Captain Marta Scores Twice and Wins All-Star Game MVP

Marta scored two early goals to lead the Marta XI to a 5-2 All-Star Game victory over the Abby XI. The game was played at KSU Stadium, home of the Atlanta Beat before 4610 fans.

Marta got her team on the board just 7 minutes in with what amounted to be a breakaway, hitting it lower left to beat goalkeeper Hope Solo. Just a minute later, she went one-on-one against Amy LePeilbet on the left side the box, getting free for a left footed shot that beat Solo inside the post to make the margin 2-0.

Christine Sinclair made it 3-0 on a rebound after Solo had made a diving save on Allison Falk's shot from about 10 yards out. Sinclair had scored two goals in the 2009 All-Star Game.

The Abby XI finally scored late in the 1st half, with the goal once again coming on a rebound. Abby Wambach drove a hard header that Erin McLeod was able to block, but Eniola Aluko was on the rebound and was able to slot it just inside the post to cut the lead to two goals before halftime.

The score stayed that way until the 74th minute when Aya Miyama made it 4-1 for the Marta XI. Miyama, who has not scored a regular season or playoff goal, got one in front of her home crowd in Atlanta.

On what was perhaps the prettiest goal of the night, Heather O'Reilly crossed the ball from the left flank and Lauren Cheney timed her run perfectly with a beautiful header past Nicole Barnhart to once again cut the lead to two. However, Amy Rodriguez finished the scoring just minutes later to put the Marta XI ahead 5-2.

Marta was name the MVP of the All-Star Game presented by U. S. Coast Guard Reserve.

Bardsley Out Indefinitely

Sky Blue goalkeeper Karen Bardsley was injured while training for the All-Star Game. She suffered what was described as a clavicle injury while participating in a 7-on-7 scrimmage in training on Tuesday.

Bardsley, who plays for the English National Team, had been chosen as a starter for the All-Star Game. She has already posted five shutouts this season and is the WPS leader in goals against average at 0.90 goals per game. In spite of the injury, she attended the All-Star Game with her arm in a sling, cheering for her teammates.

Bardsley will be out indefinitely which will surely deal a blow to Sky Blue's playoff hopes. The defending champions had lost last year's starter, Jen Branam, to an injury before the season started. In the only 2010 Sky Blue game not started by Bardsley, Kristin Luckenbill had surrendered four goals to Philadelphia just a couple of weeks ago.

Rodriguez Is Player of the Week

With all of the All-Star Game festivities, it was almost easy to overlook the Player of the Week award which went to Amy Rodriguez. Rodriguez scored two goals in Philadelphia's 3-2 victory over the Washington Freedom last weekend. She now has six goals for the season which is tied with Marta for the WPS lead in that category. The victory pushed the Independence to within one point of 1st place FC Gold Pride.

To celebrate the award, Rodriguez scored yet another goal in Wednesday's All-Star Game. The offseason trade with Boston that brought her to the Independence was questioned by many at the time, but she is proving the critics wrong with a spectacular season so far in 2010.

Boston Signs Dieke

The Boston Breakers have announced the signing of defender Ifeoma Dieke. Dieke is a member of the Scottish National Team and is a WPS veteran. Dieke played the entire 2009 season for the Chicago Red Stars, where she was a starter on their back line. After starting five matches in 2010, she was waived by the Red Stars. The Breakers, who appear to be shaking up their roster, signed the 29 year old defender to help shore up their defense. Dieke played her college soccer at Florida International.

WPS Midweek Notes - June 9

All-Star Team Announced

WPS has announced the first 22 players that will participate in this year's All-Star match in Atlanta. The captains of the two teams will be Abby Wambach of Washington and Marta of FC Gold Pride. The 22 players were selected in a combined vote of players, fans, media, and coaches.

The players by position:

Goalkeepers: Karen Bardsley (Sky Blue), Hope Solo (Atlanta).
Defenders: Rachel Buehler (Gold Pride), Tina Ellertson (Atlanta), Allison Falk (Philadelphia), Amy LePeilbet (Boston), Brittany Taylor (Sky Blue), Cat Whitehill (Washington).
Midfielders: Sonia Bompastor (Washington), Shannon Boxx (Gold Pride), Lori Chalupny (Atlanta), Kristine Lilly (Boston), Lori Lindsey (Philadelphia), Aya Miyama (free agent), Heather O'Reilly (Sky Blue), Kelly Smith (Boston).
Forwards: Eniola Aluko (Atlanta), Ramona Bachmann (Atlanta), Lauren Cheney (Boston), Marta (Gold Pride), Christine Sinclair (Gold Pride), Abby Wambach (Atlanta).

Rodriguez Earns Player of the Week Honors

Amy Rodriguez of the Philadelphia Independence has won WPS Player of the Week honors. Rodriguez had a goal and an assist in Philadelphia's 2-1 victory over Sky Blue FC. The win vaulted the Independence in to a tie for 2nd place in the WPS standings.

Rodriguez became the second player from Philadelphia to earn the honor. Lori Lindsey won Player of the Week back in April.

Around The League

Atlanta Beat - Hope Solo became the first goalkeeper to earn shutouts with two different teams in the same season against Chicago. She had earlier blanked FC Gold Pride in Athletica's season opener.....Leigh Ann Robinson is now the only Atlanta player to have started and finished all seven matches for the Beat.....The Beat have now been shut out for 425 consecutive minutes, just shy of the Red Stars' record of 451 minutes.

Boston Breakers - Kelly Smith continues to be the most fouled player in the league with 22 fouls suffered.....The Breakers are coming off of a bye week. Last season, in games they played after having 10 or more days off, they were 0-3.....The last three times Boston has shut out an opponent, they have also failed to score.

Chicago Red Stars - The Red Stars have only given up 4 goals in five home games.....Four Chicago Reds Stars (Marian Dalmy, Katie Chapman, Kate Markgraf, and Jill Loyden) have played every minute so far this season.....Chicago's last 1st half goal was on August 2, 2009 by Carli Lloyd.

FC Gold Pride - Marta scored her 4th goal of the season on Saturday against Washington. She is tied for the WPS lead in that category.....Four different Gold Pride players have game winning goals (Christine Sinclair, Tiffeny Milbrett, Marta, Carrie Dew).....Gold Pride extended their home unbeaten streak to seven on Saturday night.

Philadelphia Independence - The Independence have not lost at home, with a 3-0-1 record at John A. Ferrell Stadium.....Amy Rodriguez has 19 of her team's 45 shots on goal.....The second oldest member of the Independence, Sara Larsson, is the only Philly player to have played every minute for them.....Philadelphia's will play Gold Pride for the 1st time this weekend and it will be a battle for 1st place.

Sky Blue FC - Sky Blue has received only two cautions this season, tied for lowest in the league.....Laura Kalmari scored her 4th goal of the season last weekend, tying her for WPS lead.....Brittany Taylor is one of only two domestic rookies to make the starting team of the All-Star game.

Washington Freedom - The Freedom are now unbeaten in their last five matches, outscoring their opponents by an 8-3 margin over that time.....Becky Sauerbrunn continues her consecutive minutes streak, which has spanned 28 games (plus a playoff game) over two seasons.....The Freedom's last 3 goals have come in the 1st half in stark contrast to their history of being a 2nd half team.

2010 WPS All-Star Game in Atlanta to Feature Unique Format

From WPS official press release:

WPS has announced that the 2010 All-Star game will be played in Atlanta's new stadium at Kennesaw, Georgia on June 30 and not only will the stadium be new, but so will the format for this year's game.

This year will feature a "pick-em" format. 36 players will be chosen to make the make the trip to Atlanta. 22 will be chosen in much the same way as last year in a combined voting process by coaches, players, media, and fans. 14 players will be All-Star coach/Commissioner selections. The highest voted domestic and the highest voted international players will be named as captains. The two captains plus the two head coaches will then pick their teams "playground" style in alternating selections in a publically held event.

Online voting for fans will begin in May. Media and teams will vote in June. This format will surely make for some lively conversation and discussion. “Atlanta, with its wonderful new stadium built specifically for WPS, will be a fantastic venue for our second WPS All-Star Game,” said WPS Commissioner Tonya Antonucci. “We decided to try something different this year with our format and move the date to mid-season to provide some separation from our WPS Championship. It should make for an incredible mid-summer festival of the world’s best soccer league for women.”

Last year's game in St. Louis pitted the WPS All-Stars against Umeå IK of Sweden. The WPS All-Stars edged Umeå by a 4-2 margin in that match.