Three games into their inaugural WPS season, Saint Louis Athletica, at 0-2-1 and without a goal to their credit, are at the bottom of the league standings.

“We want to come in first in the regular season and take the championship,” franchise linchpin Lori Chalupny said. “That’s definitely in our sights.”

You gonna doubt Lori Chalupny?

That’s not a smart bet these days. At age 25, the charismatic Chalupny is both an anchor at left back for the U.S. National Team and, according to Chicago Red Stars coach Emma Hayes, “probably the best American center mid in the league.” She’s the Athletica captain and the co-captain of the National Team; she’s got an Olympic gold medal and an undefeated NCAA season with the University of North Carolina under her belt. Oh, and she just happens to be earning a living as a professional athlete in her own backyard.

“It’s pretty incredible,” the St. Louis native said. “I couldn’t have dreamed it up any better.”

No, the season hasn’t started off all fanfare and fairytales for the Athletica, whose first point came in Saturday’s 0-0 draw against the undermanned Los Angeles Sol. But the defense (3 goals allowed) has been solid, and Chalupny has faith the goals will start adding up sooner than later.

“Speed and athleticism are two things we excel at, and our attacking personalities are very good even though we have yet to score a goal,” she said. “We’re looking to go forward as much as possible. It’s just been unfortunate the last couple of games.

“It’s been challenging at times, when you’re bringing together a group of players and trying to get them all on the same page in a quick span of time. You’re trying to iron out the kinks, make sure that the chemistry is good and now trying to keep everybody positive. We definitely believe in each other and have seen glimpses, so we’re trying to focus on that.”

Whether or not Saint Louis makes a bottom-to-top run over the next few months, Chalupny knows the experience of the WPS will pay dividends, both for the U.S. team and the game itself.

“Having this league and getting so much game time has already been a real positive,” she said. “The downside is that we don’t get as much time to train together, but it’s hard to replace the game time. And a lot of us are playing different roles, which will be great when we come back together. We’ll have matured in different ways.”

 “Obviously, playing midfield is quite a change for me,” she went on. “It’s much more attack-minded, and as a midfielder in general, there’s more pressure on you to score and create things offensively. But anybody at the highest level performs better when the pressure is on, so that’s always a good thing. Pressure is good.”

As for what it’s been like to be a national-team leader who has to knock heads with star teammates in different WPS uniforms, Chalupny takes it – naturally – in good-humored stride.

“It’s been fun, for sure. We really battle it out and laugh about it afterward. It’s definitely physical, and you get your lumps. But,” she said, putting a cheery captain’s wrap on the topic, “you expect everyone to play hard.”

Hillary Read is a freelance writer and can be reached at hbread@gmail.com. The views and opinions expressed in this article are those of the author's, and not necessarily those of Women’s Professional Soccer or http://www.womensprosoccer.com.