Part 3-Clouds on the Horizon
By late June, Los Angeles had risen to the top of the WPS. It would be only a matter of time before they clinched the regular season title and barring an upset, the WPS Championship. But by July, things weren't going perfectly anymore. The combination of injuries, a strange schedule which saw them play only sparingly over the last two months of the season, and some less than sparkling play on the field started catching up with them. And apparently off the field, the problems were far greater.
June 29, 2009-Martina Franko is listed by the Sol as having a season-ending injury.
June 30, 2009-Los Angeles trades for Christie Shaner to help fill in for Franko. Shaner plays only 52 minutes for the Sol. In her first game for Los Angeles just 5 days later, Shaner fractures her leg in a collision with the Freedom's Abby Wambach, thus ending her season.
July, 2009-Yet another Sol defender is having injury problems. Allison Falk misses all three games in July with injuries.
July 5, 2009-Marta scores the only goal of the game in stoppage to defeat Washington 1-0. Karina LeBlanc earns her 11th shutout. It is LA's 4th consecutive victory and they run their unbeaten streak to 11 games. The Sol now lead 2nd place Athletica by a whopping 17 points and will have a chance to clinch the regular season title in their next match.
July 8, 2009-With a chance to clinch first place, the Sol suffer their first and only regular season loss at home in their final regular season home game. Los Angeles falls to Saint Louis 1-0 as Amanda Cinalli scores the game winner for Athletica.
July 13, 2009-The Sol signs Sharolta Nonen to help their beleaguered defense. Nonen, like Martina Franko, is a veteran of the Canadian National Team.
July 23, 2009-After a two week layoff, Los Angeles clinches the WPS regular season title in a scoreless tie against Gold Pride. Karina LeBlanc gets her 12th and final shutout of the season. The Sol shut out Gold Pride all four times they play them.
August 2, 2009-Falk returns to the lineup, but Los Angeles' winless streak extends to 3 games with a 3-1 loss in Chicago. After falling behind 2-0, Han Duan scores a late goal to temporarily make it close, before Cristiane puts it out of reach with a goal in stoppage time. It is only the 2nd time all season that the Sol allow more than one goal in a game.
August 4, 2009-Four Sol players are named to the WPS All-Star First XI. Karina LeBlanc, Shannon Boxx, Camille Abily, and Marta grace the first WPS All-Star team. Abily would be unable to play because of her national team commitment for France. Abner Rogers is named to coach the WPS All-Star team.
August 7, 2009-Aya Miyama is added to the WPS All-Star roster as the next highest vote getter as a replacement for players not able to play in the game.
August 9, 2009-The Sol end the regular season with a come-from-behind 2-1 victory over Boston, keeping the Breakers out of the playoffs. Marta scores her league best 10th goal of the season and then forces a penalty kick late on a call strongly protested by Breakers' players. Shannon Boxx converts the penalty to give Los Angeles the win. Ironically, this result puts Sky Blue, the team that would ultimately defeat them in the title game, into the playoffs.
August 22, 2009-Los Angeles hosts the first WPS Championship Game at the Home Depot Center. Playing without their 2nd leading scorer, Camille Abily, the Sol are upset by Sky Blue by a 1-0 score. Heather O'Reilly scores in the 16th minute. Then Allison Falk receives the first and only red card in Sol history for tripping Natasha Kai from behind later in the 1st half. The final is played before 7218 fans.
August 29, 2009-At the WPS Awards Banquet, Marta is presented with the PUMA Golden Boot Award and the Michelle Akers Player of the Year Award. Abner Rogers wins the Coach of the Year Award.
August 30, 2009-The WPS All-Stars defeat Umeå IK by a 4-2 margin in St. Louis. Marta gets the game tying goal and adds two assists in the contest. Abner Rogers is the winning coach.
September 15, 2009-The Sol lose Katie Larkin and Sharolta Nonen to Atlanta in the WPS Expansion Draft.
October 7, 2009-Los Angeles sends starting center back Allison Falk and backup keeper Val Henderson to Philadelphia for the 5th and 22nd selections in the 2010 draft. The Sol would later draft Nikki Washington and Kiki Bosio with those selections.
The finish of the 2009 season was a disappointment for players and fans alike, but it was always assumed that there would be a next year. Unfortunately, behind the scenes, things were not going well. The team lost what has been variously estimated between $2 and $3 million in their first season of operation. AEG had maintained that their involvement with the team was always on a temporary basis and that involvement was coming to an end. And equally unfortunate for the Sol and their fans, this was one issue that couldn't be settled on the field.
For the final part in this series, we'll look at the final months and the legacy of the Los Angeles Sol.
(Sources for some of the information in this story came from http://www.womensprosoccer.com/ and the 2009 Los Angeles Sol Media Guide)
Showing posts with label Christie Shaner. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Christie Shaner. Show all posts
February 17, 2010
July 1, 2009
WPS Midweek Game & Notes-July 1
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Labels: 2009 WPS, Chicago Red Stars, Christie Shaner, Greer Barnes, Joanna Lohman, Stephanie Cox, Washington Freedom
Labels: 2009 WPS, Chicago Red Stars, Christie Shaner, Greer Barnes, Joanna Lohman, Stephanie Cox, Washington Freedom
This week's midweek matchup features the 4th place Washington Freedom against the basement dwelling Red Stars at Toyota Park in Chicago. Meanwhile, Los Angeles has clinched a playoff spot and other teams are making some last minute roster moves for the playoff run.
Washington Freedom at Chicago Red Stars
At this point in the season, what else can go wrong for Chicago? They haven't scored for 403 minutes, eclipsing the mark they set earlier in the season at 396 minutes. They've been shut out eight times for the year. They have only scored in one of their six home games. They've only scored twice since the month of April, not winning a match over that time period. They have had two players red carded, Frida Östberg and Karen Carney, one in each of the previous two meetings with the Freedom. Chioma Igwe will be suspended for this game because of accumulation of yellow cards, four in the last 7 games. They have had injuries to Ella Masar, Carli Lloyd, Ifeoma Dieke, and Marian Dalmy, all starters. They are coming off their worst performance of the year, a 4-0 thrashing at the hands of the Los Angeles Sol. Can it get any worse?
Chicago will go into this game without Dalmy, Igwe, and Masar. The good news is that the Red Stars are still only 5 points out of fourth place, presently occupied by the team they will face Wednesday evening, the Washington Freedom. If they could beat the Freedom, they would creep to within two points of a playoff spot, with Washington facing a weekend contest against the 1st place Sol.
With only 7 games left, the Red Stars need to go all out for the victory. They need to control the midfield and possession by using a lot of accurate, quick, one-touch passes, switching points of attack, and keeping the Freedom off balance. The talent is there between Carney, Lloyd, Brittany Klein, and Megan Rapinoe. Danesha Adams adds another aspect to their attack and Cristiane is the one Red Star who has been able to score.
After defeating Saint Louis 10 days ago, the Freedom looked poised to put their stamp on the 2nd place position. However, a loss to Boston combined with an Athletica victory has them back in 4th place. The Freedom will be missing starter Allie Long who is injured.
It will be interesting to see how Jim Gabarra uses Sonia Bompastor in this match. She has played quite a bit out of the back lately, but the Freedom's offensive production is down drastically over the last 4 games, scoring just two goals over that time. It might be better to use Ali Krieger and Alex Singer at the outside backs and move Bompastor back to midfield where she is more dangerous.
Abby Wambach has scored only two goals this season, both against Gold Pride in April. She is due. Lisa DeVanna continues to be the best scoring option up front for the Freedom. I continue to be impressed by Rebecca Moros, one of those blue collar players that just get the job done.
It will be an interesting goalkeeper matchup between Caroline Jönsson and Erin McLeod. Jönsson was the hot goalie early in the season, but I think all of the shots she has faced are finally catching up with her. McLeod has played very well since joining the Freedom. She has only given up more than a goal once and has two shutouts to her credit. This may be the last ditch effort for the Red Stars to make the playoffs, while the Freedom could give themselves a nice cushion for one of the remaining playoff spots.
Midweek Notes
Stephanie Cox of Los Angeles is one of just 11 players to have played every minute of every game for her team. Even more amazing is the fact that she has not committed any fouls in 15 games for the season. The only other player that has played every minute without committing a foul is Chicago goalkeeper Caroline Jönsson. The other 9 players to have played every minute are Amy LePeilbet, Kristine Lilly, Alex Scott (Boston Breakers), Aya Miyama (Los Angeles Sol), Angie Woznuk (Saint Louis Athletica), Becky Sauerbrunn, Homare Sawa, Cat Whitehill (Washington Freedom), and Anita Asante (Sky Blue FC). This list is likely to thin out even more with national team call ups and some upcoming tournaments in Asia and Europe.
For the time being, the Boston Breakers are in 2nd place, but the team in that position seems to change weekly. The last time the Breakers moved into 2nd place after beating the Sol back on May 2nd, they proceeded to go winless in their next five games.
FC Gold Pride has added Greer Barnes as a developmental player. Barnes, a former star for West Virginia, was recently waived by Los Angeles. Barnes was a 4th round draft pick of the Sol, but has yet to play in a WPS game.
Los Angeles acquired defender Christie Shaner from Sky Blue FC for a 3rd round draft pick. Shaner, a 4th round pick in the January draft, had seen action in only two games for New Jersey. She will replace Martina Franko, who is listed as being out for the season, apparently due to pregnancy.
Joanna Lohman was waived by the Washington Freedom. The Freedom had acquired Lohman in a trade with Saint Louis during the January draft. Athletica had originally drafted her in the general draft last October. Lohman had appeared in 3 games for the Freedom.
Washington Freedom at Chicago Red Stars
At this point in the season, what else can go wrong for Chicago? They haven't scored for 403 minutes, eclipsing the mark they set earlier in the season at 396 minutes. They've been shut out eight times for the year. They have only scored in one of their six home games. They've only scored twice since the month of April, not winning a match over that time period. They have had two players red carded, Frida Östberg and Karen Carney, one in each of the previous two meetings with the Freedom. Chioma Igwe will be suspended for this game because of accumulation of yellow cards, four in the last 7 games. They have had injuries to Ella Masar, Carli Lloyd, Ifeoma Dieke, and Marian Dalmy, all starters. They are coming off their worst performance of the year, a 4-0 thrashing at the hands of the Los Angeles Sol. Can it get any worse?
Chicago will go into this game without Dalmy, Igwe, and Masar. The good news is that the Red Stars are still only 5 points out of fourth place, presently occupied by the team they will face Wednesday evening, the Washington Freedom. If they could beat the Freedom, they would creep to within two points of a playoff spot, with Washington facing a weekend contest against the 1st place Sol.
With only 7 games left, the Red Stars need to go all out for the victory. They need to control the midfield and possession by using a lot of accurate, quick, one-touch passes, switching points of attack, and keeping the Freedom off balance. The talent is there between Carney, Lloyd, Brittany Klein, and Megan Rapinoe. Danesha Adams adds another aspect to their attack and Cristiane is the one Red Star who has been able to score.
After defeating Saint Louis 10 days ago, the Freedom looked poised to put their stamp on the 2nd place position. However, a loss to Boston combined with an Athletica victory has them back in 4th place. The Freedom will be missing starter Allie Long who is injured.
It will be interesting to see how Jim Gabarra uses Sonia Bompastor in this match. She has played quite a bit out of the back lately, but the Freedom's offensive production is down drastically over the last 4 games, scoring just two goals over that time. It might be better to use Ali Krieger and Alex Singer at the outside backs and move Bompastor back to midfield where she is more dangerous.
Abby Wambach has scored only two goals this season, both against Gold Pride in April. She is due. Lisa DeVanna continues to be the best scoring option up front for the Freedom. I continue to be impressed by Rebecca Moros, one of those blue collar players that just get the job done.
It will be an interesting goalkeeper matchup between Caroline Jönsson and Erin McLeod. Jönsson was the hot goalie early in the season, but I think all of the shots she has faced are finally catching up with her. McLeod has played very well since joining the Freedom. She has only given up more than a goal once and has two shutouts to her credit. This may be the last ditch effort for the Red Stars to make the playoffs, while the Freedom could give themselves a nice cushion for one of the remaining playoff spots.
Midweek Notes
Stephanie Cox of Los Angeles is one of just 11 players to have played every minute of every game for her team. Even more amazing is the fact that she has not committed any fouls in 15 games for the season. The only other player that has played every minute without committing a foul is Chicago goalkeeper Caroline Jönsson. The other 9 players to have played every minute are Amy LePeilbet, Kristine Lilly, Alex Scott (Boston Breakers), Aya Miyama (Los Angeles Sol), Angie Woznuk (Saint Louis Athletica), Becky Sauerbrunn, Homare Sawa, Cat Whitehill (Washington Freedom), and Anita Asante (Sky Blue FC). This list is likely to thin out even more with national team call ups and some upcoming tournaments in Asia and Europe.
For the time being, the Boston Breakers are in 2nd place, but the team in that position seems to change weekly. The last time the Breakers moved into 2nd place after beating the Sol back on May 2nd, they proceeded to go winless in their next five games.
FC Gold Pride has added Greer Barnes as a developmental player. Barnes, a former star for West Virginia, was recently waived by Los Angeles. Barnes was a 4th round draft pick of the Sol, but has yet to play in a WPS game.
Los Angeles acquired defender Christie Shaner from Sky Blue FC for a 3rd round draft pick. Shaner, a 4th round pick in the January draft, had seen action in only two games for New Jersey. She will replace Martina Franko, who is listed as being out for the season, apparently due to pregnancy.
Joanna Lohman was waived by the Washington Freedom. The Freedom had acquired Lohman in a trade with Saint Louis during the January draft. Athletica had originally drafted her in the general draft last October. Lohman had appeared in 3 games for the Freedom.
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