With only one penalty kick made out of five taken this season, some might be questioning the finishing of forwards in Women’s Professional Soccer. But turn the statistic on its head and this measures up to an 80 percent success rate in PKs saved for WPS goalkeepers.  This stat transcends to the overall play of the League’s netminders.

Canadian international Karina LeBlanc and Swedish standout Caroline Jönsson have set the bar high through the early part of the WPS season, rarely permitting the ball to cross their line.
               
The Los Angeles Sol’s LeBlanc, leads the league with five shutouts in six games; she has 25 saves, and only two goals posted against her – and those two goals came from a pair of stars, the Boston Breakers’ Kelly Smith and Kristine Lilly.
               
“I wouldn’t say anything is a challenge, but I think everything is a learning experience,” said LeBlanc confidently. “There is the challenge of getting to know other players, but every day I learn more about them and how to react on the field. You are on the field with the best players in the world, so it just makes you better.”
               
LeBlanc made her Canadian National Team debut in a 1999 Women’s World Cup match against China and later earned three shutouts in four qualifiers for the 2003 Women’s World Cup. She credits playing with boys after school, her high-school soccer club and basketball with her early call-up to the national team. LeBlanc says playing basketball helped develop her short explosive movements as a goalkeeper.

Not far behind LeBlanc is the Chicago Red Star’s Jönsson notching three clean sheets in five games, 25 saves, and letting in only three goals. The Swedish international brings nearly 12 years of experience at the national team level to her WPS team. She is a three-time Olympian and has played in 13 World Cup qualifying matches.

Jönsson has proved her importance as the final member of the Red Stars backline time and again. In a 1-1 tie against Washington in early April, Jönsson fended off a barrage of Freedom shots to earn the tie as Chicago played a woman down for the last 30 minutes.

“She has had a huge presence in World Cup qualifying play, and she dominates her box,” said Chicago head coach Emma Hayes. “She has great leadership and she will help teach the younger players the intricacies of defending.”
              
Other goalkeepers around the league are making solid impressions as well early in the season, with U.S. Women’s National Team players, Hope Solo (Saint Louis Athletica) and Nicole Barnhart (FC Gold Pride), each making 23 saves to date. Solo added to the PKs saved, as she secured a tie and shut down Aly Wagner’s attempt to lift the Los Angeles Sol to victory in Week Five. Last weekend, after allowing an early goal from Lori Chalupny (Saint Louis Athletica) just moments after suffering a fractured nose, Barnhart held strong the rest of the match without letting anything roll past her line. She also made numerous saves and helped FC Gold sneak by Sky Blue FC, 1-0 in Week Six.

Boston Breakers’ keeper Kristin Luckenbill and Sky Blue FC keeper Jen Branam each have one PK save as well. Luckenbill has notched 17 saves this season, while Branam has 12 in four games played. In a 0-0 match against Chicago – like pitchers in baseball sharing a no-hitter – Sky Blue FC split time between ‘keepers. Karen Bardsley and Branam each played a half in the draw game and shared the shutout.

“We are having Karen and Jenni compete during the week and Jenni played very well on the weekend [May 3], obviously saving a penalty and keeping us in the game [against FC Gold Pride],” said Sky Blue FC head coach Ian Sawyers. “But that’s going to be every week - a continuous challenge for both of them until someone outright wins that spot.”

With deep benches of goalkeeping options, the competition to earn a starting position is steep and maintains a high quality of keeping in WPS, as evidenced by Sky Blue FC and the Washington Freedom, who have Briana Scurry, Kati Jo Spisak, and Erin McLeod to choose from.

With four of five PKs saved this season, it might just be the goalkeeping – not the shooting. After all, the three nil-nil matches this season were not lacking in shots, the goalkeepers were just too good in those games for anyone to score.