The 2011 Women's Professional Soccer season is the third season for the WPS, the top level professional women's soccer league in the United States. The season started with the opening match on April 9, with the 2011 WPS Championship scheduled for the weekend of August 27–28.

Changes from the 2010 Season Defending champions FC Gold Pride will not return for the 2011 season. Also not returning for the 2011 season are Chicago Red Stars, which were given a month's deadline to find investors after the original announcement of the teams, but failed to achieve so. The Red Stars will spend 2011 regrouping in the WPSL.wpsl.info ; Red Stars are Back! Joining WPSL for 2011 New to the league are the Western New York Flash, who are playing in Rochester, New York. Due to a change in ownership, the Washington Freedom were renamed "magicJack", and also moved from the Washington area to Boca Raton in South Florida.

Competition Format/Schedule The regular season will begin on April 9 and end on August 14, with most teams playing few games during the 2011 FIFA Women's World Cup. The playoffs will be held during the last two weeks of August and end with the WPS Championship presented by Citi on either August 27 or 28. Each team will play a total of eighteen games, two at home and two away against every other team minus one home game for one opponent and one away game for a different opponent. The playoff format was identical to that of the 2010 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. Abbreviation and Color Key:Atlanta Beat – ATL • Boston Breakers – BOS • magicJack – mJPhiladelphia Independence – PHI • Sky Blue FC – NJ • Western New York Flash – WNYWin Loss Tie HomeClubMatch123456789101112131415161718Atlanta Beat BOSNJWNYWNYmJPHINJmJPHImJBOSNJBOSPHImJPHIWNYWNY1–41–02–23–02–01–23–04–00–02–30–01–02–00–10–01–00–22–0Boston Breakers ATLWNYmJNJPHIWNYPHINJmJNJATLATLWNYPHImJWNYmJNJ1–41–21–01–02–03–21–12–12–10–00–02–02–20–14–02–10–22–0magicJack BOSPHIATLWNYATLBOSATLPHIPHINJWNYATLNJBOSNJBOSWNYPHI1–02–12–03–04–02–12–36–03–12–23–10–00–24–03–20–21–22–1Philadelphia Independence NJmJBOSATLBOSWNYATLWNYmJmJNJWNYATLNJBOSATLNJmJ2–22–12–01–21–11–20–00–16–03–14–32–10–12–00–11–02–12–1Sky Blue FC PHIATLBOSWNYATLBOSWNYBOSATLPHImJWNYPHImJWNYmJPHIBOS2–21–01–03–13–02–12–20–01–04–32–20–22–00–21–43–22–12–0Western New York Flash BOSATLATLNJBOSmJPHINJPHIPHINJmJBOSNJBOSATLmJATL1–22–23–03–13–23–01–22–20–12–10–23–12–21–42–10–21–22–0

Standings

Playoffs

Awards

Player of the Week

WeekPlayer of the WeekClubWeek's StatlineWeek 1 Allie LongSky Blue FCNJ 2–2 PHIWeek 2 Allison LipsherAtlanta Beat11 SVS, SHOWeek 3 Allison LipsherAtlanta Beat10 SVSWeek 4 Christine SinclairWestern New York Flash2 G, GWGWeek 5 MartaWestern New York Flash2 A, 1 G, GWAWeek 6 McCall ZerboniWestern New York Flash1 A, 2 G, GWGWeek 7 Caroline SegerWestern New York Flash2 GWeek 8 Abby WambachmagicJack3 G, GWGWeek 9 Meghan KlingenbergBoston Breakers1 A, 1 G, GWGWeek 10 Alyssa NaeherBoston Breakers6 SVS, SHOWeek 11 Verónica BoquetePhiladelphia Independence3 A, 1 GWeek 12 Casey NogueiraSky Blue FC1 G, GWGWeek 13 Natasha KaiPhiladelphia Independence3 G1 GWeek 14 Verónica BoquetePhiladelphia Independence1 GWeek 15 Christine SinclairWestern New York Flash1 A, 2 G, GWGBOS 2–2 WNYWeek 16 Verónica BoquetePhiladelphia Independence1 G, GWG1 G, GWGWeek 17 Abby WambachmagicJack2 G2 G, GWGWeek 18 Lauren CheneyBoston Breakers2 G, GWG

Player of the Month

MonthPlayer of the MonthClubMonth's StatlineMay McCall ZerboniWestern New York Flash2 G, 2 A in 5 games; Flash 5–0 in MayJuneJuly

WPS Year End Awards

AwardPlayerClubNotesMichelle Akers Player of the Year Verónica BoquetePhiladelphia IndependenceAlso earned league’s top honor as MVPWPS Defender of the Year Whitney EngenWestern New York FlashStarted and played the full 90 in all but one gameUS Coast Guard Goalkeeper of the Year Ashlyn HarrisWestern New York FlashLed the league in regular season goals per game average (1.00)US Soccer Federation Rookie of the Year Christen PressmagicJackFirst-ever hat trick scored by a rookie on July 30, 2011WPS Coach of the Year Paul RileyPhiladelphia IndependenceLed his team to a seven-game unbeaten streak and playoff finalCiti Sportswoman of the Year Nikki KrzysikPhiladelphia IndependenceTeam captain selected by her peers for exemplary leadershipPUMA Golden Boot (Top Scorer) MartaWestern New York FlashScored ten goals, earning her third consecutive award Source: 2011 WPS Year End Awards

2011 WPS Best XI Player Position Squad Ashlyn Harris Goalkeeper Western New York Flash Whitney Engen * Defense Western New York Flash Kia McNeill Defense Philadelphia Independence Nikki Krzysik Defense Philadelphia Independence Ali Riley Defense Western New York Flash Veronica Boquete * Midfield Philadelphia Independence Caroline Seger Midfield Western New York Flash Jen Buczkowski Midfield Philadelphia Independence Christine Sinclair * Forward Western New York Flash Marta Forward Western New York Flash Abby Wambach Forward magicJack * – unanimous selection Source: WPS Announces Best XI of 2011

Statistics

Scoring First Goal of the season: Jordan Angeli for Boston Breakers against Atlanta Beat, 18th minute (April 9) Earliest Goal in a match: 14 seconds by Lauren Cheney for Boston Breakers against Sky Blue FC (August 14) Widest Winning Margin: 6 goals Philadelphia Independence 6–0 magicJack (June 18) Most Goals Scored in a Match: 7 Philadelphia Independence 4–3 Sky Blue FC (July 6) Fewest Scoreless Games: 1 – Western New York Flash Most Scoreless Games: 13 – Atlanta Beat Average Goals per Match: 2.778

Hat-tricks Player For Against Result Date Minutes magicJack Atlanta 4–0 9', 67', 89' Philadelphia Sky Blue 4–3 3', 38', 58' magicJack Boston 4–0 36', 76', 83'

4 Player scored 4 goals 5 Player scored 5 goals

Discipline First Yellow Card: Katherine Reynolds for Atlanta Beat against Boston Breakers (April 9) First Red Card: Allison Whitworth for Atlanta Beat against Boston Breakers (April 9) Most Yellow Cards: 4 Carli Lloyd (Atlanta Beat)

Streaks Longest Winning Streak: 6 games Philadelphia Independence Games 8–13 Longest Unbeaten Streak: 8 games Western New York Flash Games 1–8 Western New York Flash Games 11–18 Longest Winless Streak: 16 games Atlanta Beat Games 3–18 Longest Losing Streak: 5 games Atlanta Beat Games 4–8 Longest Shutouts: Individual: 325 minutes by Valerie Henderson for Philadelphia Independence Team:: 392 minutes for Philadelphia Independence Longest Drought: 757 minutes for Atlanta Beat

Home Team Record (Regular season only) 30 wins, 14 losses, 10 ties – 1.852 PPG 92 goals for, 58 against – +34 GD

References

External links Official Site women.soccerway.com; standings, results, fixtures, topscorers