WPS Player of the Month -June - CAMILLE ABILY

if Marta's not scoring....that's ok the Sol still mange to win courtesy of one Camille Abily. For the month of June the French star has scored in the five matches LA has scored a goal in. A last ditch goal to tie the match with Chicago, 2 goals against the Freedom, a poachers goal v FC Gold Pride and to wrap it up in a big bow a well taken goal against Chicago again. Total 5 goals which puts her at the top of the WPS scoring chart tied with teamate Marta with 8 goals each.

This is why Abily has been voted WPS Player of the Month-June. voted by the fans,teams and media.

Take a bow Abily


Abily becomes the second Frenchwoman and third consecutive international in WPS to win the Player of the Month Award after Kelly Smith (England, Boston Breakers) and Sonia Bompastor (France, Washington Freedom) won it in April and May. Each group – fans, teams and media – a account for one-third of the final tally. Eniola Aluko of Saint Louis was second in the voting.

LA Sol v Chicago Red Stars Highlights

4 -0



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LOS ANGELES SOL 4 - 0 CHICAGO RED STARS

Marta scored 2 goals to take her total for the season to a league joint leading 8 against the hapless Chicago Red Stars in a 4- nil win at the Home Depot Center early Saturday morning.

The Los Angeles Sol who looked fresh despite playing their 3rd game in 7 days opened the scoring on 15 minutes when Captain Shannon Boxx received a through ball from winger McCall Zerboni making her 1st start in place of Aly Wagner, at the top of the penalty box. Beating the offside trap Boxx shot the ball to the farside to the right of GK Caroline Jonsson. In off the post. This sparked a Michael Jackson celebration dance in the centre-circle by the whole team. Chicago in shock. It got worse. Japanese international Aya Miyama found an inform Camille Abily with a pass at the top of the box, with composure she shot past Jonsson 2 - nil and Abily's 8th goal of the season.

The Red Stars reeling tried to get into the game. Coach Emma Hayes brung on substitute Cristiane on 31mins to replace defender Nikki Krizysik. The Red Stars switched to a 3-4-3 formation. It looked like it paid off when Lindsey Tarpley slamed the ball into the back of the net from a great pass by Cristiane in the 33rd minute. However the goal was ruled out for a close offside.

The Sol closed out the 1st half on a high as they had numerous chances to extend their league.

Into the 2nd half and Chicago started brightly but again on the 47th minute a Tarpley goal was ruled offside. This time it was a more clear offside. The Red Stars were trying to make a game of it by attacking but everytime they tried to get momentum the Sol midfield and defence would not let them get into any sort of rythem.

The game was over when Marta received a through ball by Miyama , past the defence and a deft shot by Marta past Jonsson on inthe 62nd minute to make it 3-nil. Chicago were out. Marta then scored her 2nd in stoppage time 90th minute to make it 4-o after a ball into the box by substitute Aly Wagner from the right.

Chicago players looked stunned. In all honesty it could have been 5 or 6 if not for a couple of good saves by Jonsson. Back to the drawing board.

Los Angeles took another step to qualifying for the playoffs and took their unbeaten run to 10 games. Chicago with the loss remains last in the WPS standings with the next game against Washington Freedom on Wednesday night vital.

Abner Rogers
"It was a big challenge today as it was our third game in seven days, but I thought we played very well. Obviously, the result speaks for itself. The number of opportunities that we created was very satisfying."

McCall Zerboni
"The team was very supportive of me starting today. The team has really good chemistry and they make it very easy for me to contribute on the field. I wouldn't be doing what I am without them."

"[The offsides] always hurt you," Red Stars team captain Lindsay Tarpley said. "But, you know, hopefully it's a matter of time -- just keep plugging away and keep our heads up. And hopefully we'll finish one next time and it'll count."

Lineups
Los Angeles Sol: Karina LeBlanc; Stephanie Cox, Allison Falk(57: Brittany Bock), Marina Franko, Katie Larkin, McCall Zerboni (72: Aly Wagner), Shannon Boxx (C), Camille Abily (80: Maya Makoski), Aya Miyama, Han Duan, Marta

Chicago Red Stars: Caroline Jonsson; Natalie Spilger, Frida Ostberg, Nikki Krzysik (31: Cristiane Silva), Jill Oakes, Brittany Klein (58: Vandenbugh), Megan Rapinoe, Chioma Igwe (77: Danesha Adams), Karen Carney, Lindsay Tarpley (C), Carli Lloyd

WPS Half-Term report - LOS ANGELES SOL

Who? What left is there to say about the Sol that has not been said or read already.

In this 1st half of the Inaugural season of the WPS, THE Los Angeles Sol so far have been the dominant, most consistent and yes… the best team in the league.

The league table doesn’t lie.And neither do the stats.The Sol sit at the top as of June 25th with 31 pts - Played 14 , Won 9, Lost 1, Draws 4. They have played two games more than the 2nd placed Boston Breakers but they are still comfortably in front.
They are currently on a 9 games unbeaten run - 6 of those are wins.
How? The team are playing well together. They play possession soccer. The midfield four have specific jobs and they are executing the jobs well and the defence are defending intelligently and as a unit.
The Sol are difficult to score against and ultimately to beat. Teams have tried and come close and even some have deserved to score and a win but they have come up short and not taken their chances.
The Sol offence when given a chance will most likely take that chance…thank you very much.

They lead the league in most goals scored 19 ; least goals conceded 5 ; most shutouts 10 and Top goal scorer , Camille Abily 7.

Players - Offence:
Marta is the star player. The Brazilian Attracts the attention of the opposition defenders, sometimes all of them at the same time, that just leaves space for the other Sol players to exploit. Which they have taken.
When Marta is not scoring she is setting up her teamates. She is 2nd in the goal scoring charts with 6 goals and 2nd in assists with 3.



Midfield:
Camille Abily is one player who has benefited from the attention on Marta. She has snuck in there almost unnoticed to score a league leading 7 goals. All from midfield. The French international brings a calm, technical game to the Sol midfield. An intelligent player who always makes herself available in midfield to receive the ball, hold the ball and pass it off to an open player without fuss. Abily is a fan favourite and although unknown at the beginning of the season to the American public she is now becoming a star there too as she was in her native France. No wonder Olympic Lyon were having a cardiac arrest when she moved to WPS. Now we know why.
Defence:
Alison Falk never gets mentioned too much by reporters or blogs. But here at womans soccer insider we believe she is vital to the Sol.The rookie…yes she is a rookie..from Stanford University has been the rock at the back. Started 13 games out of 14 and played 90 minutes in all ,Falk is tall, good in the air, deceptively strong and quick. Falk hasn’t put a foot wrong as she has gone up against strong, experienced and international players like Abby Wambach and Christine Sinclair and quick players like Lisa DeVanna and Eniola Aluko and been a match for all of them.

Mentions to - Brittany Bock - defender, midfielder, forward ? She’s been everywhere but in goal. Bock is a competitive player that gives 110% no matter where she is playing. Almost combative by nature she played the first 5 games as a centre-back having never played there before. Impressing the Sol coaches in training with her desire to compete for challenges. She was a midfielder/forward in college. She then spent the next few in midfield man marked Boston’s Kelly Smith out of the game in that position in the 0-0 tie at the Home Depot Center.
Moved to centre forward to give some assist to Marta and scored her 2nd goal of the season. Yes we had to mention Brittany Bock.

Karina Leblanc - KK to her friends - we will look at her closely further in the blog but the stats say it all.
13 games , 51 saves , goals against 5 , Goals against avg 0.38 , Saved a PK , 9 Shutouts. No1.

All those players have stood out to us but LA really have played as a team and we would be here all day and night if we had to mention all the players.

A- Excellent. Still room for improvement.(harsh,i know) Top of the class for now.

Erin McLeod selected Week 13 WPS Player of the Week

Well thank god for that. About time another defensive player gets the nod.And the 2nd goalie after Athletica's Jillian Loyden.


Washington goalkeeper Erin McLeod has been selected WPS's Player of the Week for Week 13 after notching her second shutout in six appearances to lead the visiting Freedom to a 1-0 triumph over Saint Louis Athletica. The Canadian made seven saves, including a big 63rd-minute stop on Week 12 winner Eniola Aluko, and twice received help from her crossbar as Washington climbed to second place in the WPS standings.

McLeod is the third Freedom player to receive Player of the Week honors, joining Abby Wambach (Week 5) and Sonia Bompastor (Week 6). She's the second Canadian selection (FC Gold Pride's Christine Sinclair, Week 8) and the second goalkeeper honored (Saint Louis' Jillian Loyden, Week 9). The WPS Player of the Week is selected by a panel of writers from the North American Soccer Reporters.

WPS Players of the Week

Week 1: Aya Miyama (Los Angeles Sol)
Week 2: Marta (Los Angeles Sol)
Week 3: Kelly Smith (Boston Breakers)
Week 4: Aly Wagner (Los Angeles Sol)
Week 5: Abby Wambach (Washington Freedom)
Week 6: Sonia Bompastor (Washington Freedom)
Week 7: Lori Chalupny (Saint Louis Athletica)
Week 8: Christine Sinclair (FC Gold Pride)
Week 9: Jillian Loyden (Saint Louis Athletica)
Week 10: Shannon Boxx (Los Angeles Sol)
Week 11: Camille Abily (Los Angeles Sol)
Week 12: Eniola Aluko (Saint Louis Athletica)

Week 13: Erin McLeod (Washington Freedom)

MIDWEEK GAMES -WEDNESDAY 24TH JUNE 09

Boston Breakers vs. Washington Freedom (7 pm ET - CSN)
Harvard Stadium, Cambridge, MA

The third of four matches between these two teams whose namesakes stem from the old WUSA. Boston has the chance to clinch the season series with a win after notching a 3-1 victory in the first game at Maryland SoccerPlex and drawing 1-1 in Boston one month ago. Just one point separates these two teams, with Washington sitting in second in the WPS Standings and the Breakers in third.

The Breakers broke out of several slumps over the weekend, winning their first game since May 2 with a 2-0 victory over the Chicago Red Stars. Kristine Lilly notched her first tally since May 2 and Amy Rodriguez ended her scoreless slump with an early goal. Boston is now 3-0 when Lilly scores.

Likewise, the Freedom come into the game having won on the road in Week 13 against Saint Louis. The Freedom’s 83rd-minute game-winner by Rebecca Moros was the third time this year that the Washington side has scored a clutch goal in the last 10 minutes to either win or tie a game. Abby Wambach will feature at some point although she is hampered by a hamstring injury.

This match will air on the Comcast Sports Network on Wednesday, June 24 at 7 pm ET.








Saint Louis Athletica vs. Los Angeles Sol (8 pm ET)
Anheuser-Busch Soccer Park, Fenton, MO

Saint Louis played Los Angeles tough earlier this season when the Sol visited the Gateway City, earning the Athetica’s first points on the year with a scoreless draw after two losses. But the Sol dominated the return match in Southern California, doubling the Athletica in shots (16-8) and shots on goal (8-4) in their 2-0 victory on May 30.

While the Athletica have a speedy defense which has neutralized forwards Marta and Brittany Bock in previous games, it’s midfielders Sol Camile Abily, Shannon Boxx and Aya Miyama that look to control the midfield possession and build up towards the attack for Los Angeles. For Saint Louis, Eniola Aluko has developed into a proven attacker up front – but the Los Angeles defense has given up only four goals all year and have only one multi-goal game against them this season. Aluko will need some support from Melissa Tancredi or Christie Welsh, who began the season in Los Angeles before being traded to Saint Louis in mid-May.

With a 14 point cushion for Los Angeles over the Athletica, this game is critical for Saint Louis if they want to maintain any hopes of catching the Sol in the race for first and the right to host the WPS Championship on August 20. They are the last of the seven WPS teams to begin the second half of their regular season with only 10 games played thus far.

LOS ANGELES SOL 2 - 0 FC GOLD PRIDE

The Los Angeles Sol blanked FC Gold Pride 2-0 at The Home Depot Center.

The Sol remains comfortably atop the WPS standings with an 8-1-4 record (28 points), while FC Gold Pride falls to 3-6-3 (12 pts.). Sol goalkeeper Karina LeBlanc made three saves to register her WPS-leading 9th shutout,giving her dad a very nice birthday gift while midfielder Camile Abily notched her league-best 7th goal of the season.

The Sol opened the scoring in the 17th minute when Aya Miyama's corner kick from the right side was cleared to the edge of the area finding Sol defender Martina Franko. She then volleyed the bouncing ball, hitting a slow, arching shot that was deflected on the goal mouth by Abily and nestled itself the far corner of the goal and somehow getting past Gold Pride 'keeper Nicole Barnhart.

Marta doubled the lead in the 25th minute, collecting a long Shannon Boxx pass shy of the area on the left, dribbling into the box and putting her low, left-footed shot past a diving Barnhart and into the goal. It was the fifth goal of the season for the Brazilian and her first since a 1-0 defeat of Sky Blue FC on May 15 at The Home Depot Center.

Los Angeles had three chances just seconds apart in the 71st minute, as Han Duan, Aya Miyama and Marta all had point-blanks cracks at the cage, but each was turned aside by the busy Barnhart.

The Pride managed to deny the Sol's attempts at widening the gap in the second half. Barnhart played an integral role in keeping her team in the game coming up with seven big saves in the second half. Barnhart, with a save percentage of 73 ranks second amongst all goalkeepers with 46 saves so far this season.

The Pride's leading goal scorer Christine Sinclair saw her three-game scoring streak snapped on Sunday but it was not for lack of trying as she fired off four shots, three on frame, in the match. The Canadian now leads the league in shots (37), shots on goal (18) and is tied for second in goals with five.

The Los Angeles Sol hosts the Chicago Red Stars on Saturday, June 27 in the breakfast match. The game starting at 10am!
The Pride will be given a chance to recuperate after a tough week of WPS competition with the team's final bye week of the season next week. The Pride will return to action at home on Sunday, July 5 at Buck Shaw Stadium at 5 p.m. against the Saint Louis Athletica.

"I thought we gave an excellent effort on the field, especially against such a tough team following our game against Boston just a few days ago," said FC Gold Pride Head Coach Albertin Montoya. "We've worked extremely hard and came into this game with a lot of confidence thinking we could pull off a win. You have to give LA credit they keep seeming to find ways to win. I'm not disappointed in our team, they played their hearts out."


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Lineups:

Los Angeles Sol: Karina LeBlanc; Manya Makoski, Allison Falk, Martina Franko, Stephanie Cox; Camille Abily, Shannon Boxx (C), Aly Wagner, Aya Miyama, Brittany Bock (67: Han Duan), Marta.

FC Gold Pride: Nicole Barnhart; Rachel Buehler, Leigh Ann Robinson (57: Marissa Abegg), Kristen Gracyzk, Carrie Dew; Tina DiMartino (85: Tiffany Weimer), Leslie Osborne (C), Formiga; Christine Sinclair, Tiffeny Milbrett, Eriko Arakawa (67: Adriane).

FC Gold Pride 0 - 2 Los Angles Sol

At last!

The Los Angeles Sol blanked FC Gold Pride , 2-0, on Sunday afternoon at Buck Shaw Stadium in front of a sell-out crowd of 6,280 fans.
The Sol opened up the scoring in the 27th minute when Japanese International Aya Miyama was fouled inside the penalty area by defender Carrie Dew resulting in a penalty kick for French International Camille Abily. Abily's low-lining penalty kick found the back right of the net past back-up Gold Pride keeper Allison Whitworth to put the Sol up 1-0. That was her 2nd goal of the season since her 1st on the inaugural match v Washington Freedom.
FC Gold Pride threatened in the closing minutes of the half when Eriko Arakawa crossed to Tiffany Weimer from the right side of the box, but Sol back-up keeper Val Henderson made a diving block on Weimer's shot from eight yards out to keep the Sol ahead going into the half.

After trading scoring opportunities in the second half, the Sol struck again in the 86th minute on a counter-attack when Han Duan found herself on a breakaway and slipped a ball past Whitworth from 12 yards out for the final goal of the game. Her 1st goal of the season. A weight lifted of her shoulders? We will wait and see. I believe she can apply herself much more than she has been doing.

The Sol were without Shannon Boxx (USA), Brittany Bock (USA), Karina LeBlanc (Canada) and Martina Franko (Canada) who were all called into National Team duty and Aly Wagner who injured her groin in training in the week.
FC Gold Pride lost Rachel Buehler (USA) , Nicole Barnhart (USA) and Christie Sinclair (Canada) to national team duty.
Both deputy GK had great games with Whitworth having an outstanding game limiting the Sol to 2 goals by making some great saves.
Lisa Sari starting her 1st game for the Sol was impressive in the defensive midfield role. Stepping in for Shannon Boxx she won every ball in the air, broke up play in the midfield and subdued Tina DiMartino.

The game was very physical with Gold Pride being strong with the tackles on Marta in particular. In stoppage time right-back Kandace Wilson was injured when colliding with Marta. It looked a bad injury.Although thought to be to her knee-(the dreaded ACL) Pride officials say it is a hip injury.

The Pride are an entertaining team but their forwards were below their best. Eriko Arakawa and Tiffany Weimer did not do enough in the game. To get to the playoffs all players need to be on song.
The Sol are very solid. Although they did not create a lot of pretty soccer they have players that will hustle and stop other teams creating. No matter who is in defence(Stephanie Cox as centre-back?) they are hard to breach. They are way out in front with 17pts. 6pts ahead of the competition.

"We had one mental lapse, but we will learn from it," said FC Gold Pride Head Coach Albertin Montoya. "We went from Brandi almost scoring to a missed ball off a goal kick. We lost our concentration for one second. When you have players like Marta and Duan, they'll make you pay."

"Today was a really great team victory for us," said Los Angeles Sol Head Coach Abner Rogers. "We were missing some of our players, but our entire team pulled together and helped us earn a very good victory."


Lineups:

FC Gold Pride: Allison Whitworth; Leigh Ann Robinson, Carrie Dew, Kristen Graczyk, Kandace Wilson, Leslie Osborne, Erika (Formiga, 66'), Tina DiMartino, Tiffany Weimer (Adrianne, 54'), Tiffeny Milbrett, Eriko Arakawa (Chastain, 80').

Los Angeles Sol: Val Henderson; Manya Makoski, Allison Falk, Stephanie Cox; Katie Larkin, Camille Abily (McCall Zerboni, 92'+), Lisa Sari, Aya Miyama, Liz Bogus (Johanna Frisk, 45'), Han Duan, Marta.

LOS ANGELES SOL V WASHINGTON FREEDOM

Well the first match of the inaugural season has come & gone. The Sol win an entertaining game 2-0. Goals coming from defender Allison Falk and French international midfielder Camille Abily.

The game started of quick with LA playing the better game with their midfield of Shannon Boxx, Aya Miyama & Camille Abily dominating. Washington Freedom players looked like they had stage fright. The first goal came in 6 mins when Japanese star Miyama delivered a perfect ball into the area for Rookie defender Falk to tangle with GK Briana Scurry & head the ball into the net. The Freedom claimed it was a foul on their keeper. From looking at the replays and pictures sometimes i think it was a goal and sometimes not but hey Allison Falk has now officially gone done as the first woman to score in WPS. The ball was taken out of play & Falk will sign it & it will go into the Hall Of Fame. LA continued to make chances with Marta showing some of her skills and keeping the Freedom defence occupied although they dealt with her ok throughout the game.
Toward the end of the half Washington started to put some plays together. Most of that was coming from their left where French international Sonia Bompastor was was being a menace.She put in several balls from the left for striker Wambach. One where Wambach made a great connection but Sol's GK Karina Le Blanc coming of her line to make a great save. To me she was the Freedoms best player of the whole game. Her crossing was on point. For the 2nd half LA coach Abner made a tactical change to contain her.

2nd half - Washington had more of the play where they were pushing forward trying to get the equalizer. The problem they had was Abby was pretty much up there on her own. And all balls went to her. As the season goes on i expect the Freedom to have a plan B, where other players start taking chances and making plays. As much as Washington were pushing forward LA's defence held up with the impressive Brittany Bock at CB. Bock is not a defender per say. She is a combative midfielder that can do a good job as a forward but i guess because Abby was the opposition Coach Abner decided he needed a tough person at the back. She was great.
Freedom nearly scored from a scramble in the box when Lori Lindsey struck the ball from just inside the area only to see the ball hit the right upright on 63 mins.

LA Sol clinched the game from a counterattack when Bock intercepted a cross from a Freedom player and passed the ball to Marta who at first tried a slide ruler pass through to substitute forward Christie Welsh where it came of her heel , Marta picked up the ball again and continued her momentum towards goal at pace attracting the 3 defenders to her. She passed the ball to the oncoming midfielder Abily who was unmarked on the right. Abily took one touch to get closer to goal and then chipped Scurry from just outside the penalty box. It was a sweet goal with great technique from the French woman. A great way to end the game. But you have got to ask what were the defenders thinking and why did no midfield player track Abily's run.She started of on the edge of her own box. I guess that is the Marta effect. The same thing happened in the 2008 Olympic Semi-Final game Brazil v Germany. Marta had the ball & was running on a breakaway towards goal all the German defenders went to her... yes all 4.. but they left Christiane and no midfielder tracked her. Marta passed the ball to Christian who was unmarked and she slotted the ball home.

Overall the game was entertaining i enjoyed watching it. I have no doubt the play will get better as the teams get more games in. My MVP choice was tough i could pick quite a few but i will go with Brittany Bock..she was awesome. Miyama had a good game as well. Best Freedom player by a mile was Sonia Bompastor. Best play Camile Abily's goal. Perfect execution. She ran all the way up the pitch and had composure to lob the keeper.

Line-ups

LA Sol - 23- Le Blanc , 2-Fletcher,11-Bock, 3-Falk , 14-Cox, 20-Abily, 7-Boxx, 22-Makoski,8-Miyami , 10- Marta, 9-Duan

Washington Freedom - 1-Scurry, 21-Singer,4-Whitehill, 22-Sauberman ,11- Janss,9-Long, 6- Lindsey, 10-Sawa ,8- Bompastor,25-Zimmeck, 20-Wambach.