2010 Women's Professional Soccer season

The 2010 Women's Professional Soccer season was the second season for the WPS, the top level professional women's soccer league in the United States. Regular season champion FC Gold Pride won the WPS Championship on September 26 with a 4-0 victory over the Philadelphia Independence.

Women's Professional Soccer
Season2010
ChampionsFC Gold Pride
Matches played102
Goals scored224 (2.2 per match)
Average goals/game2.20
Top goalscorerMarta (20)
Biggest home winBOS 4-0 NJ
Biggest away winATL 1-6 BAY
Highest scoringATL 1-6 BAY
Longest winning run5 (BAY days 2–6, 12–16)
Longest unbeaten run12 (BAY days 12–24)
Longest losing run5 (ATL days 2–6, WAS days 13–17)
Highest attendance8,261 (WAS v STL)
Lowest attendance2,118 (WAS v PHI)
Average attendance3,601[1]
← 2009
2011 →

Changes from the 2009 season
  • Two franchises, based in Philadelphia,[2] and Atlanta,[3] joined the league.
  • A potential Dallas franchise is pending upon finding a site at which to play,[4] and WPS is constantly considering other expansion possibilities as well, such as Seattle.[5]
  • The Los Angeles Sol did not return, as that franchise was terminated January 28, 2010 after Anschutz Entertainment Group returned their franchise rights and a buyer was not found.[6]
  • The number of games in the regular season increased from 20 to 24.
  • On May 27, financial problems caused the Saint Louis Athletica to fold. Players became free agents on June 1.

Competition format and schedule
  • The regular season began on April 10 and ended on September 12 with a bye week on May 22 (the date the USWNT hosted Germany's WNT in a friendly); the playoffs began on September 19 and ended on September 26.
  • Each team played a total of 24 games, evenly divided between home and away games. Under the following format, each team played three other teams four times each, two at home and two away, and the remaining four teams three times each, two at home and one away or one at home and two away.
  • The playoff format was identical to that of the 2009 season. The four teams with the most points from the regular season qualified for the playoffs. The third- and fourth-placed regular season finishers played each other in the single-match First Round, with the winner traveling to face the second-placed regular season finisher in the Super Semifinal midweek. The Super Semifinal winner then traveled to face the first-placed regular season finisher in the WPS Championship.
  • Games played against the Saint Louis Athletica before they folded still counted toward a team's point total.
Abbreviation and Color Key:
Atlanta Beat - ATL • Boston Breakers - BOS • Chicago Red Stars - CHI • FC Gold Pride - BAY
Philadelphia Independence - PHI • Saint Louis Athletica - STL • Sky Blue FC - NJ • Washington Freedom - WSH
Win  • Loss  • Tie  • Home
Club Match
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24
Atlanta BeatPHIWSHBAYPHINJWSHCHICHIPHIBAYCHIBOSNJCHIWSHBAYBOSBOSPHIBOSBAYBOSNJWSH
0-03-12-11-00-10-20-01-02-20-41-13-10-11-03-20-02-01-23-12-31-61-30-01-0
Boston BreakersWSHPHISTLCHIWSHBAYNJNJBAYCHIPHIATLWSHBAYCHIWASATLPHINJATLPHIATLBAYNJ
1-21-11-10-20-01-20-01-21-01-21-23-12-11-21-33-12-02-24-02-31-21-32-00-0
Chicago Red StarsNJSTLNJBOSBAYPHIBAYATLWSHATLBOSWSHATLNJATLBOSPHINJBAYPHIWASBAYPHIWAS
1-01-10-10-22-00-11-00-02-21-01-20-01-12-01-01-33-01-20-01-22-02-32-02-1
FC Gold PrideSTLNJATLNJCHIBOSCHIWSHPHIBOSNJATLWASPHIBOSWSHATLCHIWSHCHIATLNJBOSPHI
2-03-12-10-12-01-21-01-11-31-00-20-43-22-01-21-40-00-00-02-31-61-12-04-1
Philadelphia IndependenceATLBOSWSHATLSTLCHIWSHNJBAYNJATLWSHBOSBAYNJCHIWSHBOSCHIATLNJBOSCHIBAY
0-01-13-11-02-10-12-12-11-31-42-23-21-22-04-13-02-02-21-23-21-01-22-04-1
Saint Louis AthleticaBAYCHIBOSWSHPHINJ
2-01-11-13-12-12-2Cancelled
Sky Blue FCCHIBAYCHIBAYATLSTLBOSPHIBOSPHIBAYWSHCHIATLPHICHIATLWASBOSPHIWSHBAYATLBOS
1-03-10-10-10-12-20-02-11-21-40-20-02-00-14-11-21-21-14-01-02-11-10-00-0
Washington FreedomBOSATLPHISTLBOSATLPHIBAYCHIPHICHINJBAYBOSBAYATLBOSPHINJBAYCHINJCHIATL
1-23-13-13-10-00-22-11-12-23-20-00-03-22-11-43-23-12-01-10-02-02-12-11-0

2010 schedule

Standings
Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification
1 FC Gold Pride 24 16 5 3 46 19 +27 53 Advance to Championship
2 Boston Breakers 24 10 6 8 36 28 +8 36 Advance to Super Semifinal
3 Philadelphia Independence 24 10 4 10 37 36 +1 34 Advance to First Round
4 Washington Freedom 24 8 7 9 33 33 0 31
5 Sky Blue FC 24 7 7 10 20 31 −11 28
6 Chicago Red Stars 24 7 6 11 21 27 −6 27
7 Atlanta Beat 24 5 6 13 20 40 −20 21
8 Saint Louis Athletica 6 2 3 1 9 8 +1 9 Team withdrawn
Source: WPS Soccerway
Rules for classification: 1) points, 2) goal difference, 3) head-to-head result.

Attendance

Average home attendances

Ranked from highest to lowest average attendance.[1]

Team GP Attendance Average
Boston Breakers1253,8784,490
Chicago Red Stars1248,2964,025
Washington Freedom1245,9043,825
Atlanta Beat1244,2843,690
Sky Blue FC1136,5213,320
FC Gold Pride1236,6753,056
Saint Louis Athletica412,1093,027
Philadelphia Independence1235,6052,967
Total87313,2723,601

Playoffs
The Gold Pride pose with the WPS Championship trophy

WPS Championship
FC Gold Pride4 - 0Philadelphia Independence
Sinclair 16' 53'
Wilson 28'
Marta 90'
Attendance: 5,228
Referee: Jennifer Bennett
FC Gold Pride
Philadelphia Independence
FC Gold Pride:
GK1United States Nicole Barnhart
FW9United States Kandace Wilson
DF5Canada Candace Chapmandownward-facing red arrow 80'
DF4United States Rachel Buehler (c)
DF3New Zealand Ali Riley
MF77United States Shannon Boxxdownward-facing red arrow 75'
MF20France Camille Abilydownward-facing red arrow 66'
DF14United States Becky Edwards
FW15United States Tiffeny Milbrett
FW12Canada Christine Sinclair
FW10Brazil Marta (MVP)
Substitutions:
MF13United States Kristen Graczykupward-facing green arrow 80'
FW7United States Kelley O'Haraupward-facing green arrow 66'
FW11United States Kiki Bosioupward-facing green arrow 75'
Manager:
United States Albertin Montoya
Philadelphia Independence:
GK1United States Val Henderson
DF15United States Nikki Krzysik
DF3United States Allison Falk
DF24Cameroon Estelle Johnson
MF26Iceland Holmfridur Magnusdottir
MF6United States Lori Lindsey (c)downward-facing red arrow 58'
MF4United States Jen Buczkowski
MF9Sweden Caroline Segerdownward-facing red arrow 76'
MF25United States Tina DiMartino
FW8United States Amy Rodriguez
FW10England Lianne Sandersondownward-facing red arrow 64'
Substitutes:
FW19United States Danesha Adamsupward-facing green arrow 58'
DF2United States Heather Mittsupward-facing green arrow 64'
MF16United States Lyndsey Pattersonupward-facing green arrow 76'
Manager:
England Paul Riley

Match officials

  • Assistant referees:
    • Marlene Duffy
    • Veronica Perez
  • Fourth official: Kari Seitz

Match rules

  • 90 minutes.
  • 30 minutes of extra-time if necessary.
  • Penalty shoot-out if scores still level.
  • Seven named substitutes.
  • Maximum of three substitutions.

Leaders

Scoring

Fouls

Goalkeeping

Minimum 60 minutes played per game average

Rank Goalkeeper Club GP MINS SOG SVS GA GAA W-L-T SHO
1 United States Nicole Barnhart FC Gold Pride 18 1880 92 73 16 0.77 13-3-5 8
2 United States Jillian Loyden Chicago Red Stars 23 2070 99 72 27 1.17 6-11-6 6
3 United States Hope Solo Saint Louis Athletica/Atlanta Beat 22 1980 139 104 36 1.64 6-8-8 6

Awards

Player of the Week
Week Player of the Week Club Week's Statline
1[7] England Eniola Aluko Saint Louis Athletica 2 G (40', 62') GWG
2[8][9] United States Abby Wambach Washington Freedom 1 G (44'), 2 A (51', 90') GWA
3[9] United States Lori Lindsey Philadelphia Independence 3 A (55', 58', 68') GWA
4[9] France Sonia Bompastor Washington Freedom 1 G (20'), 1 A (47')
5[9] England Karen Bardsley Sky Blue FC 13 SVS, SHO
6[9] Brazil Marta FC Gold Pride 2 G (16', 38'), GWG
7[9] Sweden Kosovare Asllani Chicago Red Stars 1 G (56'), GWG
8[9] United States Amy Rodriguez Philadelphia Independence 1 A (3') 1 G (29'), GWG
9[9] Brazil Marta FC Gold Pride 1 A (42') 2 G (55', 90'), GWG
10[9] United States Danesha Adams Philadelphia Independence 1 G (5') 1 A (18'), GWA
11[9] United States Amy Rodriguez Philadelphia Independence 2 G (62', 72')
12[9] Brazil Marta FC Gold Pride 1 A (1') 2 G (30', 86'), GWA
13[9] United States Ella Masar Chicago Red Stars 1 G (42'); 3rd in 3 matches
14[9] Canada Christine Sinclair FC Gold Pride 2 G (45', 80'), GWG
15[9] Sweden Caroline Seger Philadelphia Independence 3 A (7', 8', 52'), GWA
16[9] United States Hope Solo Atlanta Beat 5 SVS + 6 SVS, SHO over 2 matches
17[9] England Kelly Smith Boston Breakers 2 G (1', 62') vs. ATL, 1 G (52'), 1 A (25') vs. PHI
18[9] United States Amy Rodriguez Philadelphia Independence 1 G (53') vs. CHI, 2 A (60', 81') and GWA vs. ATL
19[9] England Eniola Aluko Atlanta Beat 1 G (73'), GWG
20[9] United States Abby Wambach Washington Freedom 2 G (79' PK, 84'), GWG
21[9] Spain Veronica Boquete Chicago Red Stars 1 G (4'), GWG vs. PHI, 2 A (50', 90+'), GWA vs. WAS
22[9] United States Kelley O'Hara FC Gold Pride 2 G (40', 50'), 1 A (41'), GWA

Player of the Month
Month Player of the Month Club Month's Statline
April United States Lori Lindsey Philadelphia Independence 4 A in 3 games; Independence 1-0-2 in April
May United States Karen Bardsley Sky Blue FC 31 saves and 2 SO in 4 games; Sky Blue 1-1-2 in May
June United States Amy Rodriguez Philadelphia Independence 5 G, 2 A in 5 games; Independence 3-1-1 in June
July United States Jordan Angeli Boston Breakers 4 G, 1 A in 6 games; Breakers 5-1-0 in July
August England Kelly Smith Boston Breakers 4 G, 1 A in 5 games; Breakers 3-1-1 in August

End-of-year awards

WPS announced its end-of-year awards on September 16.[10]

Award Winner Club
Michelle Akers Player of the Year Brazil Marta FC Gold Pride
MedImmune Defender of the Year United States Amy LePeilbet Boston Breakers
Coast Guard Goalkeeper of the Year United States Nicole Barnhart FC Gold Pride
Rookie of the Year New Zealand Ali Riley FC Gold Pride
Coach of the Year England Paul Riley Philadelphia Independence
Citi Sportswoman of the Year United States Natalie Spilger Chicago Red Stars
PUMA Golden Boot Brazil Marta FC Gold Pride

Statistics

Scoring

Discipline

All-Star Game
Main article: WPS All-Star 2010

WPS All-Star 2010 took place on June 30, a midseason date as opposed to the previous year's postseason All-Star game. It was played at the new Kennesaw State University Soccer Stadium in Kennesaw, Georgia, home to the Atlanta Beat;.[15] The United States Coast Guard once again presented the game, which aired on Fox Soccer Channel again as well.

The all-star selection process was the same as in the previous year, although twice as many players were selected. The top US vote-getter, Abby Wambach, and the top international vote-getter, Marta, then chose between the remaining 20 voted-on players to create their teams, with the 14 at-large selections being distributed by the league. Marta's XI defeated Abby's XI 5–2.

References
  1. "WPS Average Attendance Drops 23% In League's Second Season". Sports Business Journal. September 14, 2010. Retrieved July 15, 2022.
  2. "Women's Professional Soccer Finalizes Philadelphia as Eighth WPS Franchise for 2010". WPS. March 23, 2009. Archived from the original on April 25, 2009. Retrieved April 17, 2009.
  3. "Atlanta Beat Announced as Ninth Team in Women's Professional Soccer". WPS. June 18, 2009. Archived from the original on June 25, 2009. Retrieved July 4, 2009.
  4. "Bay Area joins Women's Professional Soccer (WPS) for inaugural season". WPS. September 3, 2008. Archived from the original on July 16, 2011. Retrieved April 17, 2009.
  5. "WPS in Seattle?". bigsoccer.com. December 13, 2009. Retrieved December 17, 2009. See link in first post
  6. "WPS Discontinues Operations of Los Angeles Sol, womensprosoccer.com, 28 January 2010". Archived from the original on June 29, 2010. Retrieved January 29, 2010.
  7. "Athletica's Aluko named WPS Player of the Week". Women's Professional Soccer. April 13, 2010. Archived from the original on April 16, 2010.
  8. "WPS Playoffs Presented by MedImmune - First Round Preview". September 17, 2010. Retrieved July 15, 2022.
  9. "FC Gold Pride Forward Kelley O'Hara Named WPS Player of the Week" (Press release). FC Gold Pride. OurSports Central. September 14, 2010. Retrieved July 15, 2022.
  10. "2010 WPS Year-End Awards Announced". oursportscentral.com (Press release). Women's Professional Soccer. September 16, 2010. Retrieved July 15, 2022.
  11. "Washington Freedom vs. Boston Breakers". STATS LLC. Archived from the original on April 16, 2010. Retrieved April 12, 2010.
  12. "Philadelphia Independence vs. Sky Blue FC". STATS LLC. Archived from the original on August 6, 2011. Retrieved June 29, 2010.
  13. "Washington Freedom vs. Atlanta Beat". STATS LLC. Archived from the original on April 24, 2010. Retrieved April 19, 2010.
  14. "Boston Breakers vs. Philadelphia Independence". STATS LLC. Archived from the original on August 4, 2011. Retrieved April 19, 2010.
  15. Ellis, Ralph (April 15, 2010). "KSU hopes to raise profile with new soccer stadium". The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. Archived from the original on April 17, 2010. Retrieved April 25, 2010.
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