Spiga

October 7, 2009

Independence Trade for Falk and Henderson


The Philadelphia Independence have completed a trade with Los Angeles, acquiring starting center back Allison Falk and backup keeper Val Henderson for the number 5 and 22 draft picks overall in the 2010 draft. This follows the trade a week ago that brought Amy Rodriguez from the Boston Breakers.

Falk, who played her college soccer at Stanford, started 16 games last season and scored the league's first goal in March. Considered by many to be one of the best young defensive players in the WPS, she was drafted by Los Angeles in the 2nd round of the 2009 draft with the 10th overall pick. Her 6-0 height made her a force on corner kicks at both ends of the field. Falk also picked up a red card in the Championship Game against Sky Blue.

Henderson played in only one match last year and earned a shutout over FC Gold Pride. She is considered to be one of the better backup keepers in the league. Henderson played her college soccer at UCLA.

The trade left Philadelphia without a first round pick in the draft. They originally had the 2nd and 11th picks overall, but traded those to Boston for Rodriguez and the 5th overall pick, which they just traded to Los Angeles. Their highest remaining pick is the 13th pick overall (2nd round, 2nd pick).

Meanwhile, the Sol appears to be stockpiling draft picks. In addition to the 5th pick overall acquired in this deal, they had previously acquired St. Louis' first round pick. They also still have their own first round selection.

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