WPS Season Wrap Up

Well, it's been a great inaugural season. At least for us viewers and fans, it has been nice to have women's soccer back in the "big times," if you will. There has been some turbulence, ending least of all with a report that many of the clubs have lost millions of dollars, and the low attendance for the championship. Despite this, there have been many upsides. A pro league for women, featuring many national team stars of past, present and future, as well as internationals that received deserved exposure and acclaim.

The league was always great with the fans, especially the Freedom. They went after grass roots, suburban soccer and I would say they were a success. The average attendance was between 4,000 and 5,000, but I know that every single person at the Plex had a great time every time. So let's start by recapping.

The Freedom started off rocky and lost the first ever game in LA. A turning point was the thrilling win at FC Gold Pride. Sonia Bompastor proved herself to be one of the world's best players, and as Abby Wambach struggled on her return from injury, the Freedom began pulling results together and reached second in the league, behind the rampant LA Sol and Marta. The St. Louis Athletica started slow but charged up the table, while the opposite happened for Boston and Chicago. The Freedom started to falter, but Abby Wambach regained her form, as her and Lisa De Vanna clicked to provide lots of goals. The Freedom, with Erin McLeod in goal, improved their defense and ended up with the third seed, before losing at home to eventual champions, Sky Blue. Sky Blue defeated the Freedom, Hope Solo and the Athletica, before beating the LA Sol at the Home Depot Center to claim the inaugural championship trophy under the guidance of player coach Christie Rampone and MVP Heather O'Reilly.

Speaking of MVP's, voting for the end of the season awards feature a few Freedom players. Stay tuned for the results! And speaking of Christie Rampone, the superwoman is 3 months pregnant! She will miss national camp, as will Tarpley who is out with a torn ACL.

Three Freedom players were called into camp. Wambach, Whitehill and LORI LINDSEY. I'm very happy about that. Although her form dipped towards the end, she had a great season. I would like to see Becky Sauerbrunn called up as well-I think she was great.

And checking in on Euros...England lost, but France won, Sonia converted a PK! Go Sonia! Glad she is with the Freedom!

Also, let's dissect the final. What went wrong for the Sol? What is YOUR opinion on Allison Falk's red card early in the match? A game chaning decision, for sure. I think it was incorrect. I think Kai goes to ground quite easily. I don't think Falk was the final defender and I think the contact was minimal and incedental.

More end of season questions for you all...

-What is your favorite Freedom moment/memory?

-Who is the Freedom MVP?

-Your favorite goal?

-How can the Freedom improve next year?

-How can the league improve next year?

-Who would you like to see join the Freedom? College players, internationals and trade ideas all welcome.

-For myself, what can I do to make these updates and recaps better?

Finally, there will be draft news coming up sometime soon, so stay tuned. I hope you guys enjoyed the season as much as I did! I am very excited to see what next season has in store. If you would like to keep in touch, please Tweet or Facebook me, or message me here.

Thanks again, Gil and Alondra for the opportunity! I have had so much fun!

-Robyn

PS-Next year, we will be on PrettyTough.com!

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Comment by Robyn Giggs on August 30, 2009 at 6:51pm: i know i said no more updates haha, but i am planning to do an all star game recap as well as potential post season interviews with a few players. im not telling who though-its a surprise!

Comment by Supermokh on August 28, 2009 at 4:49am: Why I prefer Louisa Necib, is because, she's an attacking midfielder, just like Zidane.(yes she can score too)
But, it all depend on how Coach Gabarra negotiate with her club, she play for Lyons.

Comment by StarCityFan on August 27, 2009 at 6:49am: As for the red-card, first off, I'm not sure I would call it a game-changing decision since Sky Blue was already winning 11 v. 11. I go back and forth on the decision but generally support it, in part because I think it would have been one of the great goals in women's soccer history if Kai had stayed upright and scored after bringing the ball all the way down from the other side of the midfield stripe. But Falk denied her even the opportunity to take a shot. If contact with Falk was what brought Kai down (and it's hard to tell for sure from the video, but the referee had a better perspective than any of the cameras), then I think it was a good call because all the other criteria for a red card are met.

Freedom MVP - Bompastor, though Wambach came on strong toward the end.
Favorite goal - First one occurs to me is the late header that Bompastor put past Hope Solo to get us a tie very, very late in the match.
Improve Freedom - In addition to what Supermokh says, we could use some depth at forward and better flank defenders.
New players - I'd like to see Ella Masar or Tiffany Weimer rejoin the Freedom. Either would give us some of that much-needed depth at forward. Louisa Necib - whom we have the rights to - would be great as well, but she's a midfielder.

Comment by StarCityFan on August 26, 2009 at 9:40pm: I'll think about the other issues, but in addition to the referees, the other place where the league could improve is the scheduling. It was ridiculous that close-by teams like Chicago-St. Louis and Sky Blue-Freedom only played each other three times instead of four, and that the one Freedom game in Jersey - the one possibility for a road trip - was on a weeknight.

Comment by Supermokh on August 26, 2009 at 8:52pm: First of all, I like to congrat, to Lori Lindsey, for been call up for WNT training camp, hope Coach Pia, make her in the team (final cut).
-What is your favorite Freedom moment/memory? Being at Soccerplex & at RFK, and cheering my heart out, Let's Go Freedom!.
-Who is the Freedom MVP? My Washington Freedom MVP no doubt Sonia Bompastor (sonia boomyah).
-Your favorite goal? Abby wombat (wambach) header against FC gold Pride (2nd goal)
-How can the Freedom improve next year?
Stop holding ball too long at the back line, and start play attacking football. Yes they (Freedom) can improve next season, I believe with the Freedom Ladies.
-Who would you like to see join the Freedom? College players, internationals and trade ideas all welcome.
For college depend on who will Freedom trade to get Tobin Heat, Casey Nogueira or Lauren Cheney.
For international player, I really want Louisa Necib (France - Lyons) to be with Freedom, or another speedy forward or attacking midfielder.
-How can the league improve next year? - Referee & line mens/womens, Hopefully.
Thank you Ladies for great & wonderful season. Go Freedom!