Los Angeles Clinches Playoff Berth

The first-place Los Angeles Sol (10-1-4, 34 points) has become the first team in Women’s Professional Soccer to clinch a playoff spot. 

The Sol’s 4-0 home victory over the Chicago Red Stars Saturday, combined with the Saint Louis Athletica’s 2-1 road defeat of Sky Blue FC (NJ/NY) on Sunday, means that the Sol has wrapped up one of the league’s four available postseason berths.

“Though we are certainly pleased to be the first team in WPS to reach the playoffs, our work here is far from done,” said Los Angeles Sol General Manager Charlie Naimo.  “From the outset, we have set the goal of bringing a championship to all the soccer fans that support us throughout the Southland.”

The top four teams in the WPS Standings at the conclusion of the WPS regular season will advance to the WPS Playoffs, which consists of a unique format that heavily rewards the team that finishes atop the 2009 WPS Regular Season table. The top team during the regular season will become WPS Regular Season Champion and earn an automatic place as host of the WPS Championship, the league’s championship game.

In the First Round of the playoffs, the No. 4 team in the regular season will face the No. 3 team at No. 3’s stadium on August 15. The second place team in the regular season will receive a bye into the Super Semifinal and host the winner of the First Round on August 18/19. The winner of the Super Semifinal will then travel to the top-seeded team for WPS Championship on August 22.

Weekend Report

WPS Week 14 ended with the Los Angeles Sol further extending their lead in the WPS Standings to 16 points, while highlighting their regular season dominance with a 4-0 romp over the Chicago Red Stars on Saturday and a narrow 2-1 victory over the surging Saint Louis Athletica in a midweek game. The Sol’s two victories this week combined with Sky Blue FC’s loss to the Athletica on Sunday, guaranteed the Los Angeles side a place in the WPS Playoffs.

The magic number for the league title for Los Angeles now sits at 9 points over the Boston Breakers, who won Wednesday against Washington, 1-0. Any combination of points earned by Los Angeles and Boston’s not collecting maximum points in a game would lower that number. A victory by Los Angeles on Sunday against Washington, combined with a loss by Boston at New Jersey would mean that the Sol could wrap up the WPS regular season crown at home on Wednesday, July 8 against Saint Louis with over a month left in the regular season.

Mathematically, Washington, Saint Louis and Boston could still individually overtake Los Angeles but to do so, Washington would have to defeat Los Angeles in Sunday’s match-up and Saint Louis would need to win at The Home Depot Center next week. Boston plays Los Angeles in the final game of the regular season.

The rest of the playoff picture and positions 2, 3 and 4 are still completely up for grabs.

Playoff-Clinching Scenarios for Week 15

Los Angeles Sol – Has clinched playoff berth. Will clinch WPS Regular Season title with a victory on Sunday vs. Washington, plus a loss by Boston on Saturday, and victory on Wednesday, July 8 vs. Saint Louis.

A victory by Los Angeles over Washington on Sunday officially knocks the Freedom out of the hunt for the WPS Regular Season title – regardless of how the Freedom do on Wednesday against Chicago – and guarantees the Sol a home playoff game. Sky Blue FC and FC Gold Pride are also officially eliminated from contention for the regular season title if Los Angeles wins, or if they fail to win their respective home games. Chicago is officially out of the race for the WPS Regular Season crown.

Line Up Notables

Chicago Red Stars: The Red Stars returned to a regular line-up after keeping Megan Rapinoe and Carli Lloyd out of the starting eleven the week before. Marian Dalmy, a key defender for the Red Stars this season, was out Saturday as she suffered an ankle injury the weekend prior.

Boston Breakers: Allison Lipsher posted her second consecutive shutout last Wednesday in her newfound role as the starting goalkeeper for the Breakers. Defender Heather Mitts tallied her first assist this season on a free kick redirected in by Christine Latham. Recently signed as developmental players for Boston, Sophia Mundy and Mary-Frances Monroe grabbed their first minutes played this season. Mundy played the full ninety, while Monroe got into the match for 18 minutes.

Los Angeles Sol: On Saturday the Sol became the second team in WPS to win a game by a four-goal margin. Camille Abily and Marta scored goals that pushed their season total to eight, a number tying the teammates for the league-high total. Allison Falk subbed out of a match for the first time with the Sol with an eye injury and Brittany Bock stepped in for her – it was the first time Bock did not start for the Sol. Manya Makoski a regular on the Sol backline played 10 minutes on Saturday.

Saint Louis Athletica: Eniola Aluko joined the ranks of her English teammate Kelly Smith by scoring a goal in the 2nd minute of play – tying Smith for the fastest goal scored thus far in WPS. Elise Weber played just 11 minutes Sunday, but was on the pitch long enough to score the game-winner against Sky Blue on a lofty cross that surprisingly fell into the far corner of the goal.

Sky Blue FC: Julianne Sitch netted her first goal this season during her 21 minutes on the pitch Sunday to give Sky Blue FC late hope for a tie or win game against the Athletica, however her goal was answered eight minutes later by a game-winner from Saint Louis. A nagging shoulder injury kept Natasha Kai’s impact to a minimum in the latter half of the game.

Washington Freedom: Sonia Bompastor played in the backline, a position head coach Jim Gabarra originally intended her to play for the Freedom, to help address the Freedom’s league-high 19 goals allowed this season. Homare Sawa moved forward to fulfill an attacking midfield position and provide the Freedom with more opportunities on goal. Abby Wambach, still recovering from a hamstring injury, subbed into the second-half of the match against Boston.

Quotables From Notables

A few words from players and coaches…

"It's very encouraging that we were able to come back as we did - I really believe in this team and I think we will still have many successes this season," said Sky Blue FC Head Coach Kelly Lindsey. "We're going to do great things this season; all we need is a little more consistency in our game to reach our goals."

“We didn’t play the best but we won the game,” said Saint Louis Forward Eniola Aluko. “We played very well against Los Angeles and lost and we played so-so here tonight, but we got the result and that is what counts. We kept going and Elise Weber stepped up.”

"It was a big challenge today as it was our third game in seven days, but I thought we played very well," said Los Angeles Sol Head Coach Abner Rogers. "Obviously, the result speaks for itself. The number of opportunities that we created was very satisfying."

“Right now Ali [Lipsher] is the starter, and Kristin [Luckenbill] understands that.,” said Boston Breakers Head Coach Tony DiCicco. “It wasn’t anything Kristin did wrong, I had to replace a few positions just to shake it up a little bit. And Ali seized the moment and has played three pretty good games. I thought her game on Sunday was fantastic.”

“We had to address our defensive structure in giving up so many goals,” said Washington Freedom Head Coach Jim Gabarra. “When we first brought Sonia here it was as a left back, and I think our wide defenders were not possessing the ball well enough for us. This allowed us to have two more experienced defenders in the flank defensive position, players who can get forward and are good on the ball.”

First Set of WPS Camps underway Next Week

WPS Camps will hold its first two camps next week in Denver, CO and Kingsport, TN from July 6-10.  Designed to introduce the country’s future superstars to the world’s premier women’s league, WPS Camps will not only create a challenging and dynamic training environment, but will also allow players to personally experience what it takes to play in the pros...from the pros! WPS player appearances will include Marian Dalmy (Chicago Red Stars) in Denver and Lindsay Tarpley (Chicago Red Stars) in Kingsport, TN.

For interview requests please contact the league office, or the team PR directors. More information available at www.WPSCamps.com.

Goals by the Numbers

Top Scorers – Los Angeles Sol’s Camille Abily (8), Los Angeles Sol’s Marta (8), Boston Breakers’ Kelly Smith (5), FC Gold Pride’s Christine Sinclair (5)

Goals by Team – Los Angeles Sol (23), Washington Freedom (17), Boston Breakers (14), FC Gold Pride (11), Saint Louis Athletica (11), Sky Blue FC (8), Chicago Red Stars (8)

Total Goals – 92 goals scored since WPS Inaugural Match on March 29, 2009 with an average of 2.09 goals per game.

Quickest Goal in League Play: 2nd minute of play, Eniola Aluko – Saint Louis Athletica vs. Sky Blue FC (6/28/09), Kelly Smith – Boston Breakers vs. Los Angeles Sol (5/2/09)

Quickest back-to-back goals by one team: 2 goals in 3 minutes – 42 minute, 45 minute – from Marta in Los Angeles Sol vs. Sky Blue FC match (4/5/09)

Most Goals in One Game by one team: 4, Los Angeles Sol 4-0 Chicago Red Stars (6/27/09), Washington Freedom 4-3 FC Gold Pride (4/26/09), and Chicago Red Stars 4-0 Boston Breakers (4/25/09)

Most Goals in One Game by both teams: 7, Washington Freedom 4-3 FC Gold Pride (4/26/09)

Most Goals in a Game by a player: 2, Marta (Los Angeles Sol – 6/27/09, 4/5/09), Abby Wambach (Washington Freedom – 4/26/09), Daniela (Saint Louis Athletica – 5/3/09), Sonia Bompastor (Washington Freedom – 5/3/09), Camille Abily (Los Angeles Sol – 6/7/09)