2010 Sky Blue FC season

As of July 20, 2010[6][3]

Position	Name
General manager	Gerry Marrone
Head coach	Pauliina Miettinen (until July 20)
	Rick Stainton (after July 20)
Assistant coaches	Mike Lyons
	Anne Parnila (until July 20)
Goalkeeping coach	Rick Stainton (until July 20)

Sky Blue FC entered the 2010 WPS Draft with the 6th, 26th, 29th, 35th, 44th, 53rd, and 62nd picks.[9][16][17][18] Sky Blue FC traded the 62nd pick to Philadelphia Independence in exchange for the rights to Jen Anzivino, which Philadelphia had picked with the 49th-overall selection.[18] Melissa Clarke, selected by Sky Blue 29th overall, would instead sign with NiceFutis in Finland's Kansallinen Liiga.[19]

Round	Pick	Pos.	Player	College	Ref.
1	6	DF	Brittany Taylor	University of Connecticut	[18]
3	26	FW	Katie Schoepfer	Pennsylvania State University
3	29	MF	Melissa Clarke	Louisiana State University
4	35	DF	Danielle Johnson	University of Mississippi
5	44	FW	Meagan Snell	Santa Clara University
5	49	DF	Jen Anzivino	Rutgers University
6	53	MF	Kelly Isleib	University of Utah

On January 28, 2010, the Los Angeles Sol disbanded. The league scheduled a dispersal draft for the Sol's players on February 4, 2010.[20] Sky Blue FC had the 6th, 11th, and 22nd picks in the dispersal draft.[21]

Round	Pick	Pos.	Player	Ref.
1	6	FW	Nikki Washington	[22]
2	11	DF	Kiersten Dallstream	[22]
3	22	Pass

Sky Blue FC opened the season with two victories in April, both against Chicago Red Stars, and a loss against FC Gold Pride.[28] Newly acquired midfielder Carli Lloyd broke her ankle,[29] and Sky Blue placed Lloyd on the team's 30-day injured reserve.[23][30] The team also struggled with absences from defender Meghan Schnur with a knee injury, and from Natasha Kai with a hamstring strain.[31][32]

Goalkeeper Karen Bardsley was named Player of the Week for week 5 and Player of the Month for May, amassing 31 saves and two shutouts over four matches in the month.[33]

Sky Blue FC players presented United States President Barack Obama with a jersey during a July 1 visit to the White House.

On June 27, Sky Blue recorded its largest win of the season by defeating first-place FC Gold Pride on the road 2–0.[34] However, the win was a rare bright spot in the mid-season months. Sky Blue fell three times to the expansion Philadelphia Independence, conceding 10 goals agsinst three goals scored in three matches.[35]

Goalkeeper Karen Bardsley was named to the starting WPS All-Star team,[10] and three Sky Blue FC players — Natasha Kai, Laura Kalmari, and Christie Rampone — were named to the 2010 WPS All-Star Game reserves from which the two all-star teams would be selected. Kai and Kalmari were selected by the Abby Wambach-captained team, and Rampone was selected by the Marta-captained team.[36]

However, Sky Blue's misfortunes with injuries continued. During an All-Star training session in July, Bardsley injured her clavicle while leading the league with five shutouts and a 0.90 goals-against average.[10][37] Third keeper Kristin Luckenbill took over duties until Jenni Branam recovered from injury, then retired from soccer.[10]

Sky Blue FC were invited to the White House to celebrate their 2009 championship with President Barack Obama on July 1.[36]

Sky Blue struggled to score goals, and by July 19, general manager Gerry Marrone fired head coach Pauliina Miettinen and assistant coach Anne Parnila, and appointed goalkeeping coach Rick Stainton as head coach.[3][10][38]

Staring goalkeeper Jenni Branam returned from injury on August 1 to make four saves in a loss to Chicago Red Stars.[39] However, she soon suffered another injury, forcing Sky Blue to play its fourth keeper Meghann Burke, signed in August as a free-agent.[10][27] Burke would hold the job until the end of the season.[10]

Needing a win against first-place FC Gold Pride on September 1 to secure the final playoff bid, Sky Blue FC took the lead on a 72nd-minute goal by Natasha Kai. However, a misplayed free kick by Sky Blue's defense in second-half stoppage time resulted in an equalizer by Gold Pride's Becky Edwards.[40] Sky Blue would not score another goal in its final two matches, ended the season with three draws, and finished three points out of fourth place to miss the playoffs.