WPS News

There is a ton to catch up on, especially since I've been gone for quite a while. In fact, I never even covered it this year! My sole focus was on WWC 2011, and I as away from the blog altogether after the Final, so I haven't done ANY WPS Week Reviews, no posts on the Play-offs, NOTHING! So disappointing. And now we're at the end of the season. The Final is just 4 days away. (Watch, I'll cover WPS a ton after the season's over...) So anyway, let's get down to business. Some quick recaps of the play-offs.

WPS First Round: MagicJack vs. Boston Breakers- MJ won 3-1, and it honestly should have been by more. Abby Wambach scored in the 5th minute on a rebound off of Huffman's shot. Later, Keelin winters of Boston equalized. MJ was knocking on the door, but they could not finish many of their chances. Huffman would eventually get fouled in the penalty box, and so a penalty was awarded to MJ. Wambach did what she does best and coolly slotted it away. Afterwards, Press fired down the 18 yard box, lured the keeper, turned back, chipped it towards the open goal and Rapinoe headed it in. MJ advanced to the Super Semifinals after a dominating and convincing display. Rapinoe and Huffman were on beast mode the whole game, and the same should be said for Abby. Rookie Press gave Naeher trouble all game, and the Boxx-Schmidt combo held down the midfield pretty well.


WPS Super-Semifinals: MagicJack vs. Philly Independence- This game proved to be quite an unlucky one for MJ. Philly started off better, but then MJ picked up the pace and started playing better. The 2nd half is when all the scoring happened. Only minutes after the opening whistle for the 2nd half, Kai scored, catching Loyden off guard and in a bad position. Now MJ, who had developed a good pace and finished the first half with the upper hand, was in a hole. Its not good to be down like that right after the 2nd half begins. So with some lost confidence, and lost concentration, MJ began their efforts to come back. MJ attacked constantly, and was playing better than Philly who employed what seemed to be an 11-man-defense at times. They were just unlucky. Between hitting posts and crossbars, it seems the team couldn't buy a goal. Later in the second half, A-Rod would score one from what looked to be 20-25 yards out (judging from memory), catching Loyden with her pants down yet again. 2-0 was the final score, and MJ was out of play-offs. Philly would be meeting up WNY Flash in the WPS Championship Final. This is sounding a lot like last year's FCGP vs. Philly, isn't it? Anyways, the Super Semi was lost by MJ because of fatigue (having to play that previous match) and a lack of finishing. Also, let it be noted that Philly's goals came off of 2 GK errors. Both the same one: bad positioning. Philly scored on the chances they had to. MJ couldn't. That's why Philly will be facing WNY.


Miscellaneous league news: Higher Attendances- As its been noted, WPS attendances have seen a massive improvement. A few stadiums have seen sell-outs (WNY's stadium reached a 15,000 capacity for their match against MJ- highest attendance in league history. MJ's FAU stadium reached a 3,000 sell-out [not bad for a team only getting around 500 each game previous to WWC]) And other stadiums have reached high attendances in general (Philly had a near sell-out with somewhere in the 4-5,000's, Sky Blue reached its second highest attendance at 5,065 [I was there], and Boston reached a 6,000 or so attendance). These numbers bode well for the league. But they need to capitalize on the new-found interest and keep these people interested going into next season.

Dan Borislow vs. WPS- Shortly after the WWC, a statement was released by WPS saying Dan would be taking legal action against them. It was said that WPS wanted to terminate his franchise. It was not made clear when, since Dan claims they wanted to do it in June, while the league maintains they stated they wanted to terminate it at the end of the season. The league's reasons for doing so was based on his breaches of the league's contracts and inability to follow the rules. Dan felt like he did nothing wrong and invested too much money to get booted in the middle of the season. The 2 have settled their differences and put the lawsuit to rest. However, this is only temporary, as I feel the situation is sure to heat up once again, in the off-season.

WPS Championship Final: WNY Flash vs. Philly Independence- You do not wanna miss this one folks! The game is on Saturday, coverage starting at 3:30 pm ET. This is sure to be a great match. WNY and Philly are 1st and 2nd in the league regular season table, respectively. There is a pre-game, and they'll likely be showing some background on the teams, as well as their Top 10 Goals of the Season segment. I'm so excited for the match, because it all comes down to these two teams, but I'm also very sad, because it means that after that game, we have to wait until April for more WPS action!

Really hope that you accept my apologies of not being around! I plan to be more diligent with the blog. I will be doing a post on the Championship Final most likely. Thanks for reading! By the way, maybe when I feel better about the WWC and its not such a sensitive topic, I'll give you all the recaps you deserve. Anyway, the WPS Final is in 4 days, an off-season full of happenings (Please be GOOD happenings) is upon us, and Olympic qualifiers are just around the corner. The blog will be buzzing again, you'll see!

Denise

Disappearing Act And Quick Recap

Hey all. I look back at the time I spent away from the blog, and I feel nothing but complete disappointment. However, I think its safe to say that after the WWC Final, featuring our beloved USWNT and Japan...I needed a little mental holiday. Talking about the match is STILL a touchy subject for me, and I'm sure this is the case with many other fans, maybe even some of you currently reading. But as college is about to swing back into session, its back to business. Also, now that I have an iPhone, I feel like I'm at a computer only once a month, whereas pre-iPhone, I'd be here at least once every week. So, as I've told you all many times, I apologize. You've been good to me and have actually read my posts, and you've showed interest, but I was just too lazy and I regret it. This time I'm seriously going to try and be consistent. I love to write about the sport but I've been so caught up in my vacations etc. to even report on the stuff. I have been keeping up with all the info, but I should have been writing about it. My last post left off at the Semi-Finals. So, to do the WWC some justice without getting cold sweats myself, here's a quick recap.

Semifinal: USA vs. France- A great game, although admittedly, France played better for quite some time. We capitalized early, but France eventually equalized. Later in the match, Wambach pulled another rescue with a header off a corner kick. It was Abby doing what she does best. The USA went on to be finalists.

Final: USA vs. Japan- I can already tell I'm going to have a problem even just writing a quick description. To be honest, after that game was the worst I had ever felt. Anyway, the game was absolutely splendid, when looking at the way each team conducted themselves, and played. It was an excellent advertisement for the Women's game. It was beautiful, passing accuracy, talent, organization, it was everything you'd want in a great soccer game. I feel the USA played the better match however. And I'm not even being biased. I can admit the USA was not the better team against France for some stretches of time in the Semis. I can honestly say the USA played better against Japan. We had more chances throughout the whole game, and we had more possession and attacking. We just couldn't finish. And it came to haunt us. Morgan scored our first goal to put us ahead. It looked like we were in the clear to win the WWC, as there were only 10 minutes left about, maybe 15. But then a defensive error led to Japan's equalizer, and ET. In ET, Wambach once again came up big, and scored a clutch header. The USA was 2-5 minutes from lifting the trophy, to becoming Champions after their long, hard journey. But Japan again equalized, forcing it into penalties. Boxx kicked first. She was blocked. Lloyd kicked, she missed. Tobin kicked, she was blocked. Only Abby got her penalty in. Hope made one save. Japan won. In the most cruel way to go, the USA lost the trophy, which they probably could practically feel in their hands. I cried for a good 20 minutes after the match. It just sucked. It sucked really bad. Especially after the USA's journey. It was incredible. Almost not qualifying for WWC, struggling to make it, struggling with consistency before the WWC, enduring criticisms, then to proving everyone wrong, making the greatest comeback of all time, to reaching the Final. They were going to be THE team. It was going to be THEIR year. The trophy was going to be in THEIR hands. But it all vanished. And it wasn't even like we got blown out like 3-0. We HAD IT. We played better. We dominated. We just couldn't finish early on. And we couldn't hold the lead with 2 minutes to go. I still think we deserved that cup. I still think it was our year. With the way we played, the stuff we pulled off...I don't know, I look back, and I think that's what pains me so much. We were 2 minutes from that podium, and it slipped from our grasp. It was almost stolen. It was literally heartbreaking to see the USWNT utterly crushed and devastated from the loss. And it pained me to see Japan lifting that cup on the podium while the USWNT stood on the field, watching what could have been theirs, what was going to be theirs if they held on for 2 more minutes. Credit to Japan though, who played a fantastic tournament and were good sportswomen all the way through. Its just...soccer didn't award the best team that day. As many people said...something bigger was pulling for Japan. This is my honest opinion: Both teams won that day. Think about it...Japan needed that win to bring hope and morale to their devastated country. We needed to make a legacy of our own, apart from 99.
We needed to bring interest to the sport in the USA. In my opinion, we did both. We may not have won, but in the fans' eyes, The USA were Champions. After that Brazil game, where they displayed such heart and faith and determination, they won over the hearts of so many people. It really felt like the whole country was behind the team, for the first time since 99. Everyone will remember the heroics of Solo, Wambach, Morgan and Rapinoe...everyone will remember the tenacity of the entire team, really. This team, and their World Cup run, has and will, go down in history. They may not have won the cup, but they didn't have to. They left their own legacy behind. Its not always about winning a trophy. It would have been a more fitting end to their journey, and I feel like it would have done them justice, unlike a devastating loss, but I beleive everything happens for a reason. They gained so many fans, and the whole country got behind them. They showed the World how talented they are, and how inspiring they are. Their determination, fighting spirit, and hard work won everyone over. They showed everyone what they're all about. Interest here in the states spiked, and WPS felt the effects with numerous sell-outs at games. General rising in attendance has come to the league. They accomplished their goal without getting the WWC, and they had a hero's welcome upon their arrival. I think the loss was undeserved, and that their run, and their legacy deserved nothing less than to end with them as World Champions, holding the WWC 2011 trophy, but sometimes you have to think that maybe it wasn't meant to be. Ending it on penalties is the worst. It can literally go either way. It was Japan's year, sure, but it was ours too. They just happened to bring the trophy home to their country. That's the only difference.


Next post will deal with WPS. I know I haven't covered that at all either. All the news is coming up next. Sorry again for the huge delay.

Denise