WPS Teams Pare Rosters to 24

Today was the deadline for WPS teams to trim their rosters to 24 and there were only a few surprises. Among the few veterans cut that saw substantial playing time last year were Kerri Hanks (former Athletica and Sky Blue), who was waived by Philadelphia and Sharolta Nonen (former LA Sol) who was waived by Atlanta. Chioma Igwe, who saw extensive playing time with the Chicago Red Stars in 2009, had been waived earlier. Final rosters, consisting of 18 full roster players + 4 developmental players will be announced on April 1.

Philadelphia released their 24 player roster with Hanks listed as one of the 24, but later in the day added Dani Collins back to the roster and waived Hanks, the only player so far to score a goal with 2 different WPS teams.

Atlanta's 24 player roster also does not include Christine Latham, who was waived as well. Latham had been waived by Boston, where she had spent the 2009 season. Meanwhile, Boston trimmed their roster, including two players that saw brief action with the team last year, Erika Sutton and Mary-Frances Monroe. All 7 of Chicago's college draft picks made the Red Stars' 24 player roster.

Probably the most notable player not making the final 24 for FC Gold Pride was Lindsay Massengale, who saw action in 4 games during the 2009 season. The Washington Freedom cut two of the 6 goalkeepers they had in camp, Mary Casey and Lauren Robertson, as well as 2009 developmental player Christen Karniski. Among Sky Blues' cuts was former WUSA player, Jen Grubb. And Saint Louis Athletica actually trimmed their roster down to 23 players. Among the players who made the roster is India Trotter, who had been drafted by Athletica way back in October, 2008 only to announce that she was retiring at that time.

WPS Midweek Matches & Notes-July 22nd & 23rd

Two weekday games are on the schedule in the WPS, with one having important playoff implications and the other likely to be a clinching celebration.

Sky Blue FC at Saint Louis Athletica

The hottest team in the WPS, Sky Blue, travels to Saint Louis to take on Athletica in a Wednesday evening contest. This match will likely have a major impact on the playoff race. Athletica sits in 3rd place, just a single point ahead of 4th place Sky Blue. The winner of this game will pass Boston to move into 2nd place, if only temporarily.

Sky Blue is 3-0-1 in their last four games and have risen from last place just a month ago to being in position to secure a playoff berth. The latest hero for Sky Blue was ex-Athletica striker, Kerri Hanks, who scored in the 90th minute to defeat Chicago 1-0. This will be the first time that the players involved in that trade will be facing their old teams, Francielle and Hanks for Sky Blue and Sarah Walsh for Athletica. Both Francielle and Walsh saw their first action with their new teams over the weekend.

Sky Blue will be missing a lot of key players in Christie Rampone, Anita Asante, Heather O'Reilly, and Kelly Parker. In their victory over Chicago, New Jersey started Jen Buczkowski and Katie Hooker on the back line with regulars Meghan Schnur and Keeley Dowling. Although SBFC will definitely miss O'Reilly, they still have a lot of firepower in Natasha Kai, Rosana, and Kacey White. Jen Branam will start in goal for Sky Blue.

Saint Louis will be missing goalkeeper Hope Solo and Melissa Tancredi for this game. Jillian Loyden will get the start in goal. She has played well giving up just one goal on a deflected shot. It will be interesting to see who starts on the back line for Athletica. Tina Ellertson is a given, but the other three will come from Sara Larsson, Kia McNeill, Elise Weber, and Stephanie Logterman.

It's scoring that was the problem for Saint Louis on Saturday. After a couple of chances early, Athletica's offense was non-existent in the 2nd half against the Freedom. Eniola Aluko is one of the most dangerous forwards in the league. Niki Cross was the surprise starter at the other forward position, but other options for this match include Walsh and Christie Welsh. Amanda Cinalli has been suffering from an arm injury, but she is listed as "probable" for Wednesday. Kendall Fletcher will probably get to shadow Kai for the match. The status of Lori Chalupny is not 100% certain as she has returned to Saint Louis from the USWNT because of a death in the family.

The winner of this contest will be in great shape for the playoffs. The loser will have to battle with Washington for 4th place. It's essential for Athletica to attack the center of the Sky Blue defense in the absence of Rampone and Asante. Sky Blue has a lot of speed and it will be interesting to see if Kai can find a hole in Athletica's defense. This game should have a playoff-like atmosphere to it.

Los Angeles Sol at FC Gold Pride

With Los Angeles nearly having 1st place wrapped up and Gold Pride nearly eliminated from the playoff picture, this may turn into a celebration game for the Sol. FCGP will be trying to keep their slim playoff hopes alive with a victory. They will meet on Thursday evening at Buck Shaw Stadium.

Los Angeles has had a long time to think about their last game, a 1-0 loss to Athletica. They will be looking to return to form agasint Gold Pride, a team they have dominated in three previous outings. Offense is usually not a problem for the Sol. They have the league's two top goal scorers in Marta and Camille Abily and the WPS assists leader, Aya Miyama. Han Duan and Aly Wagner add even more scoring ability to a potent LA squad.

With the USWNT in action on Wednesday, many players may be able to make it back in time for this match on Thursday, but their availability is uncertain. This would include Karina LeBlanc, Shannon Boxx, and Stephanie Cox for the Sol. But when you have a versatile player like Brittany Bock that can fill in anywhere on the field, missing players aren't as big of a problem.

FC Gold Pride are 10 points out of a playoff spot with just 5 games remaining. Even the most ardent optimist would have to admit things look bleak. They've lost all three previous meetings with the Sol by a combined score of 5-0, so it's almost essential that Christine Sinclair returns from her duties on the Canadian National Team to play in this game. Sinclair has been the only Gold Pride player to consistently provide offense. They have scored only one goal over their last four games.

If back from national team duty, Nicole Barnhart will likely start in goal, although backup Allison Whitworth has performed well in her two appearances. Rachel Buehler and Leslie Osborne will also be with the US team and are listed as "unavailable" for now.

Gold Pride would love to delay the Sol's celebration. A victory would move them in range of 6th place Chicago. A tie will clinch 1st for LA, but it could already be in the books, depending on what Saint Louis does the night before.

Midweek Notes

Boston-The Breakers added Stacy Bishop and Erika Sutton as "short term players" for last Sunday's match against Gold Pride...Boston occupies 2nd place for the moment, but will likely lose that position to either Saint Louis or Sky Blue, depending on the outcome of that game...Four of the Breakers last 5 games have been decided by a 1-0 score.

Chicago-The Red Stars have just three games remaining and probably must run the table to have a shot at the playoffs...Heather Garriock returned to action for the first time since May 23rd in Sunday's game against Sky Blue... Chicago has now been shut out a league leading 10 times.

FC Gold Pride-FCGP has not scored more than one goal in a match since April 26th when they scored three, only to lose to Washington...Tiffeny Milbrett joined Kristine Lilly as the only two American players to have converted penalty kicks in the WPS...Gold Pride has not scored any goal other than a penalty since June 17th.

Los Angeles-Neither Aya Miyama nor Stephanie Cox have missed a minute of action for the Sol this year...The Sol have been shut out 4 times this season, three of which ended in scoreless ties...The Sol lead the league in home attendance with an average of 6298.

Saint Louis-Athletica has had more 1-0 decisions than any other team with 8. They are 5-3 in those matches...Eniola Aluko leads Athletica with 4 goals and is their only player to have scored more than two...Aluko leads the team in goals, assists, shots, shots on goal, crosses, and offsides.

Sky Blue FC-Sky Blue is still unbeaten against Boston and Chicago at 6-0-1. They have one match left against the Breakers...Kerri Hanks became the first player in league history to score goals for two different teams...After having one of the weakest offenses early in the season, Sky Blue has now scored in 6 consecutive games, the longest current streak in the WPS.

Washington-Abby Wambach scored her 100th international goal against Canada on Sunday in her home town of Rochester...The Freedom have used four different keepers this year after Nicci Wright was forced into action last Saturday...The Freedom have scored 3 or more goals four times and have given up 3 or more goals 5 times.

WPS Draft Revisited-Saint Louis Athletica

For the final installment on the 2009 WPS draft, we'll examine Saint Louis Athletica.

Who They Drafted
1st round (#6)-Kerri Hanks, Notre Dame; 2nd round (#9)-Kia McNeill, Boston College; 3rd round (#20)-Stephanie Logterman, Texas; 3rd round (#21)-Elise Weber, Notre Dame; 5th round (#34)-Niki Cross, Connecticut; 6th round (#37)-Jillian Loyden, Villanova; 7th round (#48)-Lisa Stoia, West Virginia; 8th round (#51)-Megan Kerns, Florida; 9th round (#62)-Sheree Gray, Penn State; 10th round (#65)-Lydia Vandenbergh, Clemson.

Strategy
In the first round, they chose two-time MAC Hermann Award winner Kerri Hanks. In the 2nd round, they became the first team to choose a player who was not a college senior, Kia McNeill. After Hanks, they concentrated on defense with McNeill, Logterman, Weber, Cross, and Vandenbergh. They selected a backup keeper in Jillian Loyden. Most of the players were young, with 8 of the 10 being 23 years old or younger at the time of the draft. They also made a minor trade with Washington.

Trade
Saint Louis traded their 4th round pick (#23) and Joanna Lohman to Washington for the Freedom's 3rd round pick (#21). The trade ended up being Lohman and Parrissa Eyorokon for Elise Weber. Neither Lohman, who was recently waived, nor Eyorokon has seen much action. Meanwhile, Weber has 8 starts for Athletica and has scored a goal.

Current WPS Status
For Saint Louis Athletica, 7 of their 10 draft picks are still on the roster, with Hanks being recently traded and Vandenbergh making the developmental roster, but being waived later on.

Full time starters (3)-McNeill, Logterman, Weber
Part time starters & other full roster players (3)-Cross, Loyden, Stoia
Developmental (1)-Gray
Traded (1)-Hanks
Released (2)-Kerns, Vandenbergh

Note that Logterman did not join the team immediately, but is now a full time starter. Weber has started a majority of Athletica's games, but now is used primarily off the bench. Stoia started Athletica's first 6 games, but only one since. Gray was originally on the full roster, but was waived and added back as a developmental player. Hanks started a majority of the games before being traded to Sky Blue FC.

What They've Done
Hanks-10 G, 6 GS, 587 Min, 1 goal, 1 assist, 3 points, 15 shots, 6 SOG
McNeill-13 G, 12 GS, 996 Min
Logterman-7 G, 7 GS, 630 Min, 1 shot
Weber-12 G, 8 GS, 774 Min, 1 goal, 2 points, 3 shots, 1 SOG
Cross-6 G, 3 GS, 245 Min
Stoia-9 G, 7 GS, 664 Min, 3 shots, 1 SOG
Gray-4 G, 122 Min

Loyden-1 G, 1 GS, 90 Min, 6 saves, 1 shutout, 0.00 GA

Total Offensive Output-61 G, 43 GS, 4018 Min, 2 goals, 1 assist, 5 points, 22 shots, 8 SOG.
Total Goalkeeper Output-1 G, 1 GS, 90 Min, 6 saves, 1 shutout, 0.00 GA.

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

The Players

Kerri Hanks-Hanks was recently traded to Sky Blue FC. Expectations were high for Hanks, as she was a proven goal scorer at Notre Dame with over 80 goals to her credit. However, that scoring ability didn't translate easily into the pros. Early in the season, she seemed a step slow and never seemed to be in position to put one away. She isn't fast enough to get by on pure speed and not big enough to be a power forward like an Abby Wambach. However, we saw glimpses of her ability against the Freedom, when she struck a beautiful, long through ball to set up Eni Aluko for a goal. Just before being traded, she worked a nice give and go with Aluko, burying the shot for her only goal. On other occasions, she didn't take advantage of opportunities. Because she doesn't possess great speed, she will need great anticipation to succeed. She has good, if not great, ball skills. I have heard that she is very determined and tenacious, but I only started to see that toward the end of her run in Saint Louis. If she can summon those qualities, she can still be a quality player in this league and perhaps the change in scenery will do her good.

Kia McNeill-McNeill is a strong, physical defender, who has experience with the US U-23 team as well as the Swedish Damallsvenskan. She possesses good speed and can play both center or outside. She is one of the strongest players in the WPS on headers and will not back down from anyone. She pairs well with teammate Tina Ellertson, but she seems somewhat uncomfortable when Ellertson is not along side. She will make an occasional mistake, and unfortunately in her case, they have been costly. A misdirected header led to Sonia Bompastor's tying goal in the 3-3 game against the Freedom and a blocked clearing effort led to Rebecca Moros' game winner in June. Athletica does probably gamble more on defense than any other team in the league which can lead to individual defenders getting exposed. McNeill is a very good back and could be a top notch defender if she can cut down on mistakes and be more selective as to when she displays her physicality.

Stephanie Logterman-Logterman got a late start due to her decision to finish school before joining the team, but Athletica thought she was worth the wait. She has played pretty well at the outside left back position. Logterman does like to go forward a lot, although to this point, she hasn't been particularly dangerous. She shows nice anticipation in stepping in front of opposition passes. She also possesses good passing and dribbling skills. Nonetheless, she can get a bit careless at times and she can be beat on the dribble. One must remember that she is two months behind everyone else on the learning curve, because of her late start. The fact that she has started and finished every game since joining the team says a lot about how highly Jorge Barcellos thinks of her.

Elise Weber-The second of two picks out of Notre Dame, Weber has played on both sides at outside back. She is fairly poised for a young player and does well with the ball at her feet. She will get forward on overlapping runs, but probably not as much as other backs in the WPS. She did, however, score the game winning goal against Sky Blue recently. She generally makes good decisions, but occasionally, some of her passes out of the back are not accurate and possession is surrendered. To me, she also tends to choose the long pass too much from the middle third. She defends well and should improve as she gets more playing time. Overall, Weber has been a pleasant surprise and a solid pick.

Niki Cross-Cross has seen action in six games, making three starts. She has good size and decent speed for a defender. She has added depth to Athletica's defensive corps and can play both center and outside in the back.

Jillian Loyden-Loyden has played one game, stepping in for Hope Solo against Chicago. She earned the shutout and Player of the Week honors for her efforts in that game. Loyden has surprising agility for a keeper of her size. She moves well side to side and has excellent command of the penalty area. She isn't as good at distributing the ball as Solo, but then, who is? She should get a couple more starts as Solo is likely to be called up again in July. But Loyden's future as a starter in the WPS may lie with one of the expansion teams, possibly Philadelphia, where she attended college, growing up a short distance from that area.

Lisa Stoia-At age 26, Stoia was the oldest player drafted by Athletica. She started the first 6 games at holding midfielder, but later gave way to Kendall Fletcher. Stoia is an accurate passer and her play is generally steady. She can be outrun by the swiftest strikers in the league and it appeared that she was responsible for marking Bompastor on the Freedom's game tying goal early in the year. Still, 7 starts out of a 7th round pick is excellent and she held down the defensive mid position early in the year. She adds excellent depth in the midfield for Saint Louis.

Sheree Gray-Gray saw action in Athletica's first 4 games, primarily as a defender. She played well against the Sol, but had a bad outing against Boston. She has good speed, but her lack of height can be a liability on the back line. Gray was waived to make room for Fletcher and Welsh, but added back as a developmental player.

Summary
Saint Louis has gotten a lot out of their draft picks. Seven of them have started at one time or another and five have started at least 5 games. Hanks was a bit of a disappointment, but did show improvement before being traded. Ultimately, Athletica was able to get Sarah Walsh for Hanks, which could help offensively. The next three picks have all done a nice job contributing to the back line and Athletica has gotten 30 back line starts out of this group, which is pretty amazing. McNeill can ultimately be a top center back. Weber and Logterman have done well on the outside and hopefully will continue to improve. Loyden was an excellent pick to fill the role of backup keeper. Stoia has performed well, considering how low she was taken in the draft. Cross and Gray add depth to the squad.

McNeill is probably the strongest pick of the group, but several of these players have filled roles nicely throughout the season. While there are no all-stars and certainly not a lot of scoring in their draft, Saint Louis did a decent job overall and especially well on the defensive end. The Hanks situation was frustrating, but the trade was probably best for both parties. This was a solid, if not great draft.

Sky Blue and Athletica Make Major Trade

Sky Blue FC has traded Sarah Walsh, the rights to Ester, and a conditional draft pick to Saint Louis Athletica for Kerri Hanks, Francielle, and the rights to Renata Costa.

None of the players will be allowed to play this weekend as the trade happened to late to be processed by US Soccer.

Match Report-Los Angeles 2, Saint Louis 1

Saint Louis dominated play, outshot Los Angeles 25-12, outcornered them 12-2, but in the only statistic that really matters, they fell to the Sol by the score of 2-1. Second half goals by Han Duan and Marta gave LA a 2-0 lead and then they held on for dear life to gain the three points. Karina LeBlanc was the difference, making 8 saves to give the victory to the Sol. Los Angeles is now 13 points clear of 2nd place Boston, who defeated Washington 1-0 in Wednesday night's other contest. Meanwhile, Athletica is clinging to the 4th and final playoff spot with 14 points.

The first half started with the Sol getting the first real chance of the game 5 minutes in. An Aya Miyama free kick from about 25 yards out got through to Shannon Boxx in front of the goal, with Athletica apparently thinking she was offsides. However, the ball somehow got through Boxx into the waiting arms of Saint Louis keeper Hope Solo. It was one of the few chances LA would have all night.

At about the 10 minute mark, Lori Chalupny hit a shot that LeBlanc made a diving save on. Several more chances followed, with shots going either wide or handled by LeBlanc. In the 28th minute, Amanda Cinalli set up Chalupny whose header was low to the left corner, but LeBlanc again slid to her right to make the save. In the 34th minute, LeBlanc made another nice save on Eniola Aluko's shot. The first half ended scoreless.

Early in the 2nd half, LA coach Abner Rogers made what was probably the key substitution of the match, sending in Han Duan and it quickly paid dividends. Han got the ball just outside the box, flipped the ball over the Athletica defender, outraced her to the ball, and finished with a shot in the upper right hand corner of the net to give the Sol a 1-0 lead. It was a great individual effort by the Chinese striker.

If Athletica's pressure in the 1st half was intense, they turned it up a notch after that goal. The chances were coming almost every minute at one point. The best of the chances was in the 62nd minute as Angie Woznuk struck a free kick which found Chalupny who hit a hard shot that LeBlanc made a great save on. Aluko was just late to get to the rebound. This was followed over the next 5 minutes with shots from a Melissa Tancredi header (saved by LeBlanc), a hard shot from Woznuk (just wide), a Christie Welsh shot (blocked at the defense), another Tancredi shot (saved by LeBlanc), and another Welsh shot (high and wide).

But as has happened so often this year, a quick counterattack and a Marta goal got the Sol out of trouble. Marta appeared to finish with a flick from the outside of her foot past Hope Solo to put the Sol up 2-0. The goal seemed to temporarily dishearten Saint Louis and Los Angeles controlled the next five minutes.

Coach Jorge Barcellos decided he had to go all out in the offensive end, subbing in forwards Kerri Hanks and Ashlee Pistorius. The Hanks substitution paid off with a goal. In the 80th minute, Hanks received the ball just outside the box and dropped a pass to Aluko, who struck a nice through ball to Hanks. Hanks made no mistake in blasting home the shot, bringing Athletica to within one goal. It was Hanks' first goal of the season.

Saint Louis continued to put pressure on for the final 10 minutes. Pistorius manoeuvered for a shot, but struck it well wide. A long ball into the box saw Hanks go up with LeBlanc in an attempt for a header, with the ball getting through LeBlanc's hands, only for the Sol's defense to clear it away. Another shot by Athletica was briefly fumbled by the Sol's keeper, but she recovered just in time to hold on. In stoppage, a Stephanie Logterman cross into the penalty area saw an Athletica player nearly get ran over, but there was no call and the Sol once again cleared. It was the last good chance of the match.

After the game, Barcellos was quoted as saying "we missed a goal almost from inside the goal", which was an apt description of Athletica's finishing and frustration. Finishing has been a problem for Saint Louis all season and it was never more evident than in this game. Set pieces were wasted by Athletica all night, whether it was a couple of corners going behind the net or sailing long of their target.

For the Sol, LeBlanc saved the day with several great stops. Han Duan's brilliant effort gave the Sol their first goal and Marta sealed the deal with the Sol's second goal. Allison Falk headed quite a few of Athletica's many corner kicks clear. Give coach Abner Rogers a big thumbs up for making a key substitution with Han at a pivitol point in the game.

For Athletica, several players played well in spite of the disappointing result. Woznuk easily had her best game of the year. Hanks finally got her first goal, lifting the weight of the world off of her shoulders. Christie Welsh was dangerous, getting off seven shots for the match and constantly putting pressure on LeBlanc. Kendall Fletcher and Kia McNeill did a great job of shutting down Marta and company in the 1st half. But as has been the case too often this year, just one or two mistakes by the defense cost them dearly.

Both teams return to action this weekend. Los Angeles doesn't have much time to recover from the heat and exhaustion in Saint Louis as they return home to face Chicago in a Saturday afternoon match. Athletica travels to New Jersey to face Sky Blue FC in the FSC game of the week on Sunday evening.