Philadelphia's Rodriguez is WPS's Week 8 Player of the Week
by Women's Professional Soccer - Press Release
06/08/2010 - 10:02 a.m.
Philadelphia forward, Amy Rodriguez tries to send the ball past Sky Blue defender Daphne Koster during Philadelphia's 2-1 victory over Sky Blue FC.
U.S. women's national team forward Amy Rodriguez is Women's Professional Soccer's Player of the Week for Week 8 after leading the Philadelphia Independence to a 2-1 triumph Sunday over defending champion Sky Blue FC in the first meeting between the I-95 rivals.
The former USC All-American set up Lori Lindsey's third-minute goal and netted the 27th-minute winner for the expansion Independence, which improved to 4-2-2 and climbed into a second-place tie with Washington, two points behind first-place FC Gold Pride.
Rodriguez, the top pick in the 2009 college draft, scored just one goal last season for the Boston Breakers, but has made a big impact with Philadelphia. Her strike Sunday was her second goal of the season.
Rodriguez is the second Independence player to win WPS's weekly honor. Lindsey was selected in Week 3.
The WPS Player of the Week is selected by a panel of journalists from the North American Soccer Reporters.
Week 1: Eniola Aluko (Saint Louis Athletica)
Week 2: Abby Wambach (Washington Freedom)
Week 3: Lori Lindsey (Philadelphia Independence)
Week 4: Sonia Bompastor (Washington Freedom)
Week 5: Karen Bardsley (Sky Blue FC)
Week 6: Marta (FC Gold Pride)
Week 7: Kosovare Asllani (Chicago Red Stars)
Week 8: Amy Rodriguez (Philadelphia Independence)
About Women’s Professional Soccer (WPS)
Headquartered in San Francisco, Women’s Professional Soccer (WPS) is the world’s premier soccer league for women with eight teams across the United States featuring the best players from around the world. WPS completed its inaugural season in August 2009 as Sky Blue FC of New Jersey became the first-ever WPS Champions. In 2010, eight teams will each play 24-game schedules from April 10-September 12 including six original WPS teams – Boston Breakers, Chicago Red Stars, FC Gold Pride (Bay Area), Saint Louis Athletica, Sky Blue FC (NJ/NY) and Washington Freedom – and two expansion teams Atlanta Beat and Philadelphia Independence. The top four finishers in the regular season will qualify for the 2010 WPS Playoffs scheduled for September 19-26. For more information, visit the WPS official website at www.womensprosoccer.com or follow all the news at www.twitter.com/womensprosoccer.