WPS Week 10 Breakdown

Philadelphia Independence teammates Lindsey, A-Rod, and Adams celebrate a goal in their 4-1 win against the inconsistent Sky Blue FC. With this win, the Independence take sole possession of 2nd place in the standings, 5 points behind FC Gold Pride, and 2 points ahead of the Washington Freedom, who had a bye week.



Week 10 has passed, and like always, there are some results and points to discuss regarding this past week's games

First things first, it's FC Gold Pride vs. Boston Breakers in one of the most interesting features in this past Saturday. Let's put it this way....in this game, the rich got richer, and the poor got poorer...in regards to points. FCGP increased their lead in the standings with another 3 points, as they topped a lackluster Boston side 1-0. It was business as usual, with FCGP further proving their superiority in the league, with Boston still failing to score and win...something they've had problems with for 8 straight games now. The only goal came from rookie O'Hara, who has been doing quite well overall this season.

As far as this game goes, we can see, that as is typical right now, FCGP is winning, and is keeping a steady winning pace, no matter who the opponents. FCGP is on fire right now, and its going to take a pretty big effort to beat them. As for Boston, they're a wreck. They haven't won any match for the past 8 game weeks. They looked like they would be one of the teams who might be complete this season, as the offense problem was seemingly taken care of, and they already had the sturdy defense, but Boston has definitely not lived up to expectations. One of their biggest problems is goal scoring. Kelly Smith and Cheney have suddenly been silenced, and while the defense has been doing decently, they still concede goals. But can you blame them? Its difficult for a defense to hold steady for a full 90. The offense needs to really step up and score goals. That's the key to winning. What's the use of having a good defense...if you have no lead to protect? The fixing of the goal scoring problem will be very critical for Boston, if they want to advance this season. If they want to stay at the bottom of the standings, then by all means fail to score and force your defense to hold on for possible ties. But, I doubt they want to do that, so its time for the strikers to kick it up a notch. As I have said for the past few weeks, FCGP has seemingly no weaknesses. Its going to take quite a bit to get FCGP to lose a game.





In the next fixture on this WPS filled Saturday, Atlanta actually got their first win. Nope, not even kidding! ATL notched their fist ever win, and in their home stadium, which was befitting for the occasion. Took a while, but it seems like the signing of the St. Louis stars might come in handy to turn this team around for the better. Of course, this win was at the expense of the Chicago Red Stars, who's 3 game winning streak got crushed with the loss to the Beat. The score was 1-0, with a goal from newly-signed former St.Louis defender Tina Ellertson. Her goal was scored off a cross from Mexican striker Monica Ocampo.

An important point in this game, is that ATL has shed its misfortunes in the league, and has gotten their first ever win as a WPS team. Way to go ATL...wondered when this day would come!! Now now, all kidding aside, this means a lot for the Beat. It means that chemistry between new and current players is starting to build, and it also means confidence. ATL were always the "losing team" but they've turned it around this time and broke the 8 week tradition. The new stars already seem to have an impact on the team, but let's be fair and say that it also took the hard work of the current players who started with the Beat from the beginning of the season. They too, are the reason why this win came to be. The efforts from old and new players created this win. As for Chicago, their 3 game wining streak, which started to raise confidence and belief in the squad who have dealt with obstacles since the beginning of the season, was crushed. Once again, this can be linked back to scoring problems. Chicago failed to score in this match. What wins games? Goals do. Chicago's gotta put them in the net if they really want to move up in the standings.





And for our last match-up: Sky Blue vs. Philadelphia Independence. This match would mark another win for Philadelphia against their "cross-town" rivals Sky Blue FC. Without Bardsley in goal, Philly would go on to score 4 goals in the match, proving themselves even more as a feared side to reckon with in this league. Sky Blue, however, netted only one...coming from a penalty...scored by Rosana. Seems to me that Sky Blue seemed rather lost and weak in this match. The only way they got on the board was by a penalty. For Philly, on the other hand, their large tally of goals were courtesy of Adams, A-Rod, Lohman, and DiMartino. This win would give Philly sole possession of 2nd place, as Washington missed out on any further advancement in the standings due to their bye week.

Philly continues to establish and preserve themselves as a force to reckon with in this league, only losing to other top teams such as FCGP and Washington Freedom. Other than those instances, Philly on the other hand has had quite a fantastic campaign. They have very few weaknesses, and are just proving their dominance, week after week for the most part. As for Sky Blue, they're riding a roller coaster. Sometimes its a win, next week it'll be a loss. Sky Blue is very inconsistent. As the team who were WPS Champions, their style of play and their current form is lacking. Still, a major problem is goal scoring. All of the successful teams in this league have great offenses, and above all, successful offensive efforts. Sky Blue really needs to pick up the pace and needs to make winning a habit...not an occurrence.


That's all for now! See you next Week!

Denise