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.

Match Report-Athletica 1, Sky Blue FC 0

Change was in the air as Saint Louis Athletica downed Sky Blue FC 1-0 before over 3100 at Soccer Park in Fenton, Missouri. It was the first game at Athletica's new home and with that new home came quite a few changes in Jorge Barcellos' lineup.

Barcellos, looking to bolster his scoring punch, started Christie Welsh for Kerri Hanks up front. He also inserted Amanda Cinalli and Stephanie Logterman into the lineup. Neither had seen a minute of action before this game. Cinalli has been recovering from an injury, while Logterman was finishing up her studies at the University of Texas. For Sky Blue, Kelly Lindsey sent Karen Bardsley out to play goal for the first time in 6 matches.

Saint Louis started with Solo in goal, Logterman, McNeill, Ellertson, and Weber on defense, Woznuk, Fletcher, Cinalli, and Chalupny at midfield, and Aluko and Welsh up top. Sky Blue had Bardsley in the nets, Sitch, Rampone, Schnur, and Asante on the back line, McCallum, O'Reilly, Averbuch, and Rosana at midfield, and Kai and White at forward.

Early in the game, Athletica held the advantage. They worked their passing game well and controlled possession for a majority of the first 20 minutes. The first scoring chance came when Elise Weber's cross was headed just wide of the goal by Christie Welsh.

It didn't take long for Cinalli to make an impact. In the 15th minute, Eniola Aluko received a pass and dribbled into the box to the goal line at Bardsley's left. Aluko sent a nice ball to the middle that eluded Sky Blue defenders right to Cinalli who found herself one-on-one against Bardsley. Cinalli settled the ball and buried it into the net from about 9 yards out, giving Athletica a 1-0 lead.

After the midpoint of the 1st half, Sky Blue's play improved. A Natasha Kai shot from straight out was tipped over the bar by Hope Solo. Several other Sky Blue chances followed. Yael Averbuch sent one well over the bar, Heather O'Reilly shot one just wide and then later hit one right at Solo.

The momentum swung back to Athletica near the end of the half. Aluko attempted a bicycle kick that hit a Sky Blue defender in the face and was cleared. Later, Christie Welsh dribbled in from the right side and nearly caught Bardsley off her line, chipping a ball that just barely cleared the bar. Later, Angie Woznuk hit one over the bar as well.

The 2nd half was mostly Sky Blue. About midway through the 2nd half, Kacey White sent a serve in front of the net that O'Reilly was just able to get a piece of, but the ball popped into the air and went over the crossbar. There was about a 15 minute stretch where Sky Blue seemed to be constantly at Solo's door step.

The best chance for Sky Blue came with about 15 minutes to go. Collette McCallum got the ball about 8 yards out, directly in front of Solo and unmarked. McCallum seemed to slip the slightest bit and she mishit the shot that appeared to come off the side of her foot and rolled harmlessly away. That's one I'm sure McCallum will be replaying over and over. Although the Jersey team continued to put pressure on, that was the last good scoring opportunity they would have.

Christie Welsh had one more good chance for Saint Louis, as she received a pass on the right side and dribbled to the box where she let go of a lot hard shot that Bardsley made an outstanding save on to keep Sky Blue in the game. But SBFC was unable to put another shot on net and the game ended with Athletica on top 1-0.

The victory places Saint Louis in a 3-way tie with Boston and Gold Pride for 3rd place at 11 points. They have two games in hand to Gold Pride. Sky Blue sits at the bottom of the table in spite of recent improved play with 8 points.

Cinalli and Welsh definitely added a bit of a spark to Athletica's offense. Logterman played generally well in her first action and looked good going forward a few times. Lori Chalupny played her usual strong game, but the team didn't need to rely on her to do everything as they did early in the season. Hope Solo was very good in goal, making a couple of tough saves and gaining the shutout. Although the defense made a few mistakes and maybe were a bit lucky that Sky Blue didn't capitalize on their chances, they played pretty well as a unit.

For Sky Blue, Heather O'Reilly was simply all over the field and had a very strong game. Karen Bardsley did well in goal and really had no chance on the goal that Athletica scored. Natasha Kai was dangerous at times and forced Solo to make a couple of leaping saves. Surprisingly, Keeley Dowling did not play for Sky Blue.

Saint Louis came out of the game a little banged up. Eni Aluko apparently tweaked a hamstring and was subbed out in the 2nd half. After the game she was limping fairly substantially. Kia McNeill also came out, but that appears to be because of cramps and she should be okay for next week's game. Melissa Tancredi is still bothered by an injury she sustained three weeks ago against Gold Pride and she did not play.

Looking ahead, Athletica travels to Boston next week where they will take on the Breakers on the FSC match of the week on Sunday. Sky Blue returns home where they will host the 1st place Los Angeles Sol on Saturday evening at Yurcak Field in Piscataway.

Game Notes

Saint Louis played in special kits in honor of Susan G. Komen Breast Cancer Awareness. Athletica players wore white socks, pink shorts and white jerseys with a pink ribbon. Puma created limited edition pink soccer balls for the occasion, which were used in the match. Several of the players' jerseys were among the items in a silent auction to raise money for this worthy cause.

Angie Woznuk remains the only Saint Louis player to have played every minute of every match for the season. For Sky Blue, only Anita Asante and Meghan Schnur have played every minute.

There have been very few goals scored in Athletica's home games. They have beaten Sky Blue and Gold Pride each 1-0, tied Los Angeles 0-0, and lost to Chicago 1-0, for a total of two goals for and one against over four games.

Daniela was walking around very stiffly, but without crutches, after the game. Athletica hopes she can return to action before the end of the season.