leader and she will remain an important influence for the Breakers this season."

Philly and Sky Blue Play to a 2-2 Draw

Tina DiMartino's goal in stoppage helped the Philadelphia Independence overcome an early deficit and tie Sky Blue 2-2 in a match played at Yurcak Field in Piscataway.

Early on, it was all Sky Blue as the home side put together a solid first half and dominated possession. Philadelphia did have the first scoring chance of the match 13 minutes in. Lianne Sanderson crossed the ball from the right side with Kai closing fast on the back post. Kai, was able to get her foot on it, but the pass was a bit to hot to get solid control and Kai's touch went over the net from the six.

For the remainder of the 1st half, Sky Blue did a nice job of controlling the tempo of the game, stringing together several passes at a time. In the 18th minute, Allie Long found Brittany Taylor alone on the right side. Taylor took one touch to control and then hit a low cross with pace as Laura Kalmari got inside the defender and finished lower right from inside the six. It was an excellent sequence from the 2009 champions.

Sky Blue made it 2-0 in the 37th minute. Casey Nogueira curled a free kick from 25 yards just over the head over Nicole Barnhart and into the upper left corner of the net. The half ended with Sky Blue apparently in full control and a 2-0 lead.

Coach Paul Riley inserted Amy Rodriguez into the lineup to start the second half and Philly seemed to pick up the pace as the match wore on.

It was Rodriguez who cut the Sky Blue lead in half at the 56 minute mark. Lianne Sanderson did a nice job of keeping possession at the half line and sent a beautiful ball up the right sideline to Tasha Kai. Kai quickly released a pass to the middle to Rodriguez who had beaten the defense and calmly dribbled into the box and touched the ball into the lower left side of the net as an onrushing Jen Branam was unable to do anything to stop it.

More substitutions followed with Lori Lindsey entering the game for the Independence and Danielle Johnson and Tobin Heath entering the match for Sky Blue.

Casey Nogueira nearly increased the lead back to two, as she ripped a shot from the top of the box, but Barnhart made the save of the match, diving to push the ball wide of the goal.

Both teams made one final substitution with a hobbled Kendall Fletcher coming off in favor of Angie Kerr and Laura del Rio entered the match for Estelle Johnson. As it turned out, del Rio would play a part in the tying goal.

The sequence started with a free kick from the left sideline for Philadelphia, as Amy Rodriguez was able to draw a foul. The free kick taken by Lindsey was nearly headed in by Kai, as Allie Long was able to stop the ball just a yard short of the goal. Sky Blue was able to clear the ball out of bounds.

However, on the ensuing throw in, Sinead Farrelly gained possession in the box and tried to dribble toward the middle. Farrelly was taken down, with no call being made, but the ball deflected right to del Rio who touched it back to DiMartino. DiMartino hit it solidly from 12 yards and the ball deflected off Anita Asante's foot, over a diving Jen Branam, and into the net.

Sky Blue had a late chance on a corner kick, but in spite of Philadelphia struggling briefly to clear, SBFC was unable to score.

Philadelphia hosts magicJack next Saturday, while Sky Blue travels to Atlanta.

Philadelphia at Sky Blue FC

Perhaps it is fitting that Tasha Kai's first match for her new team, the Philadelphia Independence, would be against her old team, Sky Blue FC. By most accounts, the relationship between Kai and Sky Blue was a bit of a rocky one in 2010.

One fact that remains is that Kai was Sky Blue's leading scorer both seasons. She scored 11 of Sky Blue's 39 goals in 2009-10. When she takes the field today, it will be in the familiar surroundings of Yurcak Field, but wearing a visitor's kit instead.

It will also be a new start for former Washington coach Jim Gabarra, who took the Freedom to the playoffs in 2009 and 2010, the only team to be in the playoffs both years. Gabarra's squad looked pretty sharp in a preseason warmup tournament in Turkey, winning two of their three matches.

Sky Blue overhauled their roster for the 2011 season. Besides Kai, gone are Christie Rampone, Kacey White, Keeley Dowling, Meghan Schnur, Yael Averbuch, and Rosana, all starters, all two-year veterans for Sky Blue, and all members of the 2009 championship side.

The new cast consists of some pretty good talent, too. SBFC brought in Eni Aluko, Angie Kerr, Tobin Heath, and Carolyn Blank from Atlanta. They picked up Carrie Dew, Erin Guthrie, and Casey Nogueira from Gold Pride and Chicago. They also added a pair of new internationals, Swedish veteran Therese Sjögran and Spanish striker Adriana.

The only constants over the three seasons are a pair of goalkeepers, Karen Bardsley and Jen Branam, and USWNT starter Heather O'Reilly. Those three, plus veteran defender Kendall Fletcher, Finnish striker Laura Kalmari, and three second-year players, Brittany Taylor, Danielle Johnson, and Kiersten Dallstream, are the only returnees from 2010.

With Aluko and Kalmari starting up front, Sky Blue has a fairly accomplished scoring duo. The addition of Heath and Sjögran should help Sky Blue have better control of possession in the midfield. The tandem of Bardsley and Branam in goal should make Sky Blue hard to score against.

Philadelphia did a nice job of keeping their 2010 runner-up team together. Ten of the eleven starters from the 2010 championship match return for the 2011 season. Only Caroline Seger is missing from that lineup, so the Independence should come together quite quickly in the new season.

If anything, Philadelphia has added more offense, bringing in a pair of Spanish strikers Laura del Rio and Veronica Boquete, USWNT starter Megan Rapinoe, and the aforementioned Tasha Kai. They drafted a pair of highly regarded midfielders, Sinead Farrelly out of Virginia and Lauren Fowlkes out of Notre Dame. Another addition is USWNT goalkeeper Nicole Barnhart, picked up from Gold Pride. Coach Paul Riley has a lot of talent at his disposal.

With a very strong midfield group back, including Lori Lindsey, Tina DiMartino, Joanna Lohman, and Jen Buczkowski, this team should be able to win many battles for possession. If the Independence can defend, they should be a tough team to beat. Val Henderson returns in goal after becoming the Independence starter down the stretch.

Sky Blue was the Cinderella story in 2009 and Philadelphia very nearly was in 2010. Whatever happens, this should be an interesting contest to start the season.

Roster Report: Allison Falk and Danesha Adams are listed as injured for Philadelphia, while Veronica Boquete is listed as unavailable and Frida Magnusdottir will not make the trip to New Jersey.

For Sky Blue, Lindsey Johnson is injured and Adriana is listed as unavailable for today's match.

Boston Defeats Atlanta in Opener 4-1

The Boston Breakers used a strong first half to capture the opening match of the 2011 season by a 4-1 margin over the Atlanta Beat. Four different players scored for the Breakers, two in each half.

Jordan Angeli opened the scoring 18 minutes into the match, followed by a goal from rookie Keelin Winters just five minutes later. Angeli later suffered a knee injury and had to leave the game. The Breakers will have an MRI done on Angeli's knee on Monday to determine the severity of the injury.

Down 2-0 at the half, the Beat inserted USWNT midfielder Carli Lloyd into the lineup for the second half and for awhile, Atlanta looked as though they might get back into the contest. Atlanta pressured Breakers' keeper Alyssa Naeher throughout the second half, but she was able to make some key saves to keep the margin safe.

Former Gold Pride forward Kelley O'Hara scored in the 72nd minute to stretch the lead to three goals.

Atlanta finally got on the board in the 78th minute as they were awarded a penalty, which Lloyd converted to cut the lead to 3-1, but the Beat were never able to get any closer.

Kasey Moore concluded the scoring in stoppage, after Allison Whitworth was red-carded after colliding with O'Hara outside the box. Moore scored on the ensuing kick, after defender Cat Whitehill had taken over in goal.

Atlanta outshot Boston by a 14-8 margin for the match, but Naeher was able to keep all but the penalty out of the net.

The Breakers return to Boston where they will host the Western New York Flash next Sunday, in what will be Boston's home opener and the Flash's inaugural match. Atlanta hosts Sky Blue FC next Saturday.

Predictions or How to Make a Fool of One's Self in 750 Words or Less

Okay, it’s that time of the year where we all guess at what we think will happen in the coming WPS season. It should be an exciting season and very competitive for the most part. I believe four or five teams will be closely grouped at the top of the table.

Sorry, Atlanta fans. I’m hoping to see some reason for optimism in the weeks ahead, but I’m not seeing it right now. But take heart, I picked Philadelphia to finish last in 2010 and they made it all the way to the finals.

So without further ado, here goes nothing.

1) Western New York Flash – This team has a lot of firepower up front and national team players everywhere. They have seven players off of the defending champions, so to me, they are an extension of the franchise that was FC Gold Pride (no disrespect intended to Gold Pride fans). Marta, Sinclair, and Morgan could be a lethal trio. Marta has been the league’s leading scorer for two years and has led her team to the regular season championship both seasons. I can see no reason to think that she can’t do it for a third year in a row.

2) Boston Breakers – I have the Breakers rated about dead even with the Flash. But then I look at Boston’s head-to-head matchup with Gold Pride last season and they lost all four in mostly close games. That’s why I gave the Flash an edge over Boston. The Breakers do get a nice break with the schedule. During June 13 through July 23, the Breakers play just two matches, both against Atlanta. So while the team will lose several players to the World Cup, they won’t be missing many matches. I also give high marks to Tony DiCicco, who made the changes that needed to be made last season to turn the season around.

3) magicJack – I believe that this team is almost at a level with the top two, but not quite. They have some players that are getting up in age and some who are battling or recovering from injury. Plus they have the added distraction of the move and other changes within the organization. They will also have the longest travel of any team in the league. And it’s my guess they will miss the Maryland SoccerPlex, a stadium that gave them a healthy home field advantage. I liked most of the offseason moves they made, but I just can’t put them ahead of WNY or Boston.

4) Philadelphia – Every time I start to get overly optimistic about this team, I have to remind myself that they did end up with only a .500 record last season. They accomplished so much, it was often easy to overlook the occasional flaws this team showed. The Independence have brought a number of new attacking players in, but scoring wasn’t necessarily their problem last season. I worry most about their defense. They also have the misfortune of having four games scheduled during that World Cup window, while some teams have only two. I have a tremendous respect for what Paul Riley did with this team last season, but this year may be even tougher.

5) Sky Blue FC – It was a very tough call for third, fourth, and fifth place. Like Philly, they have four games scheduled during the World Cup window, which works against them. They have addressed one major concern, adding offense to the roster. In the match against Malmo in Turkey, I thought they looked pretty sharp passing the ball for that early in the season. The finishing has to be better than in that match, but I think it will be. If everything falls into place, they could be competing for the title. If not, they will be battling for the final playoff spot.

6) Atlanta Beat – I just believe that the Beat needs too many inexperienced players to have good seasons for this team to challenge for a playoff spot. On a any given day, they will be a tough side to face, but I’m afraid the consistency won’t be there to string wins together. They will need to tie games that they should lose and win games they should tie. The two positives are they have some genuine veteran leadership on the team and also have the youthful exuberance of so many young players. But that can carry a team only so far.

2011 Season Opener: Boston at Atlanta

The 2011 WPS regular season opens today with the Boston Breakers traveling to Kennesaw, Georgia to take on the Atlanta Beat at 7 pm eastern time. The Breakers are coming off of a second place regular season finish and a disappointing playoff loss in 2010. Meanwhile, Atlanta is looking to improve on 2010’s last place finish.

In spite of the tough overtime loss that ended the season, Boston can look to a lot of positives coming out of the 2010 season. The emergence of several talented, young players like Lauren Cheney, Jordan Angeli, and Alyssa Naeher, and continued fine play of veterans like Kelly Smith, Amy LePeilbet, and Alex Scott should give Breakers’ fans a lot to look forward in the third season of WPS play.

But while the Breakers have kept most of their team together, Atlanta almost wiped their roster completely clean. Only Lori Chalupny and Lauren Sesselmann return of those Beat players that finished the 2010 season. The Beat decided to go with a sprinkling of national team veterans with a fairly overwhelming number of young players. Of the 24 WPS players who spent the 2010 season in college, nine of them are on Atlanta’s roster, nearly 40% of the league total.

Boston should feature a lineup very similar to last year, although several players might miss the first game according to the WPS roster report. Defender Amy LePeilbet and striker Lauren Cheney are listed as unavailable for this match because of their recent work schedule with the USWNT, while defender Rachel Buehler is listed as questionable. Of course, the other player missing from last year is Kristine Lilly, who announced her retirement in the offseason.

If Buehler and LePeilbet are both sidelined, the center back pairing for the Breakers might well be Ifeoma Dieke and Alex Scott, who moves inside, with regular Stephanie Cox and rookie Elli Reed on the outside. Leslie Osborne returns from an injury that ended her 2010 season far too early, as does young Jordan Angeli, one of the top rookies in the league last season and a scorer of seven goals. Rookie Keelin Winters looks to join that duo in the midfield.

Even with Cheney out, Boston has excellent scoring options in English veteran Kelly Smith, who led the Breakers with 11 goals in 2010, and attacking mid Kelley O’Hara who scored six for Gold Pride in her rookie season. Katie Schoepfer is listed tentatively as the other forward. Hopefully, we will also see Nikki Washington, whose ACL injury kept her off the field since the fall of 2009.

To be honest, Atlanta will have to have a lot of things break their way to earn many victories this season. It looks to be not enough experience and not enough firepower on this team to challenge for the league title. Yes, they do have proven veterans like Chalupny, Carli Lloyd, Cat Whitehill, Heather Mitts and Keeley Dowling. But they will be relying a lot more on young talent, right out of college like Megan Jesolva, Vendula Strnadova, Kylie Wright, and Meghan Lenczyk.

Where will the goals come from? Out of the four listed forwards on the roster, three have never played in a WPS regular season match before and the fourth, Lauren Sesselman, will miss this game due to red card received in the final match of 2010. That means the Beat will be looking to midfielders Chalupny, Lloyd, Strnadova, Jesolva, and India Trotter to score more often than not. Chalupny scored six goals in preseason.

Atlanta looks to the veteran trio of Whitehill, Mitts, and Dowling on the back line. They will be trying to keep pressure off of their goalkeeper, whether it would be Allison Whitworth or Allison Lipsher. Both are capable keepers, but most of the other teams in the league have national team caliber netminders.

It will be interesting to see how the young players in this match perform and there will be quite a few in the lineup for both teams.

There will only be two matches this weekend. On Sunday, Sky Blue hosts Philadelphia in a match that will be televised. Western New York and magicJack will play their openers next weekend, when WPS returns to a full slate of matches.

2011 Western New York Flash Preview

Western New York Flash
Coach: Aaran Lines (1st year)
2010 Record: Expansion Team
Home Stadium: Sahlen Stadium (Rochester, NY)

Roster:
Goalkeepers (3): Ashleigh Bowers(R), Brittany Cameron, Ashlyn Harris.
Defenders (8): Kim Brandão, Candace Chapman, Whitney Engen, Gina Lewandowski, Ali Riley, Alexandra Sahlen, Julianne Sitch, Kandace Wilson.
Midfielders (6): Yael Averbuch, Brittany Bock, Becky Edwards, Beverly Goebel, Caroline Seger, McCall Zerboni.
Forwards (6): Gemma Davison, Kaley Fountain, Marta, Alex Morgan(R), Kelly Parker, Christine Sinclair.
(R) denotes true rookie.
Probable World Cup players: Harris, Chapman, Riley, Averbuch, Seger, Marta, Morgan, Sinclair.

The new kids in the league are likely to make a lot of noise. Considering they have seven players off of the 2010 champion Gold Pride team, plus four others from the 2010 W-League champion Buffalo Flash, it won’t be much of a surprise if this team is playing for a championship come August.

It doesn’t hurt that the Flash signed Marta, the world’s best player five years running, Christine Sinclair, Canada’s all-time leading scorer, and on top of that, drafted Alex Morgan, one of USWNT’s rising stars. This team shouldn’t have any problem scoring goals, except possibly during World Cup time. In fact, the only positions which might be short on depth are goalkeeper and midfield.

Goalkeepers: Ashlyn Harris started 2010 in Saint Louis as the backup to Hope Solo. She finished the season as the Washington Freedom’s starter, earning four shutouts on her way to 1.11 goals against average. Two of those shutouts down the stretch came against two of the most explosive offenses in WPS, Gold Pride and Philadelphia. Harris, who is vying for the third goalkeeper’s spot on the USWNT, is finally gaining some recognition as a top goalkeeper.

Backing up Harris will be Brittany Cameron, who started three games last season for Gold Pride, and Ashleigh Bowers, a rookie out of Niagara. Cameron is certainly a capable goalkeeper who just hasn’t gotten much action because she has had quality keepers in front of her. Bowers posted a 0.63 goals against average during her senior year, giving up more than one goal on only two occasions.

Defenders: The Flash have three quarters of Gold Pride’s starting back line, including rookie of the year Ali Riley. Riley is an excellent two-way player, solid at defending and a threat with her speed on overlapping runs. Kandace Wilson is another speedster at the right back position. There isn’t likely to be a more dangerous duo at outside back anywhere in this league. The third former Gold Pride defender is Candace Chapman, a starter for the Canadian National Team.

Western New York also signed Whitney Engen, who was one of the league’s best young defenders with Chicago last season. They added Kim Brandão, a member of the Portuguese National Team and of the W-League Flash. And they brought in center back Gina Lewandowski, a four-year veteran of the Frauen Bundesliga for FFC Frankfurt. Adding depth is the Alexandra Sahlen, who also happens to be the team president, and Julianne Sitch a veteran of both the W-League and WPS, who played for the 2009 champion Sky Blue FC.

Midfielders: For midfielders, it appears almost as though the Flash grabbed a player from each of the other teams in the league. They got Yael Averbuch from Sky Blue, Caroline Seger from Philadelphia, McCall Zerboni from Atlanta, Becky Edwards from Gold Pride, and Beverly Goebel and Brittany Bock from the Freedom.

Seger, captain of the Swedish National Team, is the team’s most experienced and accomplished midfielder. She had a strong season with Philadelphia in 2010, scoring one goal and adding five assists. Joining her is Averbuch, a defensive midfielder who has a cannon of a shot. Averbuch was a first round draft pick in 2009 and spent the last two seasons with Sky Blue.

Becky Edwards is another solid defensive midfielder, whose strong rookie season was overshadowed by her more well known teammates in 2010. After a promising rookie season in 2009, Brittany Bock struggled through an injury-filled season last year. She can play multiple positions which will add versatility to the Flash. Rounding out the midfield cast is Beverly Goebel, who scored one goal in 16 appearances for the Freedom in 2010, and McCall Zerboni, who was a starter for the Beat last year.

Forwards: With three world class forwards on this team and plenty of depth, this should be the strongest offense in the league. There isn’t much more that can be said about Marta that hasn’t already been said. She has been the best female player in the world for a long time now and she is still just 25 years old. She is fast, talented, and determined, nearly impossible to stop one-on-one.

The scary thing is defenses can’t just concentrate on Marta. Not when the Flash also have Christine Sinclair and Alex Morgan. Sinclair has over 100 international goals for Canada and 16 career WPS goals. She is very intelligent about both the timing and shape of her runs. Morgan has come into the spotlight over the past year, becoming one of the USWNT’s best forwards and clutch goal scorers. She also has excellent speed.

England’s Gemma Davison and Canadian Kelly Parker move right from the W-League Flash to the WPS team. Davison has played club soccer in both the US and in England. She also has one cap for the English National Team and played at the junior level for England. Parker is a veteran of the Canadian National Team and played midfield for the 2009 Sky Blue championship team. She has good speed and is always a player to watch on the attack. Former Wake Forest star Kaley Fountain adds depth and can also play outside back.

Outlook: This team appears to have everything…talent, experience, and speed. They should score goals in bunches with the best group of forwards in the league and two excellent outside backs that can attack. The defense should be equally solid and has a lot of depth. The midfield does not have a lot of offensive-minded players. Averbuch and Edwards are primarily defensive mids and while Seger is skilled at setting up others with her strong passing game, she isn’t likely to score a lot herself.

My biggest worries for this team is depth in the midfield and how much they will be affected by the World Cup. They could very well lose eight starters to national team duties for a good part of the season. Obviously, this is a problem for most of the teams, but I think more for the Flash.

Making the playoffs should almost be a given for this team. Winning it all could be a bit tougher in what should be a fiercely competitive league, but this team could certainly do so.

2011 magicJack Preview

magicJack
Coach: Mike Lyons (1st year)
2010 Record: 8-9-7 (4th place)
Home Stadium: FAU Soccer Field (Boca Raton, FL)

Roster:
Goalkeepers (3): Jillian Loyden, Brett Maron, Hope Solo.
Defenders (6): Marian Dalmy, Tina Ellertson, Nikki Marshall, Christie Rampone, Becky Sauerbrunn, Meghan Schnur.
Midfielders (8): Shannon Boxx, Amanda DaCosta(R), Omolyn Davis(R), Sarah Huffman, Meghan Klingenberg(R), Sophie Schmidt(R), Lindsay Tarpley, Kacey White.
Forwards (6): Lisa De Vanna, Ella Masar, Rebecca Moros, Christen Press(R), Johanna Rasmussen, Abby Wambach.
(R) denotes true rookie; returning players in bold.
Probable World Cup players: Solo, Rampone, Boxx, Schmidt, Tarpley, De Vanna, Wambach, and possibly Sauerbrunn.

Pretty much everything is new with this team…ownership, location, general manager, coach, name, and most of the team. If it weren’t for Freedom veterans like Abby Wambach, Sarah Huffman, and Becky Sauerbrunn, one could almost call this a completely new franchise.

Lost in all of the changes and confusion of the offseason is that magicJack has put together quite a solid team. They are reasonably strong at every position and have actually added a number of offensive players that should make them even more dangerous. Add Lindsay Tarpley, Kacey White, Ella Masar, Christen Press, and Johanna Rasmussen to an already solid offense with Abby Wambach and Lisa De Vanna and you have the makings of a very potent attack.

Even though this team has four rookies, it is a largely veteran team. But this team will be missing a lot of key players during the World Cup and continuity could be a problem. Even so, magicJack appears to have players to step in at every position and still be competitive.

Goalkeepers: Once magicJack brought Hope Solo into the fold, it really just becomes a question of how many games will she be able to play for her new team. Still recovering from shoulder surgery, she just made her first game appearance against England last weekend. It is a bit of a quandary from a USWNT point of view. She needs the game action, but how much can she risk the shoulder for the time being?

Last season was a year of distractions, between Athletica folding, tweetgate, and the surgery. But absent all of that, when Solo is on top of her game, there isn’t a better goalkeeper in the world. Backing her up will be two keepers that are used to that role. Jill Loyden, last year’s Red Star starter, backed Solo up in Saint Louis during 2009. Brett Maron was Solo’s backup in Atlanta. Both have experience as a starter, with Loyden being called up for national team duty on occasion.

Defenders: There won’t be many teams that can boast the veteran back line that magicJack will field coming into the 2011 season. Marshall is probably the only one you couldn’t call a seasoned veteran and the only one that hasn’t appeared on the senior national team. But what a rookie season she had. Overlooked when it came to rookie of the year voting, she made an impact both on defense and at striker.

The other five defenders are all experienced. Christie Rampone brings her 234 national team caps to magicJack after captaining (and sometimes coaching) Sky Blue for two seasons. A great leader on and off the field, Rampone is a professional in every sense of the word. Becky Sauerbrunn, also a candidate for the WC team, is the only other returnee. She has not missed a minute of action in two WPS seasons, the only player that can say that.

Three more defenders were brought in as free agents and all are excellent players. Marian Dalmy was a strong right back, with good height and the ability to make overlapping runs. Meghan Schnur played left back for Sky Blue and is very solid. Veteran Tina Ellertson joins her Washington Huskie teammate Solo with magicJack. Ellertson is a two-time WPS All-Star, is good in the air and has great speed, especially for a center back.

Midfielders: Here you have your classic blend of experience and youth, long-time national team players like Shannon Boxx and Lindsay Tarpley with young college talent like Klingenberg and Schmidt. The only returning player in the group is Sarah Huffman.

Boxx and Tarpley have combined for 265 caps on the USWNT. Boxx has been the starter at defensive mid for the USWNT for several years. She is strong in the air and has become more of an offensive threat since WPS has started. Tarpley is one of the most intelligent players on the field. Whether playing midfield or forward, she is always looking for the best option and is very unselfish.

The other two veterans on the team, Sarah Huffman and Kacey White, have both had short stints on the national team. Huffman is a consistent, hard-working midfielder, and has been with this franchise back to its W-League days. To me, White has always been underrated. She has good speed, attacks well from the outside and usually serves the ball into her forwards with accuracy.

The rookies on this team are quite intriguing as well. It’s really hard to call Sophie Schmidt a rookie. After all, she does have 58 caps with the Canadian National Team. Ultimately, Schmidt may be the best midfielder this team has. Meghan Klingenberg also has national team experience, both on the junior and senior levels. There is a possibility that Klingenberg may move to outside back for magicJack. Jamaican Omolyn Davis has a lot of talent, which hopefully coach Mike Lyons will be able to harness, while Amanda DaCosta had an excellent career at Florida State and looks to move up to the next level.

Forwards: Abby Wambach has been the focus of this team’s offense for the past two years and that probably won’t change. But Wambach has more weapons around her now, which may give her more room to operate in the middle. Unfortunately, nagging injury problems with her foot seem to have slowed her, although she is gamely trying to play through it. When healthy, she is the best in the world in the air and has scored well over 100 goals for the USWNT.

Lisa De Vanna’s 2010 WPS season got cut short following a broken leg in the Asian Cup. Her speed is a nice complement to Wambach’s strength. De Vanna scored six goals for the Freedom back in 2009. One player that had a strong 2010 season was Ella Masar. Masar scored eight goals for the Red Stars last year and quickly became a fan favorite.

In what could be regarded as a steal, magicJack obtained Johanna Rasmussen from Atlanta. Rasmussen was the Beat’s best player at times last year, and she can switch between forward and wing with relative ease. MagicJack also gets help from the draft in Stanford’s Christen Press. Press scored 26 goals for the Cardinal last year. Rounding out the forwards is returnee Rebecca Moros who adds versatility to the roster. Moros has played defense, midfielder, and forward for the Freedom over the past two years.

Outlook: In spite of the huge roster turnover, this team has the elements to compete for the title. They have a nice blend of youth and veterans and are strong at every position. But will this team ever be at full strength. Wambach’s injury could be a problem and she did not appear to be fully healthy in the recent match against England. Solo also made an appearance in that match, but is coming off from a long recovery from shoulder surgery. In addition, several key players will be absent during the World Cup.

You also have to wonder if some of the older veterans on the team will start to slow down. Talented as they are, Rampone is now 35, Boxx is 33, Wambach is 30, while Solo and Ellertson are fast approaching 30. And Boca Raton is not going to be the coolest spot to play summer matches. Their home advantage may not be as strong either, with the smallest seating capacity in a new home. Over the last two seasons, the Freedom had an excellent home record at 12-4-6 and a fairly dismal road record at 4-12-6.

This team is strong enough to compete. They have the talent, leadership, speed, strength, and depth necessary. But they are also going to need things to break their way, especially with respect to health and quickly developing into a cohesive unit.

2011 Sky Blue FC Preview

Sky Blue FC
Coach: Jim Gabarra (1st year at Sky Blue, 3rd year in WPS)
2010 Record: 7-10-7 (5th place)
Home Stadium: Yurcak Field (Piscataway, NJ)

Roster:
Goalkeepers (4): Kristin Arnold(R), Karen Bardsley, Jenni Branam, Erin Guthrie.
Defenders (8): Anita Asante, Kiersten Dallstream, Carrie Dew, Kendall Fletcher, Danielle Johnson, Lindsey Johnson(R), Brittany Taylor, Michelle Wenino.
Midfielders (7): Carolyn Blank, Tobin Heath, Angie Kerr, Allie Long, Alyssa Mautz(R), Heather O’Reilly, Therese Sjögran.
Forwards (4): Eniola Aluko, Laura Kalmari, Andrea Martin Santamaria, Casey Nogueira.
(R) denotes true rookie; returning players in bold.
Probable World Cup players: Bardsley, Asante, Heath, O’Reilly, Sjögran, Aluko.

High expectations often lead to disappointment and that’s what happened last season with Sky Blue. The defending champions failed to make the playoffs, falling to 5th place. To be sure, injuries had a lot to do with their lackluster season. Perhaps because of last year’s finish, Sky Blue had a substantial turnover on their roster in the offseason. Only eight players return from 2010 and only two players from the midfield forward.

One problem Sky Blue has had for both seasons was scoring goals. They hope to have rectified this offensive shortage with a blockbuster trade and several free agent signings. The trade that brought Eni Aluko, Tobin Heath, and Angie Kerr from Atlanta should pay dividends for a team that scored just 20 goals in 24 matches during the 2010 season, tied for the lowest total in WPS.

Jim Gabarra comes over from Washington for his third year as a WPS coach. He has a lot of talent on this Sky Blue team. The trick will be getting them to play as a cohesive unit, especially early in the season. The preseason tournament in Turkey should help in that regard.

Goalkeepers: Sky Blue had a rash of injuries last season and no position was harder hit than goalkeeper. SBFC lost not one, but two starters to injury. Both Karen Bardsley and Jen Branam are back for a third season with Sky Blue.

Bardsley’s stock continues to rise, both because of her brilliant start in 2010 and her more frequent starts with the English National Team. She was the keeper of choice when Hope Powell’s Lions faced the US in a recent friendly. Bardsley recorded five shutouts before she was injured while training for the WPS All-Star match last June. She has a huge advantage over Branam in height and now, in international experience.

Branam, on the other hand, led Sky Blue to the 2009 championship. While she is one of the shortest keepers in the league, she is also one of the most aggressive, often fearless while traveling well out of the penalty area to thwart potential threats. She will certainly see a lot of action when Bardsley travels to Germany with her English teammates. Rookie Kristin Arnold and Erin Guthrie, who spent 2010 as Gold Pride’s third goalkeeper, will battle for the third spot on Sky Blue.

Defenders: Gone are starters Meghan Schnur, Christie Rampone, Daphne Koster, and Keeley Dowling, losses that would cripple most teams. Still, Sky Blue returns four defenders from 2010, plus Anita Asante who returns to New Jersey after making three stops in between. Her experience should pay off on what is otherwise a fairly youthful back line.

Probably the most prominent among the returning players is Brittany Taylor, who had a strong rookie season in 2010. Taylor showed an ability to defend one-on-one against some of the best strikers the league had to offer. Kendall Fletcher, Danielle Johnson, and Kiersten Dallstream also return. Fletcher can also play defensive mid, a position she looked very good at while in Saint Louis. Dallstream has great speed and can also play striker.

Rounding out the defensive group are Carrie Dew, picked up from Gold Pride, Lindsey Johnson, and Michelle Wenino. The question is can this squad can stand up to the pressure they are likely to face against the best attacking teams in this league.

Midfielders: Only Heather O’Reilly returns in the midfield for Sky Blue. Still only 26 years old, it seems as though O’Reilly has been on the national scene forever, earning 141 caps for the USWNT. She has scored three goals and eight assists over two WPS campaigns.

While the rest of the midfield has changed, it is certainly not lacking in talent. Sky Blue was able to secure a loan agreement for Therese Sjögran, a veteran of the Damallsvenskan and the Swedish National Team. Her all around play, leadership, and experience may well be what this team needs. She will be joined in the middle by the number one overall pick in the 2010 draft, Tobin Heath. Heath missed most of 2010 with injuries, but 2011 seems to be starting out on the right foot with her making several national team appearances.

Another key addition to Sky Blue is former Freedom attacking mid Allie Long. Long has four career WPS goals and has matured as a player a great deal from the 21-year old that took the field for the Freedom in 2009. Two refugees from the Beat, Carolyn Blank and Angie Kerr, also join SBFC. Blank showed potential at defensive mid last season. Kerr, once a national team player, generally plays outside and passes the ball with great accuracy. Rookie Alyssa Mautz out of Texas A & M also joins the team and has a great deal of offensive potential.

Forwards: It’s not surprising, given Sky Blue’s difficulty in putting the ball in the net, that the team decided to go in another direction for 2011. The only returning forward is Laura Kalmari, who tied for the team lead in goals with five. One of the things I like best about Kalmari is that she always seems to put herself in good position to receive passes and score goals, which is sometimes one of the hardest things for a forward to learn. She already appears to be in midseason form, scoring a hat track against Rutgers in a recent exhibition game.

The biggest addition at forward is English striker Eniola Aluko. Aluko was virtually gifted to Sky Blue by Atlanta, the team with whom she finished 2010. Aluko has an impressive track record, 15 goals in two WPS seasons and 11 goals for England. She is very fast, sometimes too fast for AR’s in my opinion. She will lead the WPS in offside calls, but she is one of the league’s most exciting players.

The other two additions to Sky Blue have international experience as well. Spanish striker Adriana joins SBFC, coming off of an excellent run in UEFA World Cup qualifying. She scored 16 goals in just eight qualifying matches, including one against England last June. The other forward is Casey Nogueira, who spent her rookie season with Chicago. There has never been much doubt about Nogueira’s talent, only her consistency. She had a knack for scoring big goals on the college level and added a spark for the Red Stars a few times last season.

Outlook: One of the things that has to improve this season is scoring. Twenty goals in 24 matches, with two being penalties and another being an own goal, is just not enough. Sky Blue brought in the players to correct that problem. With Sjögran and Heath controlling the middle and more attacking options available, this team should score some goals. Aluko has great speed and her presence alone, should occupy opposing defenses.

The other problem for Sky Blue is protecting their own goal. While Bardsley and Branam are both capable keepers, they will not survive the onslaught of shots that Sky Blue faced last season for very long. Game in, game out for a good part of the 2010 season, Sky Blue was outshot two to one, often worse. With the defensive turnover that this team is facing, one wonders if they can protect Bardsley and Branam enough to give the offense a chance to win games.

Sky Blue is a team that must control possession and the midfield in order to be successful, which of course is true of most teams. The tendency with a speed burner like Aluko is to play kick and run long ball tactics, but I think Gabarra will keep his team from falling into that trap. The key will be how quickly Sky Blue can become familiar with one another before we see a sharp, crisp passing game that they need, especially since the team will lose much of its midfield to the World Cup.

2011 Philadelphia Independence Preview

Philadelphia Independence
Coach: Paul Riley (2nd year)
2010 Record: 10-10-4 (3rd place, finished runner-up in playoffs)
Home Stadium: Leslie C. Quick Jr. Stadium (Chester, Pennsylvania)

Roster:
Goalkeepers (2): Nicole Barnhart, Val Henderson.
Defenders (6): Lauren Barnes(R), Allison Falk, Estelle Johnson, Nikki Krzysik, Kia McNeill, Leigh Ann Robinson.
Midfielders (7): Jen Buczkowski, Christina DiMartino, Sinead Farrelly(R), Lauren Fowlkes(R), Lori Lindsey, Joanna Lohman, Megan Rapinoe.
Forwards (8): Danesha Adams, Veronica Boquete, Laura del Rio, Gina DiMartino, Tasha Kai, Holmfridur Magnusdottir, Amy Rodriguez, Lianne Sanderson.
(R) denotes true rookie; returning players in bold.
Probable World Cup players: Barnhart, Lindsey, Rapinoe, Rodriguez.

Like Boston, Philadelphia returns most of their roster from last season, 13 players in all. They only lost three players that saw appreciable playing time…Caroline Seger, Heather Mitts, and Sara Larsson. And they have made some additions that should impact the team, including two USWNT players, Megan Rapinoe and Nicole Barnhart. In addition to Rapinoe, the Independence brought in three exciting offensive options with Tasha Kai, Veronica Boquete, and Laura del Rio.

Another positive for this team is that they will be less affected by the World Cup than most of the rest of the league, losing in all likelihood only four players. With the depth they have added, they are probably positioned as well as any team heading into a season that will certainly be somewhat disrupted by the World Cup.

Goalkeepers: The Independence face the 2011 season with both starting goalkeepers from the 2010 championship game. What more can you say? Nicole Barnhart has been a fixture on the USWNT for years, playing in Hope Solo’s shadow. But between her brilliant season with Gold Pride last year and getting several starts on the national team due to Solo’s shoulder surgery, she has come into her own as a strong keeper. Last season, she posted a 0.77 goals against average with eight shutouts.

Val Henderson started the 2010 season battling for the number one spot with Karina LeBlanc, but by the end of the season, she had won the job and started all three playoff matches. Yes, Philly got blitzed by four Gold Pride goals in the final, but Henderson did a very capable job up until then. Only a temporary situation I’m sure, but the Independence have just two goalkeepers on their roster, a situation that must change when Barnhart is away on national team duties.

Defenders: With veterans Mitts and Larsson no longer on the team, Philadelphia acquired Leigh Ann Robinson and Kia McNeill from Atlanta and drafted Lauren Barnes out of UCLA. They will join returning players Allison Falk, Nikki Krzysik, and Estelle Johnson.

The trio of McNeill, Falk, and Krzysik in the middle give Philly a very physical central backfield. McNeill and Falk are both good in the air. Falk can be a weapon on set pieces in the offensive third as well. Rookie Lauren Barnes adds depth. Robinson and Johnson could be the starters outside. Johnson had a strong rookie season for the Independence in 2010.

I imagine Paul Riley would like to see Robinson get forward, something she did quite well at times with Gold Pride in 2009, but was unable to do as much last season with Atlanta. The other outside option is Frida Magnusdottir, a fast, aggressive player that seems to be at home anywhere on the field and is listed as a forward.

Midfielders: Philly’s biggest loss in the offseason was probably Caroline Seger, the excellent Swedish midfielder that is now with Western New York. However, don’t feel too bad for the Independence. They added USWNT winger Megan Rapinoe and two promising draft selections, Sinead Farrelly and Lauren Fowlkes.

Farrelly is a talented young player out of the University of Virginia. She is known for having great vision and is excellent at distributing the ball. Oh, and she can score as well, with 30 goals in her career with the Cavaliers. Fowlkes, a Notre Dame alum, has good size at 5-10 and can play defensive mid or center back.

While Rapinoe has struggled at times in her WPS career, she is a solid performer on the USWNT. Hopefully, coach Paul Riley’s system will bring out the best in her. With returnees like the always solid Lori Lindsey and the highly skilled Tina DiMartino, this could be one of the best midfields in the league. For depth, add veterans Joanna Lohman and Jen Buczkowski, both of whom were full-time starters on last year’s team and this is a quite impressive group.

Forwards: One problem for Coach Riley is going to be getting playing time for all the options he has at forward. He has the leading scorer from last year, Amy Rodriguez, who had 12 goals and 6 assists. After a disappointing rookie season, Rodriguez showed what she could do last season. With her speed and now with added experience on timing her runs, there is no reason to think she won’t have another good season this year.

Riley also has Tasha Kai, who led Sky Blue in goals two years running. And perhaps this year, she will be injury-free, something that has plagued her over the last two years. Riley has raved about her performance in preseason. Philly also returns English striker Lianne Sanderson, who showed flashes of her talent last year scoring five goals.

Two Spanish forwards, Laura del Rio and Veronica Boquete also join the team. Boquete is extremely fast, having a strong season with Buffalo in the W-League, before having a stellar, if short, stint with the Chicago Red Stars. Del Rio is a veteran who knows how to score, but has yet to make a big impact in WPS. Add Danesha Adams, who probably scored the biggest goal in Independence history against Boston in overtime, sending them to the finals, and DiMartino sister number two, Gina.

Outlook: This team really has everything it needs to compete for the title. They have speed, talent, skill, and no one is going to push this team around. The speed this team has up front will give opponents all sorts of trouble.

One would think that last year’s runner-up finish would make Philadelphia favorites, with Gold Pride no longer around. But this league is very tough at the top and winning a championship will not be easy. Even with last year’s phenomenal success, the Independence only finished the regular season with an even 10-10-4 mark.

You have to like that this team kept its nucleus together and made some nice additions. They will not be hurt by the World Cup as much as either Western New York or Boston, who stand to lose twice as many players, or even Sky Blue which will likely lose six. But when it comes down to it, the other teams will have most of their roster come playoff time, so the Independence will still have to beat the best to climb to the top.

The Independence should have an exciting attack, with plenty of options, and they should be able to match last year’s strength in the midfield. It may come down to how well this team can defend. While their back line is solid, it does not have all the national team players that grace a few of the other defenses around the league. But if they can play solid team defense, this team should do quite well.

2011 Boston Breakers Preview

Boston Breakers
Coach: Tony DiCicco (3rd year)
2010 Record: 10-8-6 (2nd place)
Home Stadium: Harvard Stadium (Cambridge, Massachusetts)

Roster:
Goalkeepers (3): Kelsey Davis, Alyssa Naeher, Ashley Phillips.
Defenders (7): Liz Bogus, Rachel Buehler, Stephanie Cox, Ifeoma Dieke, Amy LePeilbet, Kasey Moore, Alex Scott.
Midfielders (8): Jordan Angeli, Leah Blayney, Niki Cross, Leslie Osborne, Elli Reed(R), Katie Schoepfer, Nikki Washington, Keelin Winters(R).
Forwards (5): Lauren Cheney, Taryn Hemmings, Kelley O’Hara, Kelly Smith, Claire Zimmeck.
(R) denotes true rookie; returning players in bold.
Probable World Cup players: Buehler, Cox, LePeilbet, Scott, Cheney, O’Hara, and Smith.

Boston returns 14 players from last season’s 2nd place finish (regular season) and that continuity should help them early on. The Breakers also picked up two highly regarded players from Gold Pride’s championship team, Rachel Buehler and Kelley O’Hara.

The Breakers finished very strong in 2010, 9-3-2 over their last 14 matches with two of the losses coming against FC Gold Pride. An overtime loss to Philadelphia meant that the season ended in disappointment, but the team made a lot of progress during the season and looks to be a contender for the title this season.

Goalkeepers: Alyssa Naeher is the number one keeper and she did a fine job over the final two thirds of the 2010 season. She posted a 1.17 goals against average and three shutouts. Heading into this season with a year’s experience under her belt, she should be even better.

There is an outside chance Naeher could be selected to the USWNT for the World Cup, although it looks as though Ashlyn Harris will get the third goalkeeper’s spot right now. Boston’s backup keepers are Ashley Phillips, who was the Breakers starter early last season and Kelsey Davis, who spent time with the Red Stars last season and has been a regular on national junior teams.

Defenders: This could be the best defense in WPS, although a couple of other sides could put up good arguments. The starters are national team players all, with Alex Scott and Stephanie Cox on the outside and Rachel Buehler and Amy LePeilbet on the inside. Buehler comes over from Gold Pride, a team that she helped make the best defensive unit last year. LePeilbet is a two-time defensive player of the year in WPS. Scott, a starter with the English National Team, is one the best offensive outside backs in soccer. Cox is a consistent performer, who rarely makes mistakes.

The problem is that they are so good, they will all be in Germany in June and July, meaning the Breakers lose their entire back line for a good part of the season. Ifeoma Dieke can certainly step right in. She is a member of the Scottish National Team and has excellent speed. Kasey Moore is a two-year veteran of the Breakers, so she is familiar with their system. Liz Bogus is listed as a defender, although her natural position is either attacking mid or forward, so the back line will be rather new to her.

Boston will have to move some of their listed midfielders to play back line. The most likely candidates are Niki Cross, Elli Reed, or Jordan Angeli, all of whom have extensive experience at playing back line. Reed was excellent at outside back for Portland while in college and is one of two rookies to make the squad.

Midfielders: Probably the area that has seen the most changes for Boston is in the midfield. With the retirement of Kristine Lilly, Leslie Osborne will be the experienced leadership in this group. Osborne is a top notch defensive player, and like teammate Rachel Buehler, can be one of the toughest tacklers in the league.

Jordan Angeli is another returnee and was one of the pleasant surprises of the 2010 season. After becoming a starter a third of the way into the season, she scored seven goals, second most on the team. She is a solid defender as well. Nikki Washington is another midfielder that can score. An excellent attacking player from the wing, the former UNC star has been slowed by injuries since 2009.

Another Portland alum, Keelin Winters, will also compete for a starting role at midfield. Winters is a hard worker and has great soccer intelligence. Leah Blayney has played club soccer both in the US and in her native Australia.

Forwards: The forward tandem of Kelly Smith and Lauren Cheney should give opponents all sorts of problems. Smith, who might possibly be the best women’s player in the world not named Marta, is a tough, talented veteran who always seems to make good decisions. She has scored 17 goals over two seasons in WPS while playing through injuries.

Cheney is a strong, young USWNT player. She is at her best receiving the ball with her back to the goal and is always a threat to turn a defender and get off a lethal shot. She can also get a shot off in traffic, a skill not many players have. In addition, Boston picked up Kelley O’Hara, also a member of the USWNT. O’Hara has very good speed and can find the gaps in opposing defenses.

Again, the problem is that many of the forwards will be headed to the World Cup. The other forwards all have limited WPS experience. Taryn Hemmings, Claire Zimmeck, and Katie Schoepfer have seen some WPS action and will be counted on heavily during the other’s absences. Washington might also be a candidate to move up to forward.

Outlook: The only two things standing in the way of this team and a championship are the 2011 World Cup and the other top teams in WPS. Boston will be hit hard by World Cup losses, which could force them down the standings a bit. Other teams will be going through the same thing, but no other team stands to lose both its entire back line and its top three forwards. Really, only Western New York comes close to losing that much talent.

But in any case, Boston should be a playoff team and then it’s just a matter if they can beat the other top teams in the league in a pressure situation. The added speed that O’Hara and Washington will give to this team will help. Certainly, continuity is a plus for the Breakers, having the same coach, the same system, and the same core group of players. If the midfield can come into its own and if Naeher can continue to improve in goal, the sky’s the limit for this team.