Breakers Down Atlanta

The Boston Breakers moved into a tie for third place with a 2-0 shutout over the Atlanta Beat on Sunday night.

It didn't take long for the Breakers to score, just under four minutes in. Katie Schoepfer placed her corner kick to the back post with Kasey Moore heading it back toward the middle. Rookie Keelin Winters was unmarked inside the six and placed her header into the net for an early Boston lead.

Atlanta actually might have had the better of play in the first half, as they were able to pressure Boston, but they just couldn't create any dangerous chances in the final third.

Boston turned up the pressure in the 2nd half. In the 54th minute, Elli Reed cut back against the defense and sent a beautiful cross into the box for Leah Blayney who headed the ball off the post from 12 yards out. A minute later, Liz Bogus sent a hard shot just wide of the right post.

Atlanta nearly drew even in the 71st minute. Kacey White sent Meghan Lenczyk in alone on goal, but Alyssa Naeher came out to cut of the angle, forcing Lenczyk to shoot wide of the left post.

In the 81st minute, Boston put the match away. Meghan Klingenberg sent the ball up the right side with Schoepfer running on to it. She released a shot from the elbow of the penalty area, just before defender Analisa Marquez was able to get there. With Allison Whitworth tending toward the near post, Schoepfer placed it beautifully just inside the left post to make it 2-0.

Atlanta had one final chance on a free kick by Cat Whitehill. Her drive from distance was heading lower left, but Naeher made the save.

Boston raised their record to 4-5-3, good for 15 points. They are now unbeaten in their last four matches and have posted three consecutive shutouts. The Breakers have next weekend off before facing Western New York on July 24 in a crucial home match.

For Atlanta, Lori Chalupny was a late scratch from the starting lineup and did not play. The Beat drop to 1-9-3 and have yet to score a road goal. Atlanta returns home to host the Philadelphia Independence next Saturday.

WPS Standings
(1) Philadelphia 7-2-3, 24 pts; (2) Western New York 6-2-2, 20 pts; (3) magicJack 5-4-1, 15 pts; (3) Boston 4-5-3, 15 pts; (5) Sky Blue FC 3-4-4, 13 pts; (6) Atlanta 1-9-3, 6 pts.

Klingenberg Helps Breakers To 2-1 Victory

There are few better feelings in sports than to get an opportunity to help beat a team that just traded you. Meghan Klingenberg did just that on Sunday evening. Klingenberg who was traded by magicJack to Boston last week, scored the game's second goal and it proved to be the difference as the Breakers defeated magicJack by a 2-1 margin.

With many national team players in New Jersey for today's USWNT match against Mexico, the starting lineups for both teams were quite different. Both principals in the recent trade, Klingenberg and magicJack's Nikki Washington, were in the starting lineup against their old teams.

Boston opened the scoring in just the 8th minute. After a nice buildup, Klingenberg sent a nice cross to the middle, but it appeared to be cleared out of trouble by magicJack's defense. However, Katie Schoepfer collected the ball just outside the eighteen and she hit a high lob of a shot that couldn't have been placed more perfectly, going just under the crossbar, just inside the right post, and just out of reach of leaping magicJack keeper Brett Maron.

The Breakers made it 2-0 in the 19th minute as Liz Bogus hit a right-footed cross from the left sideline to Klingenberg who was making a run down the center of the field. Klingenberg volleyed a one-timer from 10 yards into the left side of the net on what was one of the better goals of the season.

Boston had several chances in the final seconds of the first half as magicJack struggled to clear the ball after a cross was sent all the way through the penalty area.

Tina Ellertson was asked to mark English striker Kelly Smith and the two battled throughout the match, with Ellertson holding Smith in check for much of the time. Meanwhile, Ella Masar was once again very active on the offensive end and sent at least one shot just over the crossbar. magicJack outshot Boston in the first half, but many of their shots were from distance and harmless.

The score remained at 2-0 until the 67th minute, as Sarah Huffman sent a long ball over the top of the Boston defense. There appeared to be a lack of communication between Alyssa Naeher and her defense, and the Boston keeper got caught in no-man's land. Christen Press got just behind the defense and cut in front of Naeher intercepting the ball and finished into an empty net.

While magicJack did have chances in the closing minutes, they were unable to draw even. Their record falls to 4-2-0. They remain in 2nd place with 11 points. Boston raises their record to 3-5-1 and 10 points, good for 3rd place.

MagicJack now travels to Atlanta for a match next Saturday against the Beat. Boston must travel to New Jersey to face Sky Blue next Sunday.

WPS Standings:
(1) Western New York 6-0-2, 20 pts; (2) magicJack 4-2-0, 11 pts; (3) Boston 3-5-1, 10 pts; (4) Philadelphia 2-2-3, 9 pts; (5) Sky Blue FC 2-3-2, 8 pts; (6) Atlanta 1-6-2, 5 pts.

Breakers, magicJack Exchange Former UNC Stars

The Boston Breakers have traded Nikki Washington to magicJack for Meghan Klingenberg, a second round selection in the 2012 draft, and a player to be named later.

Washington was signed as a free agent by Boston during the offseason and appeared in five matches for the Breakers. She was originally a first round draft choice of the Los Angeles Sol in the 2010 draft, the fifth overall selection in that draft.

Due to an injury suffered in her senior season at the University of North Carolina, Washington did not play until late in the 2010 season for the Chicago Red Stars. She was a regular on several US Junior National Teams.

Klingenberg was the third overall selection in the 2011 draft. In spite of being a candidate for the USWNT, she had appeared in only two contests for magicJack. She scored 18 career goals while at UNC.

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.

Scurry, Freedom Add Five Players in WPS Draft

Briana Scurry got her first cap, so to speak, as a general manager at the 2011 WPS Draft. It was just two years ago that she was selected in the 5th round of the 2009 WPS Draft. Her first venture into the general manager's seat yielded several fine draft choices for the Washington Freedom.

Washington entered the draft with about enough players for a bridge game and had a lot of holes to fill. The first trade on draft day proved to be quite a shocker. Washington was able to obtain the number three overall pick and a player to be named later from Atlanta, for the Freedom's 2012 first round pick. The player to be named later is widely reported to be talented Johanna Rasmussen, although that has yet to be confirmed by either team as far as I can tell.

So now armed with two consecutive first round picks, the Freedom were able to scoop up Meghan Klingenberg and Christen Press back-to-back, and presumably add Rasmussen on top of it all. Talk about a productive start to the draft!

Klingenberg, who just received her first cap for the USWNT at the Four Nations Tournament, is a highly regarded midfielder out of North Carolina. She played several positions in college, but excelled at left midfield for the Tar Heels. She had six goals and eleven assists in her senior year and earned 24 assists over her career.

In many respects, both in size and skill set, she reminds me of Tina DiMartino, although Klingenberg generally plays a wider position. She is fast, very good with the ball at her feet, and manoeuvers well in traffic. She usually gives good service from the wing and can be a real pest when defensively pressuring the opponent's back line.

With the 4th overall selection, Washington chose high scoring Christen Press out of Stanford. Press scored 71 goals at Stanford, including 26 her senior season. She was recently awarded the MAC Hermann Award as the best college player of 2010. She can also set up others, assisting on 41 goals at Stanford. Press has good speed and obvious finishing ability, but can she take it to the next level? I believe so.

At the 10th selection, they tapped into their own Washington Freedom Futures to draft midfielder Omolyn Davis out of George Mason. For the Futures, she had seven goals and three assists in 12 games last year. She hit double-digits in goals in both 2009 and 2010 with the Patriots.

Considered to be one of the most creative players in college soccer, Davis is sure to be a crowd pleaser if she put that talent to work in the pro ranks. She has also spent some time with the Jamaican National Team.

At number 17, Washington got perhaps the steal of the draft in Amanda DaCosta. Many people tabbed her as a first round selection and it was surprising that she fell all the way down to this position, but it was the Freedom's good fortune. DaCosta follows other Florida State talents like Becky Edwards, India Trotter, Mami Yamaguchi, and Sarah Wagenfuhr into the WPS. Very quick and an excellent passer, DaCosta should prove to be a welcome addition to the Freedom midfield.

With their final selection at number 22, the Freedom drafted Katie Fraine, goalkeeper out of the Florida. Fraine earned 10 shutouts in each of her final two seasons at Florida, with a goals against average of just over 0.70 each season. Like Press, Fraine played for Pali Blues of the W-League last season. At 5-10, she has good height and with Erin McLeod likely to be with her Canadian teammates at the World Cup, Fraine could see playing time fairly quickly.

All in all, the Freedom have to get very high grades in this draft.

As Expected...Morgan and Farrelly Go 1-2

The two players that most people thought would go 1st and 2nd in the 2011 WPS draft were indeed the first two players taken. Western New York selected Alex Morgan of California and the USWNT, followed by Philadelphia choosing Sinead Farrelly of Virginia.

Washington traded for Atlanta's first round selection, which changed the complexion of the draft quite a bit. They chose Meghan Klingenberg of North Carolina with the 3rd overall pick, followed by Christen Press of Stanford at 4th. The consensus had been that Atlanta would choose Press at number three before the trade was made.

It was no surprise that the Independence chose Lauren Fowlkes at number five, once she slipped past the first four picks. The Boston Breakers chose midfielder Keelin Winters at six, followed by Atlanta choosing defensive midfield specialist Kylie Wright with the 7th pick and Western New York getting Portland Pilot left back Elli Reed at number eight.

Virginia, Portland, UCLA, Oklahoma, Wake Forest, and Notre Dame each had two players selected from their programs. Surprisingly, some smaller schools were represented well, too, with players being selected from George Mason, Harvard, Niagara, James Madison, and UC-Irvine. Traditional powers North Carolina and Stanford only had one each. The Big Ten was entirely shut out of the proceedings.

Some teams went with players having local ties with at least one of their selections. Philadelphia chose local product Farrelly from Havertown and later selected James Madison midfielder Teresa Rynier from Leola, Pennsylvania. Boston selected Harvard forward Katherine Sheeleigh in the 3rd round. Western New York chose Niagara goalkeeper Ashleigh Bowers in the 4th round.

Perhaps the oddest selection, at least to me, was Philadelphia choosing Caitlin Farrell with the 11th overall pick. It was odd in that Philadelphia chose Farrell with the 58th selection in the 2010 draft. That's right, same team, same player, two different years. Not to mention, she moved up 47 spots.

One international player, Omolyn Davis, was chosen by Washington. Davis, a midfielder for George Mason, has experience with the Jamaican National Team.

Several high profile players did not enter the draft. Sophie Schmidt, who many considered to be a 1st round selection and a player from the Canadian National Team, reportedly did not enter the draft. Nor did highly regarded defender Hannah Cerrone out of Boston College. North Carolina midfielder Ali Hawkins also reportedly was not interested in playing pro soccer.

As for my mock draft....well let's just say I got the first two right and leave it at that.

Here are the players selected in the 2011 WPS Draft:

First Round
1) Western New York-Alex Morgan, F, California (Diamond Bar, California)
2) Philadelphia-Sinead Farrelly, MF, Virginia (Havertown, Pennsylvania)
3) Washington-Meghan Klingenberg, MF, North Carolina (Gibsonia, Pennsylvania)
4) Washington-Christen Press, F, Stanford (Palos Verdes Estates, California)
5) Philadelphia-Lauren Fowlkes, D, Notre Dame (Lee's Summit, Missouri)
6) Boston-Keelin Winters, MF, Portland (Englewood, Colorado)
7) Atlanta-Kylie Wright, MF, UCLA (Rancho Santa Margarita, California)
8) Western New York-Elli Reed, D, Portland (Park City, Utah)

Second Round
9) Philadelphia-Jennifer Stoltenberg, F, Oregon (Mission Viejo, California)
10) Washington-Omolyn Davis, MF, George Mason (Kingston, Jamaica)
11) Philadelphia-Caitlin Farrell, D, Wake Forest (Fort Myers, Florida)
12) Boston-Whitney Palmer, F, Oklahoma (Plano, Texas)

Third Round
13) Western New York-Rose Augustin, MF, Notre Dame (Silver Lake, Ohio)
14) Atlanta-Meghan Lenczyk, F, Virginia (McLean, Virginia)
15) Philadelphia-Lauren Barnes, D, UCLA (Upland, California)
16) Sky Blue FC-Alyssa Mautz, MF/F, Texas A&M (O'Fallon, Missouri)
17) Washington-Amanda DaCosta, MF, Florida State (Katonah, New York)
18) Philadelphia-Bianca D'Agostino, MF, Wake Forest (Longmeadow, Massachusetts)
19) Boston-Katherine Sheeleigh, F, Harvard (New Vernon, New Jersey)

Fourth Round
20) Western New York-Ashleigh Bowers, GK, Niagara (Liverpool, New York)
21) Sky Blue FC-Lauren Alkek, D, Oklahoma (Victoria, Texas)
22) Washington-Katie Fraine, GK, Florida (Titusville, Florida)
23) Philadelphia-Teresa Rynier, MF, James Madison (Leola, Pennsylvania)
24) Boston-Tanya Taylor, F, UC-Irvine (Buena Park, California)

Draft analysis coming soon...