Beat Trade for Sitch and Parker

The Atlanta Beat have completed a deal with Western New York that will bring Kelly Parker and Julianne Sitch to their roster. In return, the Flash get a first and second round selection in the 2012 draft.

It was pretty obvious from the scoring woes that the Beat have gone through lately that they needed to add offense and Parker could certainly give them a boost. She can play forward, attacking mid, or on the wing and has 13 caps for the Canadian National Team. She has scored one goal for Canada and recently played 45 minutes in a 2-1 victory over Switzerland.

Parker has also played on two championship club teams the past two years, in 2009 for Sky Blue in WPS and in 2010 for the Buffalo Flash of the W-League. She has two career WPS assists and was a top scorer in the W-League.

Sitch is a defensive specialist that can play on the back line or the midfield. She is a veteran of three WPS teams, Sky Blue in 2009, the Chicago Red Stars in 2010, and the Flash in 2011. Before her WPS career, Sitch was a mainstay in the W-League, playing for several teams over the past decade. She scored one goal for Sky Blue in the 2009 season.

This will be the third different WPS team that Parker and Sitch have been teammates on. They were also teammates for FC Indiana in 2008. That team also included current Beat player Lauren Sesselmann.

Chicago Red Stars - The Offseason So Far

In the second installment on the WPS offseason, we'll take a look at the Chicago Red Stars.

When Last We Left Them...

The Chicago Red Stars finished in 6th place with 20 points and out of the playoffs. The season started promisingly enough with the Red Stars going 2-0-2 over their first 4 matches climaxing with a 4-0 trouncing of the Boston Breakers. But then, the wheels came off. Chicago managed just two goals over their next 9 games, which included scoring droughts of 396 and 451 minutes. They did manage 3 late season wins, including a 3-1 victory over Los Angeles.

Scoring was a major problem for the Red Stars as they tallied only 18 goals during the season, with 10 of those coming in just three games. Surprisingly after a great start defensively, earning shutouts in 3 of the first 4 matches, they gave up 24 goals over the last 16 matches and finished with the 3rd worst total in the league. Much of that can probably attributed to injuries on the back line. With Kate Markgraf returning to action in 2010, the Red Star defense appears to be in good shape for the coming season.

Roster Moves

Chicago instantly made offseason news by deciding to waive their 2010 options on several players, including Carli Lloyd and Cristiane, their leading scorer. Not surprisingly, Sky Blue signed Lloyd in October. Cristiane remains a free agent, but there is still the possibility that she could be back with the Red Stars in 2010. Also no longer with the team are Frida Östberg, who opted to retire, and Australian midfielder Heather Garriock, who was plagued by injuries for almost the entire 2009 season.

As far as acquisitions go, the Red Stars were pretty quiet early on. They did sign Oswego, Illinois native Julianne Sitch, who spent the 2009 season with the champion Sky Blue side. Sitch played several years for the Chicago W-League team and played her college soccer at DePaul. She started 11 matches for Sky Blue, scoring one goal. Sitch will provide some versatility to the Red Stars, as she can play both midfielder and defender. She has been sharpening her skills in the WPS offseason by playing for the Melbourne Victory of the Australian W-League where she has scored one goal as well.

December saw the Red Stars making two key international signings, tapping into European national teams. First came the signing of veteran English midfielder Katie Chapman of Arsenal. Chapman is a long-time member of the English National Team with 73 caps and 7 goals to her credit. She joins a talented Chicago midfield group which also includes her English teammate Karen Carney as well Megan Rapinoe and Brittany Klein.

The second signing was that of 20-year old Kosovare Asllani, a member of Linköpings FC and the Swedish National Team. The young forward debuted with the national team in 2008 and has scored 21 goals over the past two seasons in the Damallsvenskan. Asllani should bolster the Red Stars offense, but she will be hard pressed to replace Cristiane's 7 goals from 2009, unless the Brazilian forward re-signs with Chicago.

Current Roster

Goalkeepers (1)-Caroline Jönsson.
Defenders (6)-Marian Dalmy, Ifeoma Dieke, Chioma Igwe, Kate Markgraf, Jill Oakes, Natalie Spilger.
Midfielders (6)-Karen Carney, Katie Chapman, Brittany Klein, Megan Rapinoe, Julianne Sitch, Lindsay Tarpley (MF/F).
Forwards (2)-Kosovare Asllani, Ella Masar.

Additions-Asllani, Chapman, and Sitch.
Subtractions-Danesha Adams (drafted by Philadelphia), Nikki Krzysik (drafted by Philadelphia), Carli Lloyd (signed by Sky Blue).

Other Free Agents from 2009 roster-Cristiane, Heather Garriock, Jaimel Johnson, Mary Therese McDonnell, Frida Ostberg (retired), Lydia Vandenbergh, Michelle Wenino, Lydia Williams.
Internationals-Asllani, Carney, Chapman, and Jönsson with one slot open.
Draft Picks (in first 3 rounds)-Nos. 4, 15, and 24.

Needs to Address

With Cristiane being a free agent and Lindsay Tarpley coming off ACL surgery, scoring has to be priority one. Those two combined for 11 of the Red Stars' 18 goals last season, with Tarpley also leading the team in assists. The Red Stars were shut out in over half of their games last year and they can't afford a repeat of that performance. Ella Masar will be back with Chicago, but while Tarpley's rehab seems to be going well and the signing of Asllani is a great addition, I really think the Red Stars need another top scorer. Whether that means re-signing Cristiane or another international forward, or perhaps a top college scorer remains to be seen.

The second major need is a backup keeper. Last season, Caroline Jonsson played every minute of every game. She was very sharp early on, but later in the season, the onslaught of shots against her had to take their toll. Jonsson has just turned 32, not necessarily old for a keeper, but still it would be nice to groom somebody to be her replacement and this year's draft has several good candidates. It is unknown if Lydia Williams is still in the Red Stars' plans for the future.

The other area that Chicago might want to address is depth at midfield. With so many of their players being potential call ups for national team duty, it is likely that players like Rapinoe, Carney, Chapman, and Klein will miss several games. The signing of Sitch certainly addressed that problem, but more depth is never a bad thing to have.

The Red Stars were a bit of an enigma last year. They appeared to have all of the pieces of the puzzle and got off to a great start. But injuries hurt the team, as did a couple of red cards in matches against Washington. At times, it appeared that they offensively broke down into too much one-on-one play. I believe that in Rapinoe and Carney, they might possibly have two of the best young outside midfielders in the world. It certainly seems like this all should have translated into more than 5 victories. I have to believe that better things are ahead for this team in 2010, but there are some lingering questions that need to be addressed.

WPS Draft Revisited-Sky Blue FC

This is the fourth installment on the 2009 WPS Draft, looking at Sky Blue FC.

Who They Drafted
1st round (#4)-Yael Averbuch, North Carolina; 2nd round (#11)-Meghan Schnur, Connecticut; 3rd round (#18)-Karen Bardsley, Cal State-Fullerton; 4th round (#25)-Christie Shaner, Notre Dame; 5th round (#32)-Julianne Sitch, DePaul; 6th round (#39)-Jen Buczkowski, Notre Dame; 7th round (#46)-Zhang Ouying, China; 8th round (#53)-Mary Therese McDonnell, Illinois; 9th round (#60)-Mele French, Oregon; 10th round (#67)-Fanta Cooper, UW-Milwaukee.

Strategy
With talented attacking players like Natasha Kai, Sarah Walsh, Rosana, Heather O'Reilly, Kelly Parker, and Kacey White already on their roster, Sky Blue concentrated on defenders and midfielders. They apparently weren't impressed much by younger players, as they took only one college senior, Yael Averbuch. They were the only WPS team to pick less than three college seniors. Sky Blue went heavily with players with American club experience, especially W-League veterans. Most of the players chosen played college and club soccer in the east and midwest, most notably the Chicago area. Maybe this is not so surprising, given that then assistant coach, now interim head coach, Kelly Lindsey went to Notre Dame.

Current WPS Status
For Sky Blue FC, 7 of their 10 draft picks are still on the roster, 3 were released.

Full time starters (3)-Averbuch, Schnur, Sitch
Part time starters and other full roster players (2)-Bardsley, Buczkowski
Developmental (2)-Shaner, French
Released (3)-Zhang, McDonnell, Cooper

Note McDonnell was later picked up by Chicago as a developmental player.

What They've Done (thru 10 games)
Averbuch-9 G, 5 GS, 504 Min, 9 shots, 3 SOG
Schnur-10 G, 10 GS, 900 Min, 2 assists, 2 points, 3 shots
Shaner-2 G, 40 Min
Sitch-9 G, 8 GS, 714 Min, 9 shots, 4 SOG
Buczkowski-6 G, 4 GS, 342 Min, 1 shot
French-1 G, 11 Min

Bardsley-3 G, 3 GS, 225 Min, 6 saves, 0.5 shutouts, 0.80 GA

Total Offensive Output-37 G, 27 GS, 2511 Min, 0 goals, 2 assists, 2 points, 22 shots, 7 SOG.
Total Goalkeeper Output-3 G, 3 GS, 225 Min, 6 saves, 0.5 shutouts, 0.80 GA.

G=Games; GS=Games Started; Min=Minutes; SOG=Shots on Goal; GA=Goals Against Average.

The Players

Yael Averbuch-It was no surprise that Sky Blue would take the New Jersey native with the 4th pick in the draft. But it had to be a little odd for the former UNC star to be spending most of the early season on the bench, given she started 105 consecutive games for the Tar Heels. The change in coaches seems to have made a lot of difference. Under Ian Sawyers, she was averaging just 33 minutes/game. Since Kelly Lindsey has taken over, Averbuch has played every minute of the last 4 games. Averbuch's height gives her a distinct advantage in the air. She distributes the ball well from her midfield position. She has a strong shot and is dangerous anywhere in the attacking third. Averbuch has extensive experience with the US Junior National teams, so she is used to international caliber play.

Meghan Schnur-Out of the 70 players taken in the January draft, she is the only one to have played every minute of every game for her team. Schnur is a poised defender, who holds her ground and is rarely out of position. From her outside left back position, she guards the flank well and has helped Sky Blue's defense become 2nd best in the league. She doesn't go forward as much as many outside backs in the league, but she can contribute offensively as she demonstrated with her two assists against Chicago. Schnur is one of the best defensive players to come out of the draft and should help Sky Blue for many years.

Karen Bardsley-The CS-Fullerton keeper has started three games for Sky Blue. She's given up just 2 goals in the two and a half games she has played. Bardsley played very well under intense pressure in the 1st half of Chicago game in April. She also made a great save against Athletica, keeping her team in the game late in that contest. When in traffic, Bardsley plays safety first, preferring to punch the ball out rather than risk grabbing it out of the air. She has nice height and anticipates well. For the moment, it appears she is backup to Jen Branam, but Sky Blue doesn't lose anything having her in goal.

Christie Shaner-Shaner has seen brief action in two games. The former Notre Dame and W-League star played center back against the Red Stars and also saw action against the Freedom. Shaner adds depth to the defense.

Julianne Sitch-This W-League veteran is a tough competitor. She started and played the full 90 minutes in Sky Blue's first 7 games, but has seen less playing time lately. She can play either outside defender or holding midfielder. She is an agressive tackler as her three yellow cards would attest. Sitch is not afraid to go forward from either the back or from midfield and chooses her opportunities well. From her midfield position, she does a nice job of supporting the back line. As a defender, she can be occasionally beaten by speed to the outside, but marks well for the most part and is steady on the back line. Sitch was a very solid pick in the 5th round.

Jen Buczkowski-The Notre Dame grad has seen action at midfield for Sky Blue, starting 4 games for the Jersey side. Like Sitch, Buczkowski is a W-League veteran, spending four seasons with the Chicago Gaels before being drafted by SBFC. She is a solid midfielder, who defends well. She drops back well to help the back line. She does not go forward very often in the offense. Buczkowski is not going to blow you way, but she quietly and effectively gets the job done.

Mele French-French is a story in perseverance. Her promising college career at Oregon was cuts short by a series of concussions. However, last year she re-emerged playing for W-League champions, Pali Blues. French has seen brief action in one game so far.

Later Additions-In addition to the players above, Sky Blue also signed Jen Branam and Lauren Sesselmann, both of whom were drafted by Chicago. Branam has been the starting keeper for much of the season for Sky Blue. She is the shortest starting keeper in the league, but is extremely quick and aggressive. Branam has an extremely powerful right leg and can easily kick the ball two thirds of the field. However, she will also occasionally mishit a punt into danger. She has made a lot of great saves, but made a glaring mistake against Boston, letting a low cross get through her for an easy goal. Other than that, her play has been sound.

Purdue grad Lauren Sesselmann was drafted by Chicago, then released, but was recently added to Sky Blue's roster as a developmental player. She has not seen any action yet.

Summary
Like Chicago, Sky Blue did well at the top of the draft, but not very good at the bottom. It was a bit puzzling that their 1st round pick, Averbuch, saw very little action early in the season, but lately she has been a key player in Sky Blue's resurgence over the last 4 or 5 games. Schnur is a solid defender and underrated as far as I'm concerned. Bardsley has done a fine job when in goal, although she hasn't played a lot. Sitch was a great pick in the 5th round. Buczkowski has contributed well for a 6th round pick. Veterans Shaner and French haven't played much to this point.

With the exception of Los Angeles, who is loaded with talent, Sky Blue has gotten less starts out of their draft than any other team. They also haven't gotten any scoring, save for Schnur's two assists, but that's largely because they drafted heavily on the defensive side. One problem I see is that because they didn't draft a lot of young players, I don't know how much improvement you are going to see out of most of their draft. There are certainly a lot of solid contributors in this group, but outside of possibly Averbuch and Schnur, I don't think any of the other players could develop into stars.

WPS Midweek Notes-May 13th

The Australian Connection

The dynamic Aussie duo of Collette McCallum and Sarah Walsh connected for Sky Blue's first goal of the match on Sunday night in Chicago. McCallum sent a brilliant pass through to Walsh, who split the defense and sent the ball into the lower corner of the net, beating Caroline Jonsson in the 8th minute of the match. The goal gave Sky Blue their first lead of the season and turned out to be the team's first game-winning goal in its history.

The Matildas have made their presence felt in the WPS. Just a week earlier, Lisa DeVanna of the Washington Freedom scored on a header against Saint Louis. Two other Australian nationals, Heather Garriock and Lydia Williams play for the Chicago Red Stars. Unfortunately, Garriock has been plagued by injuries and has seen just 9 minutes of action. Williams, who celebrates her 21st birthday today, is stuck on the depth chart behind Jonsson, who is arguably one of the hottest keepers in the league to this point. Williams is the youngest keeper in the league. Happy 21st to Lydia!

Bye for Washington Means Bye Bye Goals

In last week's WPS action, only 3 goals were scored in 3 games. This is the lowest offensive output for any week so far, except for the first week when only one match was played. It's not surprising given the Washington Freedom had a bye week. 21 of the 43 goals scored thus far have been scored in games involving Washington. The Freedom lead the league in both goals scored and most goals allowed. They have scored 9, while allowing 12 in five games. This week, Washington travels to Boston where it will face WPS leading scorer, Kelly Smith. In the previous meeting between the two teams, Boston won 3-1.

Call Ups May Give Backups a Shot

The US Women's National Team will face Canada on May 25th, a game that replaces the friendlies that were scheduled by both teams against Japan. This means that several WPS backup goalies may see their first action of the year. The most likely candidates would be Jillian Loyden of Saint Louis, Allison Whitworth of FC Gold Pride, and Val Henderson of Los Angeles.

Loyden, a Villanova graduate, backs up Hope Solo for Athletica. Saint Louis is scheduled to play a Saturday night match in Chicago on May 23rd. Whitworth (Auburn) backs up Nicole Barnhart for Gold Pride and Henderson (UCLA) backs up Karina LeBlanc for the Sol. Those teams are set to face off against each other on the afternoon of May 24th in Santa Clara, California.

Rare Yellow Cards for Weber

If my research is accurate, Athletica defender Elise Weber did not receive a yellow card in her two seasons with Notre Dame. The last one she had received was when she wore the Cardinal and White of the University of Wisconsin in 2006. Weber has now received a yellow card in consecutive WPS games, both times for stalling and failure to complete a throw-in quickly enough, kind of an unusual way to accumulate yellows.

Card Accumulation

Speaking of yellow cards, Julianne Sitch of Sky Blue FC became the first WPS player to accumulate 3 yellow cards for the season. A 4th yellow card will mean a suspension, per league rules. However, if a player plays four consecutive games without a yellow, the accumulation for that player is reset to zero. The aforementioned Weber is also in danger of a suspension. League rules stipulate that yellow cards in 3 consecutive games also warrant a suspension. So far, the only players that have been suspended have been Frida Ostberg (for two yellows in one game) and Abby Wambach and Kia McNeill (by Commissioner Antonucci for plays in the Washington-Saint Louis match).