Briana Scurry, long time goalkeeper of the US Women's National Team and member of the WPS Washington Freedom has retired from professional soccer.
Scurry was the number one keeper for the US for well over a decade. She is best remembered for her penalty shot save in the 1999 Women's World Cup in the championship match against China. In addition to that championship, she also earned gold medals in the 1996 and 2004 Olympic Games. She capped 173 times for the USWNT with the United States winning nearly 85% of those matches.
The University of Massachusetts grad was one of the most athletic goalkeepers of her era. Scurry was a member of the Atlanta Beat of the WUSA and the Washington Freedom of WPS. She started in the Freedom's first match against the Los Angeles Sol in March, 2009. However, injuries have plagued her over the past two seasons and she saw very little playing time for the Freedom. She played only 45 minutes for the Freedom this season.
Scurry is also known for her considerable work with various charitable organizations. She will go down in history as one of the best goalkeepers ever in the women's game. Best wishes on all future endeavors to Briana!
Kelly Smith - Player of the Month
Boston Breaker striker Kelly Smith has won Player of the Month honors for the month of August. Smith scored four goals and added one assist in August, while leading the Breakers to a 3-1-1 record. She scored the game winning goals in victories over Atlanta and Philadelphia, plus a game-tying goal in another match with the Independence.
It is the second consecutive month that a Breakers has won the award. Jordan Angeli won the award in July.
Boquete Earns Player of the Week
In her first week of WPS action, Veronica Boquete has won the WPS Player of the Week award. The Red Star forward scored a goal just minutes into her first match against Philadelphia, helping Chicago to a 2-0 win last Wednesday. Then she assisted on both goals in Chicago's 2-1 victory over the Freedom on Sunday.
Boquete had helped the Buffalo Flash win the W-League championship just a few weeks earlier, after which she signed with Chicago, only to have her eligibility held up for visa problems. "Vero", as she is known, is a member of the Spanish Women's National Team.
Around the League
Atlanta Beat - Eniola Aluko could end up leading two different teams in goals this season. She leads the Beat with five goals and led the now defunct Saint Louis Athletica with four.....Only Leigh Ann Robinson has played in all 23 games for Atlanta this season.....The Beat have scored more than one goal only four times this season, but they also gave up more than one goal in each of those games, with a 2-1-1 record.
Boston Breakers -During their 13 game scoring streak, ten different players scored goals for the Breakers.....Kelly Smith is the only two-time winner of the Player of the Month award. She also won in April, 2009.....The Breakers are 0-4 against Gold Pride and 10-4-5 against the rest of the league.
Chicago Red Stars - Sunday's 2-1 victory over Washington marked the first time that the Red Stars had ever scored in three consecutive matches.....Marian Dalmy completed the 2010 season having played every minute. The Red Star defender scored a goal and four assists for the year.....Formiga currently leads WPS in fouls committed with 42, seven more than Jen Buczkowski.
FC Gold Pride - Camille Abily has apparently transitioned from one the league's best goal scorers to one of the best passers. Last year, she scored 8 goals and had one assist for the Sol. This season, she has only one goal, but has added six assists for Gold Pride.....Marta has not missed a minute of action since April 25, 2009 when she was with the Brazilian National Team in Europe.....Gold Pride holds 8-0-4 record in their 12 game unbeaten streak, which is a WPS record.
Philadelphia Independence - Amy Rodriguez is second in WPS in shots on goal with 35 and third in shots with 63.....In addition to Rodriguez's three braces, Frida Magnusdottir and Tina DiMartino have one each for the Independence.....Philadelphia has scored just one goal in their last three matches, all losses.
Sky Blue FC - Rookie Brittany Taylor is Sky Blue's ironwoman having played all 2070 minutes for the team this season.....Tasha Kai and Laura Kalmari are currently tied for the team best in goals with five each.....Sky Blue has had four different starting goalkeepers this season.
Washington Freedom - Becky Sauerbrunn's consecutive minutes streak continues at 3870 minutes in regular season matches. Rookie Nikki Marshall has also not missed a minute for the Freedom this season.....Abby Wambach has scored nine of her 12 goals at the Maryland SoccerPlex and has scored in seven of the eleven games played there this season. The Freedom host Atlanta at the SoccerPlex this weekend with a chance at a playoff berth.....The Freedom have won their last three home games and are 6-2-3 for the season at home.
Correction: Abby Wambach has actually scored in seven of the ten games played at the Maryland SoccerPlex this season. The eleventh home game to be played there will be this weekend's match against Atlanta. One other home game was played at RFK Stadium.
0 comments:
Post a Comment