W.P.S.L. - Women's Premier Soccer League

[redrobin]

Week 2

Friday 15th May

Eastern Division
Bay State Select 2 Maine Tide 1

Saturday 16th May

Eastern Division
New England Mutiny 4 Maine Tide 0
New York Athletic 0 Boston Aztec 4
TSC Maryland Pride 0 Atlantic City Diablos 0

Sunday 17th May

Eastern Division
Millburn Magic 5 Central Delaware SA Future 0

[Magic]

Should be a close game I think. The rest of the league opens up next week.

Saturday 9th May
Eastern Division
Bay State Select 0 New York Athletic 4
 
Not so close after all - perhaps Bay State's "year out" has set them back a bit.  New York weren't too strong an outfit last summer.

Good luck with the Magic for the season - followed your debut season a bit last year as Donnique used to play for Charlton - played a blinder at full back when we beat Everton in the English Cup Final.
 

I understand that Bay State were struggling with a lot of their players not yet back from college - NY are largely post-college, so not affected. We see then on May 27, so I'll get a better idea then. I'll be surprised if  they don't finish close together in the league.

Donn had some good games for us last year - she has lot of potential and can be physically dominant. Is she still playing? I understood she pretty much fell off the face of the earth? I understand Rachel is in Tampa this year at Hellenic of the W-League. Should be a good experience if she can deal with the heat.

Weekend predictions: Maine / Bay State score draw. Mutiny over Tide, Boston over NY, Diablos v Maryland could be interesting as there have been considerable changes at both. I'll take AC in a close game, and defer judgment on our Sunday game. Looking forward to getting it all underway.

[redrobin]

Week 3

Friday 22nd May

Eastern Division
Soccerplus Connecticut 1 New England Mutiny 0

Saturday 23rd May

Eastern Division
Bay State Select 1 Adirondack Lynx 2
Central Delaware SA Future 2 TSC Maryland Pride 3

Pacific South Division
Claremont Stars 1 PSSCV Santa Clarita 0
SD United 2 Los Angeles Rampage 1
San Diego Sealions 3 West Coast 1
So Cal Rush 1 Ajax 3

Sunshine Division
Clearwater Galactics Amazons v Palm Beach United  (postponed)

Sunday 24th May

Sunshine Division
Clearwater Galactics Amazons v Miami Kickers  (postponed)

[redrobin]

Week 4

Wednesday 27th May

Eastern Division
Millburn Magic v New York Athletic

Friday 29th May

Big Sky North Division
Boise Blitz v Salt Lake City Sparta
Denver Diamonds v Utah Starzz

Eastern Division
Adirondack Lynx v Bay State Select


 

[shlj]

SACRAMENTO, CA (07/15/09) - All the eyes of the world of the Women's Premier Soccer League (WPSL) are beginning to turn towards the 2009 Final Four, being hosted by the Long Island Fury this August 1-2 at Adelphi University's Competition Field. The regular season has concluded in the East Conference, with Long Island and the Boston Aztecs ending up at the top with identical 9-0-1 records while in the Big Sky Conference, the South & North Division races have already been decided with Dallas Premier and the 2008 National Finalist Arizona Rush taking the division titles, respectively.

With two road games to play in the Big Sky-South this weekend versus the Oklahoma and Tulsa, Dallas will use these matches against two of the division's tougher teams to prepare them for their playoff game against Arizona. The match to see who will take the Big Sky Conference spot in the Final Four will take place Tues., July 21st at 7:00 p.m. at Murphey Field in Tucson, AZ.

"[Our team faces] an almost impossible string of games in a short amount of days, but I'm going to tell you something right now, almost everyone has told us there is no way we will pull this off," said Premier G.M. Paul Marshall. "With the teams we have to play and with the schedule we have to do it in, this is no ordinary task. But no one but Coach [Joe] Soliz and I know what absolutely extraordinary ladies we have put together on this team."

On top of that, Dallas has also qualified for the USASA U-23 National Championship being held this July 24-26 at the Seminole Soccer Complex in Sanford, FL. Premier join the likes of 2008 National Champion Ajax America and former member team F.C. Indiana as WPSL teams looking to pull the domestic "double" - with the former just missing out on that feat last year while in 2005, FCI was able to accomplish that distinction after a scintillating National Final victory over Brandi Chastain and her California Storm side.

Marshall has been working furiously trying to arrange reservations and finances to make this all possible, and the team's travel budget for has been pushed to the max. For anyone interested in helping Dallas sponsor their playoff run, you can contact the team by email at dallaspsc@wpsl.info or by phone at (888) 673-7473. Yet, the organization will push through the adversity and have set their sights on the soccer summit.

"Just stop and think what these ladies are up against over the next two weeks," said Soliz. "We have to travel to Oklahoma to play two of our toughest conference rivals, then two days later we travel all the way out to Tucson to face the WPSL Championship Runner-Up's in 2008... then two days later, we travel to Florida to take on the No. 2 team in their age group in the country.

"These ladies have an opportunity to win two National Championships in less than two weeks... If they do this someone ought to make a movie out out of it. That way everyone would be able to see what true champions these ladies truly are. If one of the teams beats us, fine. For the girls sake, I just don't want to see them beat by the lack of opportunity."

While the Big Sky playoff format is straightforward, this season the East Conference has employed a weighted regular season schedule and in true NCAA Basketball Tournament-style, have re-seeded the eight teams who have qualified for post-season play: based on a variety of criteria (i.e. keeping team travel expenses down while not sacrificing quality of match-ups) but also giving credit to those teams who finished in the top four spots.

First round games will be played this Saturday and Sunday, while the highest remaining seeds will host the East Semifinals on Tues., July 21st and Final on Sat., July 25th. The first round playoff format goes as follows:

    > Sat., 7/18 @ 6:00 p.m: New England Mutiny @ Adirondack Lynx.
    > Sat., 7/18 @ 7:00 p.m: Lancaster Inferno @ Boston Aztecs.
    > Sun., 7/19 @ 5:00 p.m.: Philadelphia Liberty @ Long Island Fury.
    > Sun., 7/19 @ 7:15 p.m.: Bay State Select @ Millburn Magic.

Semifinal playoff (Tues., July 21st) scenarios:

    > If Boston wins, the Aztecs will host N.E./Adirondack winner.
    > If L.I. wins, the Fury will host B.S./Millburn winner.
    > If Lancaster & Millburn win, the Inferno will host the Magic and the Fury will host N.E./Adirondack winner.
    > If Philadelphia wins, the Liberty will play at the highest remaining seed.

About the Women's Premier Soccer League (WPSL): The WPSL is a 50-plus team national women's soccer league with five conferences and is considered one of the top amateur women's soccer leagues in the world. You can now keep up with our league on our social networking sites on Facebook (http://www.facebook.com) and LinkedIn (http://www.linkedin.com)!

The Long Island Fury have been selected to host the 2009 WPSL Final Four which will be held at Adelphi University (Garden City, NY) - alongside the Youth Premier Soccer League (YPSL) National Championship that same weekend. The tentative dates are scheduled for Saturday-Sunday, August 1-2 and check back to this website in the coming
days & weeks for further information!

http://www.wpsl.info/news/index.php?cat=1

[shlj]

WPSL East quarter-final :

Bay State Select - Millburn Magic 0-2 
Philadelphia Liberty - Long Island Fury 0-4
Lancaster Inferno - Boston Aztecs 3-1
New England Mutiny - Adirondack Lynx 4-1

WPSL East semi-final

New England Mutiny - Long Island Fury 0-2
Millburn Magic - Lancaster Inferno 2-2 (5-4 on pen) 
I am well pleased for Carly and Kelly.

WPSL Big Sky final

Dallas Premier - Arizona Rush 3-2 OT 

[shlj]

SACRAMENTO, CA (07/23/09) - The first of the four berths into the 2009 Women's Premier Soccer League (WPSL) Championship has been taken, as Dallas Premier (10-0-1) won the Big Sky Conference Final in an exciting 3-2 overtime victory over the 2008 National Finalist Arizona Rush (10-3-0) in Tucson, AZ two days ago. The "Final Four" will be held August 1-2 at Adelphi University's Competition Field in Garden City, NY - the home pitch of the Long Island Fury, who are one step away themselves in securing the second berth awarded to the WPSL East champion.

This Sat., July 25th at 6:00 p.m., Long Island will host the 7-4-1 Millburn Magic in the conference final at Adelphi University. This comes after last night's 2-0 victory for the 11-0-1 Fury over the 2008 East champion New England Mutiny (5-7-0), and the Magic's thrilling 5-4 penalty kick (2-2 regulation) win over Lancaster this past Tuesday night. Farther down the East Coast, the 2009 Sunshine Conference champion Miami Kickers F.C. (7-1-2) will host the Midwest representative Ohio Premier Women's S.C. (8-0-0) at 7:00 p.m. at the American Heritage School.

Miami won the title after a last-second goal against second place Florida last weekend in a 2-1 win on the road, and have their sights set on a trip up north to Long Island. Yet, OPWSC is an undefeated side chocked full of Midwest collegiate & post-collegiate talent - most who have played together since the youth ranks at that prestigious club.

"I am extremely proud of the efforts that every player put in the team this [past] weekend," said Kickers Head Coach Marc Miceli. "I truly believe that we deserve to win the Sunshine Conference... I have great confidence in our team and know we will go on to play in New York on August 1 & 2 for the National Championship."

In the Pacific Conference, the California Storm will host the four-team playoff this July 25-26 at Natomas High School, site of last season's Final Four. The top two sides from each division will face off for the final berth into the 2009 Final Four.

South champion & 2008 National Champion Ajax America (12-1-1) will take on the 8-2-2 San Francisco Nighthawks (making their first-ever WPSL playoff appearance after a 2nd-place finish in the North) at 6:00 p.m. on Saturday while the 10-1-1 North champion Storm will take on South 2nd-place side SD United (11-1-2) at 8:00 p.m. The winners will go up against each other on Sunday at 7:00 p.m. for the last spot in the 2009 WPSL National Championship.

http://www.wpsl.info/news/index.php?cat=1&id=816

[Sylvain]

Loads of English girls in the WPSL

Sheuneen Ta - Ajax America women
Kelly Lawrence - Boston Aztecs
Kayleigh Hines, Sahara Osborne-Rickettes and Katie Stanley - Millburn Magics

[Aphrodites Child]

Loads of English girls in the WPSL

Sheuneen Ta - Ajax America women
Kelly Lawrence - Boston Aztecs
Kayleigh Hines, Sahara Osborne-Rickettes and Katie Stanley - Millburn Magics

Sheueen - ex-Arsenal circa 1999-2001
Kelly - probably ex-Arsenal

what about the others

[Sylvain]

EAST CONFERENCE FINAL
BYFIELD, MA (07/24/10) - The Women's Premier Soccer League (WPSL) East Final was another nail-biter for the Boston Aztec Breakers Reserves, as they took on 2010 WPSL National Champion Long Island Fury at Governor's Academy for a berth in the 2010 Final Four. After defeating Aztec U-23 with a goal in the 119th minute in the East Semifinals, the Breaker Reserves scored another game-winning goal in the 119th minute from WPS Boston Breaker Chioma Igwe to defeat the Fury by a 2-1 score.

"I really cannot say enough about this teams' resolve," said Boston Head Coach Mike Kersker. "We have been pushed to new levels by what we've overcome."

In the 25th minute, the Aztecs got on the board first when Australian international Leah Blayney took a shot from 25 yards out, hitting the cross bar. The rebound caromed out to former St. Louis Athletica player Niki Cross, who settled the ball and finished past Fury goalkeeper Brittany Anghel (11 saves).

In the 70th minute, the Fury would tie the match when Charlotte Miller sent in a cross from the touch-line out that fooled Aztec keeper Rebecca Ritchie (5 saves). The ball went in just under the cross bar for the tying goal and the match would eventually go on to two 15-minute extra-time periods.

In the 119th minute, Japanese international Yuka Miyazaki served a ball from midfield towards Rebecca Mays, who headed the ball on to on-rushing Igwe. The former SoccerPlus CT star split the Fury defense and beat Anghel with a low shot inside the far post.

MIDWEST/SUNSHINE CONFERENCE PLAYOFF
GERMANTOWN, WI (07/24/10) - Midwest Champion F.C. Milwaukee earned a spot in the 2010 WPSL Final Four with a 3-1 victory over Sunshine Conference winners FSA Freedom, continuing an impressive string of nine consecutive victories for the first-year WPSL side that includes three playoff wins. In the 55th minute, reigning WPSL Co-Player Of The Week Sarah Hagen notched the game-winner from two yards out, after some nice combination play between Kate Riegle and Team captain Laurie Nosbusch.

Nosbusch had already opened the scoring for the National in the 15th minute on a perfect chip of the FSA goalkeeper, after her breakaway shot was initially saved. After the goal, FSA began to assert themselves and pulled even in the 30th minute with a great finish on a volley from the corner of the penalty box.

F.C. Milwaukee began the second half in impressive form, and Hagen would net goals in the 55th & 70th minutes, the final tally off a curling cross from Lindsey Johnson. The Nationals continued to go on the attack for the remainder of the match, but stellar FSA  goalkeeping kept the score-line unchanged at 3-1.

"Once again, it has to be said that this was a total team effort," said F.C. Milwaukee Head Coach Christian Lavers. "Several players improved their play and urgency in the second half... This team has shown great mental awareness & competitive spirit all season and tonight was another reflection of that."

PACIFIC CONFERENCE FINAL
PASADENA, CA (07/25/10) - 2008 Pacific Conference MVP Shannon Cross (goal, two assist) exhibited that form again for South Division champion Ajax America in the Pacific Final against perennial rival California at Muir High School. The former USC star had a hand in all three goals in the shutout victory over the North Division champions, giving Ajax their WPSL record-setting fifth straight Final Four appearance.

Ajax started out fast & furious, scoring in the 11th minute when Cross fired a cross to Liz Zadro for the 1-0 lead. Cross would go on to head in the second goal in the 54th minute, and in the 82nd minute, she assisted on the final goal, sending Leah Gallegos behind the Storm defense for the final goal.

On Saturday, the 2009 WPSL National Finalists beat North Bay F.C. in the Pacific Semifinal on second half goals from Carmen Bognanno and Chloe Byrne. Ajax appears to be peaking at the right time, as they out-scored their opponents by a 5-0 margin on the weekend.

These three teams now qualify for the 2010 WPSL Final Four (July 31-August 1), hosted by Dallas Premier Women's S.C. at the University of Texas-Dallas Soccer Stadium in Richardson, TX. Boston & F.C. Milwaukee will play in the first National Semifinal, while Ajax America awaits the winner of the Big Sky Conference Final between Oklahoma & Phoenix, being played this Thursday, July 27th in Edmond, OK.

All tickets for the 2010 WPSL Final Four can be purchased at the gate and pricing packages include: $10 for any single game; $15 One-Day Pass (for either the Semifinals OR National Consolation/Final); $25 Event Pass (all four games). In case of inclement weather, the alternate venue for the WPSL National Championship Tournament will be John Paul II High School. Full WPSL Playoff & Final Four information is provided below:

BIG SKY CONFERENCE FINAL
Phoenix Del Sol (5-1-2, North Champion) @ Oklahoma Alliance F.C. (7-1-0, South Champion)
Date/Time: Thursday, July 29 @ 7:00 PM (CST)
Venue: Edmond Soccer Club (Field #4)
Address: 1502 W. Danforth Road, Edmond, OK 73003

WPSL NATIONAL SEMIFINALS
Boston Aztec Breakers Reserves (10-1-1, East Champion) vs. F.C. Milwaukee Nationals (10-1-0, Midwest Champion)
Date/Time: Saturday, July 31 @ 5:00 PM (CST)
Venue: University of Texas-Dallas
Address: 800 West Campbell Road, Richardson, TX 75080

Ajax America (8-3-1, Pacific Champion) vs. Big Sky Champion
Date/Time: Saturday, July 31 @ 7:00 PM (CST)
Venue: University of Texas-Dallas

WPSL NATIONAL CONSOLATION
Date/Time: Sunday, August 1 @ 10:30 AM (CST)
Venue: University of Texas-Dallas
Address: 800 West Campbell Road, Richardson, TX 75080

WPSL NATIONAL FINAL
Semifinal #1 WINNER vs. Semifinal #2 WINNER
Date/Time: Sunday, August 1 @ 1:00 PM (CST)
Venue: University of Texas-Dallas

http://www.wpsl.info/news/index.php/?cat=1&id=1137

[Sylvain]

2 English girls nominated in the All east WPSL first team

ALL-EAST FIRST TEAM
F Leah Blayney (BOSTON AZTEC BREAKERS RESERVES)
F Erin Hench (LANCASTER INFERNO)
MF/F Teresa Rynier (LANCASTER INFERNO)
MF Jess Luscinski (AZTEC U-23)
MF Kayleigh Hines (MILLBURN MAGIC)
MF Lorraine Quinn (LONG ISLAND FURY)
D Anna Caniglia (BOSTON AZTEC BREAKERS RESERVES)
D Katherine Donnelly (AZTEC U-23)
D Alyssa Pember (LONG ISLAND FURY)
D Kelly Lawrence (BOSTON AZTEC BREAKERS RESERVES)
GK Brittany Anghel (LONG ISLAND FURY)

http://www.wpsl.info/news/indexa.php?cat=1&id=1142&year=2010

Boston Aztecs win the WPSL Championship

RICHARDSON, TX (08/01/10) - The 2010 Women's Premier Soccer League (WPSL) National Final would pit two of the more experienced sides against one another - Pacific Conference champion Ajax America (9-4-1) & East Conference champion Boston Aztec Breakers Reserves (12-1-1). Both survived scares from two young & dynamic sides in the Semifinals, and once again on this day, had to also brave the unrelenting Texas heat.

The Breakers Reserves put the heat on Ajax in the first half and the teams switched roles in the second, but in the 83rd minute, it only took one bounce of the ball to decide the 2010 WPSL National Champion. Boston's Mandi Back put a shot on goal that Ajax goalkeeper Anna Picarelli touched to the crossbar and would caroom right to Becca Mays, who cooly finished to cement the 2-1 victory for the Breakers Reserves.

For the weekend, there was a full share of dynamic soccer on display despite the sun & heat but in the end, Boston were the most consistent out of the four teams. Speaking of consistency, such was the play of 2010 East Player Of The Year Leah Blayney over the two matches and for her efforts, she was named the 2010 WPSL Final Four MVP.

But even more than the play of their star midfielder, it was a true team effort from all involved with the Aztec team as they weathered storms from their opponents, made adjustments and found a way to persevere. Head Coach Mike Kersker and his staff had done their homework on & off the field.

"I think it was good for us to see Ajax play yesterday [in their Semifinal vs. Oklahoma]," said Kersker. "It gave us an opportunity to make a couple tactical adjustments. We did that and it really made a big difference for us. Again, its the resiliency of this team. We went up early, [Ajax] came back to score in the beginning of the second half and we said to ourselves, 'we gave them a goal' and now let's get one more and that's it. Every player on the field was phenomenal."

http://www.wpsl.info/news/indexa.php?cat=1&id=1147&year=2010