The 2010 Women's Professional Soccer season was the second season for the WPS, the top level professional women's soccer league in the United States. Regular season champion FC Gold Pride won the WPS Championship on September 26 with a 4–0 victory over the Philadelphia Independence.
Changes from the 2009 season Two franchises, based in Philadelphia, and Atlanta, joined the league. A potential Dallas franchise is pending upon finding a site at which to play, and WPS is constantly considering other expansion possibilities as well, such as Seattle. See link in first post The Los Angeles Sol did not return, as that franchise was terminated January 28, 2010 after Anschutz Entertainment Group returned their franchise rights and a buyer was not found. The number of games in the regular season increased from 20 to 24. On May 27, financial problems caused the Saint Louis Athletica to fold. Players became free agents on June 1.
Competition format and schedule The regular season began on April 10 and ended on September 12 with a bye week on May 22 (the date the USWNT hosted Germany's WNT in a friendly); the playoffs began on September 19 and ended on September 26. Each team played a total of 24 games, evenly divided between home and away games. Under the following format, each team played three other teams four times each, two at home and two away, and the remaining four teams three times each, two at home and one away or one at home and two away. The playoff format was identical to that of the 2009 season. 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, with the winner traveling to face the second-placed regular season finisher in the Super Semifinal midweek. The Super Semifinal winner then traveled to face the first-placed regular season finisher in the WPS Championship. Games played against the Saint Louis Athletica before they folded still counted toward a team's point total.
Abbreviation and Color Key:Atlanta Beat - ATL • Boston Breakers - BOS • Chicago Red Stars - CHI • FC Gold Pride - BAYPhiladelphia Independence - PHI • Saint Louis Athletica - STL • Sky Blue FC - NJ • Washington Freedom - WSHWin Loss Tie HomeClubMatch1 2 3 4 567891011 12 13 14 15161718192021 22 23 24 Atlanta Beat PHIWSHBAYPHINJWSHCHICHIPHIBAYCHIBOSNJCHIWSHBAYBOSBOSPHIBOSBAYBOSNJWSH0-03-12-11-00-10-20-01-02-20-41-13-10-11-03-20-02-01-23-12-31-61-30-01-0Boston Breakers WSHPHISTLCHIWSHBAYNJNJBAYCHIPHIATLWSHBAYCHIWASATLPHINJATLPHIATLBAYNJ1-21-11-10-20-01-20-01-21-01-21-23-12-11-21-33-12-02-24-02-31-21-32-00-0Chicago Red Stars NJSTLNJBOSBAYPHIBAYATLWSHATLBOSWSHATLNJATLBOSPHINJBAYPHIWASBAYPHIWAS1-01-10-10-22-00-11-00-02-21-01-20-01-12-01-01-33-01-20-01-22-02-32-02-1FC Gold Pride STLNJATLNJCHIBOSCHIWSHPHIBOSNJATLWASPHIBOSWSHATLCHIWSHCHIATLNJBOSPHI2-03-12-10-12-01-21-01-11-31-00-20-43-22-01-21-40-00-00-02-31-61-12-04-1Philadelphia Independence ATLBOSWSHATLSTLCHIWSHNJBAYNJATLWSHBOSBAYNJCHIWSHBOSCHIATLNJBOSCHIBAY0-01-13-11-02-10-12-12-11-31-42-23-21-22-04-13-02-02-21-23-21-01-22-04-1Saint Louis Athletica BAYCHIBOSWSHPHINJ2-01-11-13-12-12-2CancelledSky Blue FC CHIBAYCHIBAYATLSTLBOSPHIBOSPHIBAYWSHCHIATLPHICHIATLWASBOSPHIWSHBAYATLBOS1-03-10-10-10-12-20-02-11-21-40-20-02-00-14-11-21-21-14-01-02-11-10-00-0Washington Freedom BOSATLPHISTLBOSATLPHIBAYCHIPHICHINJBAYBOSBAYATLBOSPHINJBAYCHINJCHIATL1-23-13-13-10-00-22-11-12-23-20-00-03-22-11-43-23-12-01-10-02-02-12-11-0
2010 schedule
Standings
Attendance Average home attendances Ranked from highest to lowest average attendance.
Team Boston Breakers 12 53,878 4,490 Chicago Red Stars 12 48,296 4,025 Washington Freedom 12 45,904 3,825 Atlanta Beat 12 44,284 3,690 Sky Blue FC 11 36,521 3,320 FC Gold Pride 12 36,675 3,056 Saint Louis Athletica 4 12,109 3,027 Philadelphia Independence 12 35,605 2,967 Total 87 313,272 3,601
Playoffs
WPS Championship
FC Gold Pride: GK 1 Nicole BarnhartFW 9 Kandace WilsonDF 5 Candace Chapman DF 4 Rachel Buehler (c)DF 3 Ali RileyMF 77 Shannon Boxx MF 20 Camille Abily DF 14 Becky EdwardsFW 15 Tiffeny MilbrettFW 12 Christine SinclairFW 10 Marta (MVP)Substitutions:MF 13 Kristen Graczyk FW 7 Kelley O'Hara FW 11 Kiki Bosio Manager: Albertin MontoyaPhiladelphia Independence: GK 1 Val HendersonDF 15 Nikki KrzysikDF 3 Allison Falk DF 24 Estelle Johnson MF 26 Holmfridur MagnusdottirMF 6 Lori Lindsey (c) MF 4 Jen Buczkowski MF 9 Caroline Seger MF 25 Tina DiMartinoFW 8 Amy RodriguezFW 10 Lianne Sanderson Substitutes:FW 19 Danesha Adams DF 2 Heather Mitts MF 16 Lyndsey Patterson Manager: Paul Riley Match officials Assistant referees: Marlene Duffy Veronica Perez Fourth official: Kari SeitzMatch rules 90 minutes. 30 minutes of extra-time if necessary. Penalty shoot-out if scores still level. Seven named substitutes. Maximum of three substitutions.
Leaders Scoring
+ Leading GoalscorersRankPlayerClubGMin1 MartaFC Gold Pride1921602 Abby WambachWashington Freedom1319793 Amy RodriguezPhiladelphia Independence1220014 Kelly SmithBoston Breakers1117115 Christine SinclairFC Gold Pride1020546 Eniola AlukoSaint Louis Athletica/Atlanta Beat916087 Ella MasarChicago Red Stars81146 8 Jordan AngeliBoston Breakers714579 Tiffeny MilbrettFC Gold Pride61237 Kelley O'HaraFC Gold Pride61445
+ Assist LeadersRankPlayerClubAMin1 Christine SinclairFC Gold Pride920542 Lori LindseyPhiladelphia Independence81948 Abby WambachWashington Freedom819794 Camille AbilyFC Gold Pride61103 Amy RodriguezPhiladelphia Independence620016 Caroline SegerPhiladelphia Independence51515 Shannon BoxxSaint Louis Athletica/FC Gold Pride51705 Kelly SmithBoston Breakers51711 Sonia BompastorWashington Freedom51877 Heather O'ReillySky Blue FC51980 MartaFC Gold Pride52160
Fouls
+ Fouls CommittedRankPlayerClubFCMin1 FormigaChicago Red Stars4218872 Jen BuczkowskiPhiladelphia Independence3518083 Megan RapinoeChicago Red Stars3414774 Hólmfríður MagnúsdóttirPhiladelphia Independence3115935 Caroline SegerPhiladelphia Independence3015156 Katie ChapmanChicago Red Stars2918747 Abby WambachWashington Freedom2719798 Shannon BoxxSaint Louis Athletica/FC Gold Pride251705 Sonia BompastorWashington Freedom25187710 Kelly SmithBoston Breakers241711
+ Fouls SufferedRankPlayerClubFSMin1 Sonia BompastorWashington Freedom4418772 Kelly SmithBoston Breakers4317113 Lori ChalupnySaint Louis Athletica/Atlanta Beat3817374 Abby WambachWashington Freedom3719795 FormigaChicago Red Stars3118876 Aya MiyamaSaint Louis Athletica/Atlanta Beat2319527 Leslie OsborneBoston Breakers221440 Karen CarneyChicago Red Stars2214499 Allie LongWashington Freedom211847 CristianeChicago Red Stars211886
Goalkeeping
Minimum 60 minutes played per game average RankGoalkeeperClubGPMINSSOGSVSGAGAAW-L-TSHO1 Nicole BarnhartFC Gold Pride1818809273160.7713-3-582 Jillian LoydenChicago Red Stars2320709972271.176-11-663 Hope SoloSaint Louis Athletica/Atlanta Beat221980139104361.646-8-86
Awards Player of the Week Week Player of the Week Club Week's Statline 1 Eniola Aluko Saint Louis Athletica 2 G (40', 62') GWG 2 Abby Wambach Washington Freedom 1 G (44'), 2 A (51', 90') GWA 3 Lori Lindsey Philadelphia Independence 3 A (55', 58', 68') GWA 4 Sonia Bompastor Washington Freedom 1 G (20'), 1 A (47') 5 Karen Bardsley Sky Blue FC 13 SVS, SHO 6 Marta FC Gold Pride 2 G (16', 38'), GWG 7 Kosovare Asllani Chicago Red Stars 1 G (56'), GWG 8 Amy Rodriguez Philadelphia Independence 1 A (3') 1 G (29'), GWG 9 Marta FC Gold Pride 1 A (42') 2 G (55', 90'), GWG 10 Danesha Adams Philadelphia Independence 1 G (5') 1 A (18'), GWA 11 Amy Rodriguez Philadelphia Independence 2 G (62', 72') 12 Marta FC Gold Pride 1 A (1') 2 G (30', 86'), GWA 13 Ella Masar Chicago Red Stars 1 G (42'); 3rd in 3 matches 14 Christine Sinclair FC Gold Pride 2 G (45', 80'), GWG 15 Caroline Seger Philadelphia Independence 3 A (7', 8', 52'), GWA 16 Hope Solo Atlanta Beat 5 SVS + 6 SVS, SHO over 2 matches 17 Kelly Smith Boston Breakers 2 G (1', 62') vs. ATL, 1 G (52'), 1 A (25') vs. PHI 18 Amy Rodriguez Philadelphia Independence 1 G (53') vs. CHI, 2 A (60', 81') and GWA vs. ATL 19 Eniola Aluko Atlanta Beat 1 G (73'), GWG 20 Abby Wambach Washington Freedom 2 G (79' PK, 84'), GWG 21 Veronica Boquete Chicago Red Stars 1 G (4'), GWG vs. PHI, 2 A (50', 90+'), GWA vs. WAS 22 Kelley O'Hara FC Gold Pride 2 G (40', 50'), 1 A (41'), GWA
Player of the Month
Month Player of the Month Club Month's Statline April Lori Lindsey Philadelphia Independence 4 A in 3 games; Independence 1-0-2 in April May Karen Bardsley Sky Blue FC 31 saves and 2 SO in 4 games; Sky Blue 1-1-2 in May June Amy Rodriguez Philadelphia Independence 5 G, 2 A in 5 games; Independence 3-1-1 in June July Jordan Angeli Boston Breakers 4 G, 1 A in 6 games; Breakers 5-1-0 in July August Kelly Smith Boston Breakers 4 G, 1 A in 5 games; Breakers 3-1-1 in August
End-of-year awards WPS announced its end-of-year awards on September 16.
Award Winner Club Michelle Akers Player of the Year Marta FC Gold Pride MedImmune Defender of the Year Amy LePeilbet Boston Breakers Coast Guard Goalkeeper of the Year Nicole Barnhart FC Gold Pride Rookie of the Year Ali Riley FC Gold Pride Coach of the Year Paul Riley Philadelphia Independence Citi Sportswoman of the Year Natalie Spilger Chicago Red Stars PUMA Golden Boot Marta FC Gold Pride
Statistics Scoring First Goal of the Season: Lauren Cheney for Boston Breakers against Washington Freedom, 7th minute (April 10) Earliest Goal in a Match: 2nd minute Lori Lindsey for Philadelphia Independence against Sky Blue FC (June 6) Latest Goal in a Match: 90th minute Christie Welsh for Washington Freedom against Atlanta Beat (April 18) Widest Winning Margin: 5 Goals Atlanta Beat 1-6 FC Gold Pride (August 28) Most Goals Scored in a Match: 7 Goals Atlanta Beat 1-6 FC Gold Pride (August 28) First Hat-Trick: Fastest Hat-Trick: First Own Goal: Allison Falk of Philadelphia Independence for Saint Louis Athletica (8 May) Average Goals per Match: 2.45
Discipline First Yellow Card: Fabiana for Boston Breakers against Washington Freedom, 44th minute (April 10) First Red Card: Jen Buczkowski for Philadelphia Independence against Boston Breakers, 86th minute (April 18) Most Yellow Cards in a Match: 3 Boston Breakers 1-1 Philadelphia Independence - 3 for Philadelphia (Caroline Seger, 2x Jen Buczkowski) (April 18) Most Red Cards in a Match:
Related competitions All-Star Game
WPS All-Star 2010 took place on June 30, a midseason date as opposed to the previous year's postseason All-Star game. It was played at the new Kennesaw State University Soccer Stadium in Kennesaw, Georgia, home to the Atlanta Beat;. The United States Coast Guard once again presented the game, which aired on Fox Soccer Channel again as well.
The all-star selection process was the same as in the previous year, although twice as many players were selected. The top US vote-getter, Abby Wambach, and the top international vote-getter, Marta, then chose between the remaining 20 voted-on players to create their teams, with the 14 at-large selections being distributed by the league. Marta's XI defeated Abby's XI 5–2.
References
External links Official Site