2009 Women's Professional Soccer season

The 2009 Women's Professional Soccer season served as the inaugural season for WPS, the top level professional women's soccer league in the United States. The regular season began on March 29 and ended on August 9, with the postseason being held between August 15 and 21.

Women's Professional Soccer

Season	2009
Champions	Sky Blue FC
Goals scored	153
Average goals/game	2.10
Top goalscorer	Marta (10)
Longest winning run	4 (LA rounds 13–16)
Longest unbeaten run	11 (LA rounds 6–16)
Longest losing run	4 (BAY rounds 12–15)
Highest attendance	16,089 (WAS v NJ)
Lowest attendance	1,878 (NJ v BOS)
Average attendance	4,684[1]
2010 →

Competition format

• The season began on March 29 and ended on August 9.
• Each team played a total of 20 games evenly divided between home and away games. Each team played every other team three times, either twice at home and once away or once at home and twice away, for a total of 18 games. The remaining two games were played against two other teams, one at home and one away.
• 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. The winner of the First Round then faced the second-placed regular season finisher in the Super Semifinal, and the winner faced the first-placed regular season finisher in the WPS Final.

Results table

Abbreviation and Color Key: Boston Breakers – BOS • Chicago Red Stars – CHI • FC Gold Pride – BAY • Los Angeles Sol – LA 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
Boston Breakers	BAY	STL	WSH	CHI	LA	LA	WSH	NJ	STL	BAY	CHI	WSH	NJ	NJ	CHI	BAY	NJ	WSH	STL	LA
	2–1	2–0	1–3	4–0	2–1	0–0	1–1	2–1	0–1	1–1	0–2	1–0	1–0	1–2	1–0	0–1	0–0	0–1	0–1	2–1
Chicago Red Stars	STL	WSH	NJ	BOS	NJ	BAY	STL	LA	BAY	WSH	NJ	BOS	LA	WSH	BAY	BOS	NJ	WSH	LA	STL
	0–1	1–1	0–0	4–0	0–2	0–1	0–2	1–1	1–1	0–0	1–0	0–2	4–0	2–1	3–1	1–0	1–0	2–3	3–1	2–0
FC Gold Pride	BOS	NJ	LA	WSH	NJ	STL	CHI	LA	WSH	CHI	BOS	LA	STL	CHI	BOS	LA	STL	WSH	NJ	STL
	2–1	1–1	1–0	3–4	1–0	1–0	0–1	0–2	3–1	1–1	1–1	2–0	0–1	3–1	0–1	0–0	1–1	2–3	2–0	1–1
Los Angeles Sol	WSH	NJ	BAY	STL	BOS	BOS	NJ	BAY	STL	CHI	WSH	NJ	BAY	STL	CHI	WSH	STL	BAY	CHI	BOS
	2–0	0–2	1–0	0–0	2–1	0–0	1–0	0–2	2–0	1–1	3–1	0–0	2–0	1–2	4–0	0–1	0–1	0–0	3–1	2–1
Saint Louis Athletica	CHI	BOS	LA	WSH	BAY	CHI	LA	NJ	BOS	WSH	LA	NJ	BAY	LA	WSH	NJ	BAY	BOS	CHI	BAY
	0–1	2–0	0–0	3–3	1–0	0–2	2–0	1–0	0–1	0–1	1–2	1–2	0–1	0–1	1–0	1–0	1–1	1–0	2–0	1–1
Sky Blue FC	LA	BAY	CHI	BAY	CHI	LA	WSH	BOS	STL	LA	CHI	STL	BOS	BOS	WSH	CHI	STL	BOS	BAY	WSH
	0–2	1–1	0–0	1–0	0–2	1–0	2–1	2–1	1–0	0–0	1–0	1–2	1–0	1–2	4–4	1–0	1–0	0–0	2–0	3–1
Washington Freedom	LA	CHI	BOS	BAY	STL	BOS	NJ	BAY	LA	CHI	STL	BOS	CHI	LA	NJ	STL	CHI	BOS	BAY	NJ
	2–0	1–1	1–3	3–4	3–3	1–1	2–1	3–1	3–1	0–0	0–1	1–0	2–1	0–1	4–4	1–0	2–3	1–0	3–2	3–1

Standings

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification
1	Los Angeles Sol	20	12	5	3	27	10	+17	41	Advance to Championship
2	Saint Louis Athletica	20	10	4	6	19	15	+4	34	Advance to Super Semifinal
3	Washington Freedom	20	8	5	7	32	32	0	29	Advance to First Round
4	Sky Blue FC	20	7	5	8	19	20	−1	26
5	Boston Breakers	20	7	4	9	18	20	−2	25
6	Chicago Red Stars	20	5	5	10	18	25	−7	20
7	FC Gold Pride	20	4	6	10	17	28	−11	18

Source: Soccerway
Rules for classification: Tiebreakers

Attendance

Average home attendances

Ranked from highest to lowest average attendance.^[1]

Team	GP	Attendance	Average
Los Angeles Sol	10	62,980	6,298
Washington Freedom	10	57,466	5,747
Chicago Red Stars	10	49,276	4,928
Boston Breakers	10	46,651	4,665
Saint Louis Athletica	10	38,326	3,833
FC Gold Pride	10	36,666	3,667
Sky Blue FC	10	36,513	3,651
Total	70	327,878	4,684

Playoffs

Main article: 2009 Women's Professional Soccer Playoffs

	First Round					Super Semifinal					WPS Final
											1	Los Angeles Sol	0
						2	Saint Louis Athletica	0			4	Sky Blue FC	1
	3	Washington Freedom	1			4	Sky Blue FC	1
	4	Sky Blue FC	2

Leaders

^[2] Last updated: August 4, 2009

Offense

Leading Goalscorers Rank Player Club G Min 1 Marta Los Angeles Sol 9 1440 2 Camille Abily Los Angeles Sol 8 1314 3 Cristiane Chicago Red Stars 6 920 4 Abby Wambach Washington Freedom 6 977 Christine Sinclair FC Gold Pride 6 1052 Eniola Aluko Saint Louis Athletica 6 1123 7 Lisa De Vanna Washington Freedom 5 629 Natasha Kai Sky Blue FC 5 954 Kelly Smith Boston Breakers 5 974 10 Sonia Bompastor Washington Freedom 4 793 Tiffany Milbrett FC Gold Pride 4 Lindsay Tarpley Chicago Red Stars 4

Assist Leaders Rank Player Club A Min 1 Sonia Bompastor Washington Freedom 6 1170 Aya Miyama Los Angeles Sol 6 1620 3 Eniola Aluko Saint Louis Athletica 4 1123 Lisa De Vanna Washington Freedom 4 767 5 Keeley Dowling Sky Blue FC 3 529 Kendall Fletcher Saint Louis Athletica 3 695 Marta Los Angeles Sol 3 1440 Megan Rapinoe Chicago Red Stars 3 1096 Lindsay Tarpley Chicago Red Stars 3 1117 Aly Wagner Los Angeles Sol 3 695 Abby Wambach Washington Freedom 3 977 Tiffany Weimer FC Gold Pride 3 644

Most Shots Rank Player Club Shts Min 1 Abby Wambach Washington Freedom 64 977 2 Christine Sinclair FC Gold Pride 52 1052 3 Marta Los Angeles Sol 51 1440 4 Eniola Aluko Saint Louis Athletica 49 1123 5 Megan Rapinoe Chicago Red Stars 45 1096 Kristine Lilly Boston Breakers 45 1260 7 Natasha Kai Sky Blue FC 42 974 Aya Miyama Los Angeles Sol 42 1620 9 Cristiane Chicago Red Stars 41 920 Lisa De Vanna Washington Freedom 41 920 Kelly Smith Boston Breakers 41 974 Lindsay Tarpley Chicago Red Stars 41

Most Crosses Rank Player Club Crs Min 1 Karen Carney Chicago Red Stars 51 1201 2 Marta Los Angeles Sol 36 1440 3 Megan Rapinoe Chicago Red Stars 34 1096 4 Aya Miyama Los Angeles Sol 33 1530 5 Sonia Bompastor Washington Freedom 30 1170 6 Kristine Lilly Boston Breakers 25 1260 7 Eniola Aluko Saint Louis Athletica 24 1123 8 Amy Rodriguez Boston Breakers 21 920 Heather O'Reilly Sky Blue FC 21 1170 Heather Mitts Boston Breakers 21 1203

Fouls

Fouls Committed Rank Player Club FC Min 1 Megan Rapinoe Chicago Red Stars 35 1096 2 Carli Lloyd Chicago Red Stars 33 953 3 Kelly Smith Boston Breakers 30 974 Abby Wambach Washington Freedom 30 977 Shannon Boxx Los Angeles Sol 30 1440 6 Formiga FC Gold Pride 27 1093 Sonia Bompastor Washington Freedom 27 1170 8 Rosana Sky Blue FC 23 9 Brittany Klein Chicago Red Stars 22 1228 Marta Los Angeles Sol 22 1440

Fouls Suffered Rank Player Club FS Min 1 Lori Chalupny Saint Louis Athletica 44 1170 2 Kelly Smith Boston Breakers 43 974 3 Abby Wambach Washington Freedom 38 977 Sonia Bompastor Washington Freedom 38 1170 5 Kristine Lilly Boston Breakers 32 1260 6 Brittany Klein Chicago Red Stars 26 1228 Marta Los Angeles Sol 26 1440 Aya Miyama Los Angeles Sol 26 1530 9 Formiga FC Gold Pride 25 1093 10 Tina DiMartino FC Gold Pride 20 Leslie Osborne FC Gold Pride 20 1217

Goalkeeping

270+ MINS only

Rank	Goalkeeper	Club	GP	MINS	SOG	SVS	GA	GAA	W-L-T	SHO
1	Jillian Loyden	Saint Louis Athletica	3	270	18	16	1	0.33	2–1–0	2
2	Karina LeBlanc	Los Angeles Sol	18	1620	87	73	9	0.50	10–3–5	12
3	Ali Lipsher	Boston Breakers	11	928	46	37	6	0.58	4–4–2	5
4	Hope Solo	Saint Louis Athletica	15	1350	86	71	13	0.87	7–5–3	7
5	Jenni Branam	Sky Blue FC	16	1395	82	62	15	0.97	6–6–3	6
6	Caroline Jönsson	Chicago Red Stars	19	1710	109	87	23	1.21	5–9–5	4
7	Alison Whitworth	FC Gold Pride	4	360	22	17	5	1.25	1–2–1	1
8	Kristin Luckenbill	Boston Breakers	9	782	41	24	12	1.38	3–4–2	2
9	Nicole Barnhart	FC Gold Pride	12	1260	83	61	20	1.43	3–7–4	2
10	Erin McLeod	Washington Freedom	13	1170	69	46	19	1.46	5–5–3	3
11	Briana Scurry	Washington Freedom	3	270	17	11	6	2.00	0–2–1	0

Awards

Player of the Week

Week	Player of the Week	Club	Week's Statline
Week 1	Aya Miyama	Los Angeles Sol	1 A (6') GWA
Week 2	Marta	Los Angeles Sol	2 G (42', 45') GWG
Week 3	Kelly Smith	Boston Breakers	1 G (53') GWG, 1 A (87')
Week 4	Aly Wagner	Los Angeles Sol	1 A (47') GWA
Week 5	Abby Wambach	Washington Freedom	2 G (18', 90') GWG, 1 A (51')
Week 6	Sonia Bompastor	Washington Freedom	2 G (29', 90')
Week 7	Lori Chalupny	Saint Louis Athletica	1 G (16') GWG
Week 8	Christine Sinclair	FC Gold Pride	1 G (30') GWG
Week 9	Jillian Loyden	Saint Louis Athletica	6 SVS, SHO
Week 10	Shannon Boxx	Los Angeles Sol	1 G (50')
Week 11	Camille Abily	Los Angeles Sol	1 G (90'), 2 G (14', 60')
Week 12	Eniola Aluko	Saint Louis Athletica	1 G (43') GWG
Week 13	Erin McLeod	Washington Freedom	7 SVS, SHO
Week 14	Marta	Los Angeles Sol	1 G (73') GWG, 2 G (62', 92')
Week 15	Lindsay Tarpley	Chicago Red Stars	1 A (48'), 1 G (61') GWG
Week 16	Cristiane	Chicago Red Stars	3 G (31', 46+', 65') GWG
Week 17	Natasha Kai	Sky Blue FC	2 G (5', 86'); 6 shots
Week 18	Abby Wambach	Washington Freedom	2 G (35', 56')
Week 19	Lindsay Tarpley	Chicago Red Stars	1 A (24'), 1 G (47') GWG
Week 20[permanent dead link]	Abby Wambach	Washington Freedom	1 A (58'), 2 G (20', 49')

Player of the Month

Month	Player of the Month	Club	Month's Statline
April	Kelly Smith	Boston Breakers	3 G, 1 A in 3 games; Breakers 2–2–0 in April
May	Sonia Bompastor	Washington Freedom	2 G, 3 A in 4 games; Freedom 2–0–2 in May
June	Camille Abily	Los Angeles Sol	5 G in 6 games; Sol 4–0–2 in June
July	Abby Wambach	Washington Freedom	4 G, 1 A in 5 games; Freedom 3–2–1 in July

Statistics

Scoring

• First Goal of the Season: Allison Falk for Los Angeles Sol against Washington Freedom, 6th minute (March 29)^[3]
• Earliest Goal in a Match: 2 minutes
  • Kelly Smith for Boston Breakers against Los Angeles Sol (2 May)^[4]
  • Eniola Aluko for Saint Louis Athletica against Sky Blue FC (June 28)^[5]
• Latest Goal in a Match: 93+ minutes
  • Jennifer Nobis for Boston Breakers against Sky Blue FC (July 12)^[6]
• Widest Winning Margin: 4 goals
  • Chicago Red Stars 4–0 Boston Breakers (April 25)^[7]
  • Los Angeles Sol 4–0 Chicago Red Stars (June 27)
• Most Goals Scored in a Match: 8
  • Sky Blue FC 4–4 Washington Freedom (April 26)
• First Hat-Trick: Cristiane for Chicago Red Stars against FC Gold Pride (July 12))^[8]
• Fastest Hat-Trick: 35 minutes
  • Cristiane for Chicago Red Stars against FC Gold Pride: 31' 46+' 65' (July 12)^[8]
• First Own Goal: Ifeoma Dieke of Chicago Red Stars for Saint Louis Athletica (23 May)^[9]
• Average Goals per match: 2.086

Discipline

• First Yellow Card: Nikki Krzysik for Chicago Red Stars against Saint Louis Athletica, 90th minute (April 4)^[10]
• First Red Card: Frida Östberg for Chicago Red Stars against Washington Freedom, 63rd minute (April 11)^[11]
• Most Yellow Cards: 4
  • Chioma Igwe (Chicago Red Stars)
  • Kia McNeill (Saint Louis Athletica)
• Most Yellow Cards in a Match: 4
  • Boston Breakers 2–0 Saint Louis Athletica – 3 for Boston (Kasey Moore, Alex Scott, & Stacy Bishop) and 1 for St. Louis (Melissa Tancredi) (April 11)^[12]
  • Saint Louis Athletica 0–0 Los Angeles Sol – 2 for St. Louis (Kia McNeill & Daniela) and 2 for Los Angeles (Aya Miyama & Shannon Boxx) (April 25)^[13]
  • Los Angeles Sol 0–0 Boston Breakers – 2 for Los Angeles (Shannon Boxx & Camille Abily) and 2 for Boston (Angela Hucles & Nancy Augustyniak)^[14]
  • Washington Freedom 0–0 Chicago Red Stars – 2 for Washington (Abby Wambach & Sonia Bompastor) and 2 for Chicago (Brittany Klein & Megan Rapinoe) (June 13)^[15]
  • Chicago Red Stars 3–1 FC Gold Pride – 3 for Chicago (Lindsay Tarpley, Karen Carney, & Carli Lloyd) and 1 for Bay Area (Formiga) (July 12)^[8]

Streaks

• Longest Winning Streak: 4 Games
  • Los Angeles Sol Games 13–16
• Longest Unbeaten Streak: 11 games
  • Los Angeles Sol Games 6–16
• Longest Winless Streak: 10 games
  • FC Gold Pride Games 8–17
• Longest Losing Streak: 4 Games
  • FC Gold Pride Games 12–15
• Longest Shutout: 361 minutes by Karina LeBlanc for Los Angeles Sol
• Longest Drought: 451 minutes for Chicago Red Stars

Other Firsts

• First player to score twice in a match: Marta for Los Angeles Sol against Sky Blue FC (April 5)
• First come-from-behind victory: Chicago Red Stars 2–1 Washington Freedom (July 1)
• First team to lose to all opponents: Chicago Red Stars with loss to Washington Freedom on July 26
  • The only other team to accomplish this was FC Gold Pride with loss to Sky Blue FC on August 5
• First team to beat all opponents: Los Angeles Sol with win against Boston Breakers on August 9
  • The only other team to accomplish this was Sky Blue FC with win against Los Angeles Sol on August 22
• First goalkeeper assist: Hope Solo (to Christie Welsh) for Saint Louis Athletica against FC Gold Pride on August 9

Home Team Record

(Regular season only)

• 33 wins, 20 losses, 17 ties – 1.657 PPG
• 87 goals for, 59 goals against – +28 GD

Related Competitions

All-Star Game

Main article: WPS All-Star 2009

WPS All-Star 2009 was played on August 30 at Soccer Park in the St. Louis suburb of Fenton, Missouri, with the WPS All-Stars defeating Swedish powerhouse Umeå IK of Damallsvenskan 4–2. The match was televised in the US on Fox Soccer Channel.

See also

• Association football portal

• List of Women's Professional Soccer stadiums