Sports Then and Now

The St. Louis Athletica earned a 1-1 draw with the Chicago Red Stars Saturday at Toyota Park in the Windy City.

The Athletica opened the scoring in the third minute thanks to a goal by midfielder captain Lori Chalupny. After a cross from Tina Dimartino was punched away by Chicago goalkeeper Jillian Loyden, the ball fell to Chalupny, who knocked it in for her first goal of the season.

The edge that the Athletica carried during the first half lasted until a second-half substitution by Chicago coach Emma Hayes brought Casey Nogueira onto the field.

In the 58th minute, a shot off the crossbar by a Red Star bounced straight down. The Red Stars continued to press the attack, and it ended in Chicago’s Katie Chapman passing the ball from right to left to Nogueira.

Nogueria took a touch to free space before firing the ball into the upper right corner past Athletica goalkeeper Hope Solo. Read the rest of this entry →

The Atlanta Beat are headed north this weekend to play the Washington Freedom on Sunday, April 18. This will be the expansion team’s second Women’s Professional Soccer match. They tied 0-0 with the Philadelphia Independence last Sunday, April 11, on Philly’s home turf.

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Many things are new to Women’s Professional Soccer this year: Two new teams in Philadelphia and Atlanta made their debut this weekend, the collegiate and expansion drafts brought in new players, changes in the offseason introduced new coaches,  fantastic advertisements drew in new sponsors, and PUMA unveiled a new set of jerseys .

One of the most exciting additions to the WPS is something that is challenging and nerve-wracking. It’s exciting and competitive. It’s not even real.

The WPS Fantasy Challenge kicked off two weeks before the opening weekend and has already garnered hundreds of fans. For those who want competition, or those who simply want to support their favorite players, the Fantasy Challenge is a great addition to the WPS community.

My own experience with fantasy teams prior to the creation of the WPS Fantasy was negative. As a member of my collegiate track and field team, I would join the rest of my female teammates as we scorned the boys who were constantly talking about fantasy baseball, hockey, or football.

How could anyone’s life be so controlled by something that doesn’t even matter in the big scheme of things?

Following the opening weekend matches on Twitter and the WPS Match-tracker, I saw that many tweets and posts were about fantasy rosters. Some tweets or posts were extremely positive as they had chosen players who performed well.

Others were not so thrilled. Some of my favorites were: “Epic @wpsfantasy fail”. Another: “Dear Abby, please score. A bunch of times, if you can. My fantasy team depends on it. Yours in soccer, dharv5.”

After a particularly crafty bicycle kick by Boston’s Fabiana, attempting to score against Washington on Saturday, a tweet was sent out by @WPSFansGameDay: “How many points does a bicycle kick count as on fantasy?”

During this opening weekend of WPS’s second season, I found myself enthralled with every game, including those that didn’t involve my favorite teams. While I was as excited for the season last year, I decided to make a fantasy team this time around.

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In their final spring exhibition game before the Women’s Professional Soccer league regular season kicks off April 10, the St. Louis Athletica fell 2-1 to the Atlanta Beat today in Tulsa, Oklahoma.

Former Athletica defender Kia McNeil opened the scoring with a first-half goal and the Beat added a second thanks to Ramona Bachmann. Shannon Boxx added one for the Athletica, but St. Louis couldn’t add any more.

St. Louis had several positives added to the game when captain Lori Chalupny returned to action for the first time since taking time off for concussion-related issues. “It felt great to get back on the field. Today was an especially important game for us because it gave us a chance to see where we stand,” said Chalupny.

She started the game, and has been cleared to play in matches, having previously been cleared to practice only. “I’m still working to get back to 90 minutes match fit, but I keep feeling better and better every minute.”

Lindsay Tarpley also saw her first game time since she joined St. Louis. Recovering from an ACL injury she suffered last August in practice with her former team, the Chicago Red Stars, Tarpley played 15 minutes today. Read the rest of this entry →

St. Louis Athletica officially announced its final 22-player roster today. The roster consists of 18 active players and four developmental players, denoted here with a “D” following their names.

Kristina Larson, the 17th overall pick in the 2010 WPS draft, will begin the season on the injured reserve list, as she suffered a stress fracture recently. Niki Cross was signed as a free agent to complete the roster.

The announcement comes ten days before the WPS kicks off their season on April 10. St. Louis will host FC Gold Pride on April 11. Read the rest of this entry →

The Women’s Professional Soccer league (WPS) announced that the Atlanta Beat will host the 2010 WPS All—Star Game presented by the U.S. Coast Guard on Wednesday, June 30th.

The game, which will take place at the Beat’s new stadium in Kennesaw, Ga., will be televised live on Fox Soccer Channel and available on Fox Sports Net (FSN) and its affiliates at 7:30pm ET/4:30pm PT, including a pregame show live from Atlanta. Read the rest of this entry →