2009 Women's Professional Soccer season

The 2009 Women's Professional Soccer season served as the inaugural season for WPS, the top level professional women's soccer league in the United States. The regular season began on March 29 and ended on August 9, with the postseason being held between August 15 and 21.

Competition format

The season began on March 29 and ended on August 9. Each team played a total of 20 games evenly divided between home and away games. Each team played every other team three times, either twice at home and once away or once at home and twice away, for a total of 18 games. The remaining two games were played against two other teams, one at home and one away. The four teams with the most points from the regular season qualified for the playoffs. The third- and fourth-placed regular season finishers played each other in the single-match First Round. The winner of the First Round then faced the second-placed regular season finisher in the Super Semifinal, and the winner faced the first-placed regular season finisher in the WPS Final.

Results table

Abbreviation and Color Key:Boston Breakers – BOS • Chicago Red Stars – CHI • FC Gold Pride – BAY • Los Angeles Sol – LASaint Louis Athletica – STL • Sky Blue FC – NJ • Washington Freedom – WSHWin Loss Tie HomeClubMatch1234567891011121314151617181920Boston Breakers BAYSTLWSHCHILALAWSHNJSTLBAYCHIWSHNJNJCHIBAYNJWSHSTLLA2–12–01–34–02–10–01–12–10–11–10–21–01–01–21–00–10–00–10–12–1Chicago Red Stars STLWSHNJBOSNJBAYSTLLABAYWSHNJBOSLAWSHBAYBOSNJWSHLASTL0–11–10–04–00–20–10–21–11–10–01–00–24–02–13–11–01–02–33–12–0FC Gold Pride BOSNJLAWSHNJSTLCHILAWSHCHIBOSLASTLCHIBOSLASTLWSHNJSTL2–11–11–03–41–01–00–10–23–11–11–12–00–13–10–10–01–12–32–01–1Los Angeles Sol WSHNJBAYSTLBOSBOSNJBAYSTLCHIWSHNJBAYSTLCHIWSHSTLBAYCHIBOS2–00–21–00–02–10–01–00–22–01–13–10–02–01–24–00–10–10–03–12–1Saint Louis Athletica CHIBOSLAWSHBAYCHILANJBOSWSHLANJBAYLAWSHNJBAYBOSCHIBAY0–12–00–03–31–00–22–01–00–10–11–21–20–10–11–01–01–11–02–01–1Sky Blue FC LABAYCHIBAYCHILAWSHBOSSTLLACHISTLBOSBOSWSHCHISTLBOSBAYWSH0–21–10–01–00–21–02–12–11–00–01–01–21–01–24–41–01–00–02–03–1Washington Freedom LACHIBOSBAYSTLBOSNJBAYLACHISTLBOSCHILANJSTLCHIBOSBAYNJ2–01–11–33–43–31–12–13–13–10–00–11–02–10–14–41–02–31–03–23–1

Standings

Attendance Average home attendances Ranked from highest to lowest average attendance.

Team Los Angeles Sol 10 62,980 6,298 Washington Freedom 10 57,466 5,747 Chicago Red Stars 10 49,276 4,928 Boston Breakers 10 46,651 4,665 Saint Louis Athletica 10 38,326 3,833 FC Gold Pride 10 36,666 3,667 Sky Blue FC 10 36,513 3,651 Total 70 327,878 4,684

Playoffs

Leaders

Last updated: August 4, 2009

Offense

+ Leading GoalscorersRankPlayerClubGMin1 MartaLos Angeles Sol914402 Camille AbilyLos Angeles Sol813143 CristianeChicago Red Stars69204 Abby WambachWashington Freedom6977 Christine SinclairFC Gold Pride61052 Eniola AlukoSaint Louis Athletica611237 Lisa De VannaWashington Freedom5629 Natasha KaiSky Blue FC5954 Kelly SmithBoston Breakers597410 Sonia BompastorWashington Freedom4793 Tiffany MilbrettFC Gold Pride4 Lindsay TarpleyChicago Red Stars4

+ Assist LeadersRankPlayerClubAMin1 Sonia BompastorWashington Freedom61170 Aya MiyamaLos Angeles Sol616203 Eniola AlukoSaint Louis Athletica41123 Lisa De VannaWashington Freedom47675 Keeley DowlingSky Blue FC3529 Kendall FletcherSaint Louis Athletica3695 MartaLos Angeles Sol31440 Megan RapinoeChicago Red Stars31096 Lindsay TarpleyChicago Red Stars31117 Aly WagnerLos Angeles Sol3695 Abby WambachWashington Freedom3977 Tiffany WeimerFC Gold Pride3644

+ Most ShotsRankPlayerClubShtsMin1 Abby WambachWashington Freedom649772 Christine SinclairFC Gold Pride5210523 MartaLos Angeles Sol5114404 Eniola AlukoSaint Louis Athletica4911235 Megan RapinoeChicago Red Stars451096 Kristine LillyBoston Breakers4512607 Natasha KaiSky Blue FC42974 Aya MiyamaLos Angeles Sol4216209 CristianeChicago Red Stars41920 Lisa De VannaWashington Freedom41920 Kelly SmithBoston Breakers41974 Lindsay TarpleyChicago Red Stars41

+ Most CrossesRankPlayerClubCrsMin1 Karen CarneyChicago Red Stars5112012 MartaLos Angeles Sol3614403 Megan RapinoeChicago Red Stars3410964 Aya MiyamaLos Angeles Sol3315305 Sonia BompastorWashington Freedom3011706 Kristine LillyBoston Breakers2512607 Eniola AlukoSaint Louis Athletica2411238 Amy RodriguezBoston Breakers21920 Heather O'ReillySky Blue FC211170 Heather MittsBoston Breakers211203

Fouls

+ Fouls CommittedRankPlayerClubFCMin1 Megan RapinoeChicago Red Stars3510962 Carli LloydChicago Red Stars339533 Kelly SmithBoston Breakers30974 Abby WambachWashington Freedom30977 Shannon BoxxLos Angeles Sol3014406 FormigaFC Gold Pride271093 Sonia BompastorWashington Freedom2711708 RosanaSky Blue FC239 Brittany KleinChicago Red Stars221228 MartaLos Angeles Sol221440

+ Fouls SufferedRankPlayerClubFSMin1 Lori ChalupnySaint Louis Athletica4411702 Kelly SmithBoston Breakers439743 Abby WambachWashington Freedom38977 Sonia BompastorWashington Freedom3811705 Kristine LillyBoston Breakers3212606 Brittany KleinChicago Red Stars261228 MartaLos Angeles Sol261440 Aya MiyamaLos Angeles Sol2615309 FormigaFC Gold Pride25109310 Tina DiMartinoFC Gold Pride20 Leslie OsborneFC Gold Pride201217

Goalkeeping

270+ MINS only RankGoalkeeperClubGPMINSSOGSVSGAGAAW-L-TSHO1 Jillian LoydenSaint Louis Athletica3270181610.332–1–022 Karina LeBlancLos Angeles Sol181620877390.5010–3–5123 Ali LipsherBoston Breakers11928463760.584–4–254 Hope SoloSaint Louis Athletica1513508671130.877–5–375 Jenni BranamSky Blue FC1613958262150.976–6–366 Caroline JönssonChicago Red Stars19171010987231.215–9–547 Alison WhitworthFC Gold Pride4360221751.251–2–118 Kristin LuckenbillBoston Breakers97824124121.383–4–229 Nicole BarnhartFC Gold Pride1212608361201.433–7–4210 Erin McLeodWashington Freedom1311706946191.465–5–3311 Briana ScurryWashington Freedom3270171162.000–2–10

Awards Player of the Week

WeekPlayer of the WeekClubWeek's StatlineWeek 1 Aya MiyamaLos Angeles Sol1 A (6') GWAWeek 2 MartaLos Angeles Sol2 G (42', 45') GWGWeek 3 Kelly SmithBoston Breakers1 G (53') GWG, 1 A (87')Week 4 Aly WagnerLos Angeles Sol1 A (47') GWAWeek 5 Abby WambachWashington Freedom2 G (18', 90') GWG, 1 A (51')Week 6 Sonia BompastorWashington Freedom2 G (29', 90')Week 7 Lori ChalupnySaint Louis Athletica1 G (16') GWGWeek 8 Christine SinclairFC Gold Pride1 G (30') GWGWeek 9 Jillian LoydenSaint Louis Athletica6 SVS, SHOWeek 10 Shannon BoxxLos Angeles Sol1 G (50')Week 11 Camille AbilyLos Angeles Sol1 G (90'), 2 G (14', 60')Week 12 Eniola AlukoSaint Louis Athletica1 G (43') GWGWeek 13 Erin McLeodWashington Freedom7 SVS, SHOWeek 14 MartaLos Angeles Sol1 G (73') GWG, 2 G (62', 92')Week 15 Lindsay TarpleyChicago Red Stars1 A (48'), 1 G (61') GWGWeek 16 CristianeChicago Red Stars3 G (31', 46+', 65') GWGWeek 17 Natasha KaiSky Blue FC2 G (5', 86'); 6 shotsWeek 18 Abby WambachWashington Freedom2 G (35', 56')Week 19 Lindsay TarpleyChicago Red Stars1 A (24'), 1 G (47') GWGWeek 20 Abby WambachWashington Freedom1 A (58'), 2 G (20', 49')

Player of the Month

MonthPlayer of the MonthClubMonth's StatlineApril Kelly SmithBoston Breakers3 G, 1 A in 3 games; Breakers 2–2–0 in AprilMay Sonia BompastorWashington Freedom2 G, 3 A in 4 games; Freedom 2–0–2 in MayJune Camille AbilyLos Angeles Sol5 G in 6 games; Sol 4–0–2 in JuneJuly Abby WambachWashington Freedom4 G, 1 A in 5 games; Freedom 3–2–1 in July

Statistics Scoring First Goal of the Season: Allison Falk for Los Angeles Sol against Washington Freedom, 6th minute (March 29) Earliest Goal in a Match: 2 minutes Kelly Smith for Boston Breakers against Los Angeles Sol (2 May) Eniola Aluko for Saint Louis Athletica against Sky Blue FC (June 28) Latest Goal in a Match: 93+ minutes Jennifer Nobis for Boston Breakers against Sky Blue FC (July 12) Widest Winning Margin: 4 goals Chicago Red Stars 4–0 Boston Breakers (April 25) Los Angeles Sol 4–0 Chicago Red Stars (June 27) Most Goals Scored in a Match: 8 Sky Blue FC 4–4 Washington Freedom (April 26) First Hat-Trick: Cristiane for Chicago Red Stars against FC Gold Pride (July 12)) Fastest Hat-Trick: 35 minutes Cristiane for Chicago Red Stars against FC Gold Pride: 31' 46+' 65' (July 12) First Own Goal: Ifeoma Dieke of Chicago Red Stars for Saint Louis Athletica (23 May) Average Goals per match: 2.086

Discipline First Yellow Card: Nikki Krzysik for Chicago Red Stars against Saint Louis Athletica, 90th minute (April 4) First Red Card: Frida Östberg for Chicago Red Stars against Washington Freedom, 63rd minute (April 11) Most Yellow Cards: 4 Chioma Igwe (Chicago Red Stars) Kia McNeill (Saint Louis Athletica) Most Yellow Cards in a Match: 4 Boston Breakers 2–0 Saint Louis Athletica – 3 for Boston (Kasey Moore, Alex Scott, & Stacy Bishop) and 1 for St. Louis (Melissa Tancredi) (April 11) Saint Louis Athletica 0–0 Los Angeles Sol – 2 for St. Louis (Kia McNeill & Daniela) and 2 for Los Angeles (Aya Miyama & Shannon Boxx) (April 25) Los Angeles Sol 0–0 Boston Breakers – 2 for Los Angeles (Shannon Boxx & Camille Abily) and 2 for Boston (Angela Hucles & Nancy Augustyniak) Washington Freedom 0–0 Chicago Red Stars – 2 for Washington (Abby Wambach & Sonia Bompastor) and 2 for Chicago (Brittany Klein & Megan Rapinoe) (June 13) Chicago Red Stars 3–1 FC Gold Pride – 3 for Chicago (Lindsay Tarpley, Karen Carney, & Carli Lloyd) and 1 for Bay Area (Formiga) (July 12)

Streaks Longest Winning Streak: 4 Games Los Angeles Sol Games 13–16 Longest Unbeaten Streak: 11 games Los Angeles Sol Games 6–16 Longest Winless Streak: 10 games FC Gold Pride Games 8–17 Longest Losing Streak: 4 Games FC Gold Pride Games 12–15 Longest Shutout: 361 minutes by Karina LeBlanc for Los Angeles Sol Longest Drought: 451 minutes for Chicago Red Stars

Other Firsts First player to score twice in a match: Marta for Los Angeles Sol against Sky Blue FC (April 5) First come-from-behind victory: Chicago Red Stars 2–1 Washington Freedom (July 1) First team to lose to all opponents: Chicago Red Stars with loss to Washington Freedom on July 26 The only other team to accomplish this was FC Gold Pride with loss to Sky Blue FC on August 5 First team to beat all opponents: Los Angeles Sol with win against Boston Breakers on August 9 The only other team to accomplish this was Sky Blue FC with win against Los Angeles Sol on August 22 First goalkeeper assist: Hope Solo (to Christie Welsh) for Saint Louis Athletica against FC Gold Pride on August 9

Home Team Record (Regular season only) 33 wins, 20 losses, 17 ties – 1.657 PPG 87 goals for, 59 goals against – +28 GD

Related Competitions All-Star Game

WPS All-Star 2009 was played on August 30 at Soccer Park in the St. Louis suburb of Fenton, Missouri, with the WPS All-Stars defeating Swedish powerhouse Umeå IK of Damallsvenskan 4–2. The match was televised in the US on Fox Soccer Channel.

See also

List of Women's Professional Soccer stadiums

References

External links Official Site