Sheree Gray is spending the night in the hospital with a possible concussion after getting hit in the head in the 10th minute of Wednesday’s game with Chicago. After getting hit, she was out of the game for five minutes, then came back into the match for seven minutes before feeling “woozy” and leaving the game. As soon as she got to the sideline, she dropped to one knee and was eventually taken off on a stretcher. It was a tough break for Gray, who was getting a rare chance to play.
Lori Chalupny has been playing with a broken bone in her right hand for a while now and when she got taken down just outside the box late in the first half, she fell on the hand and either re-broke it or just hurt it, but it was enough for coach Jorge Barcellos to take her out. He sees no problem with her not playing this weekend.
Which brings up that the game’s ref seemed to let a lot of stuff pass by. There seemed like a bunch of clear shoves that went unpunished. It was a very physical game, probably too physical considering one player went to the hospital (on a play where no foul was called) but it certainly wasn’t called that way. WPS officiating has taken a lot of flak — Boston coach Tony DiCicco got suspended for criticizing the refs — and it’s possible that, as DiCicco said, the refs can’t keep up.
Talk about meaningless. When Sky Blue beat Gold Pride, it meant that, as best as I can tell, Chicago was going to be in fifth place no matter what.
By the way, if you were wondering what happened to Chicago’s Lindsay Tarpley, she tore her ACL in practice this week.
Sky Blue’s win means Boston fell to fifth in the league. If Boston can beat LA on Sunday, it will qualify. If it doesn’t, Washington and Sky Blue will meet in the first round game. Or, since the second game is the Super Semifinal, I’m suggesting the first game should be the Quality Quarterfinal.
Fan Appreciation Night hit a bit of a snag when the Athletica discovered that the six digit number on each ticket wasn’t as unique as they thought it was and there were multiple winners for some early prizes. Ooops.
Athletica defender Stephanie Logterman took the MCAT on Wednesday, the five-hour test you take if you want to go to med school. She finished at 12:30 p.m., took a nap, and then went to the match, where she went on for Chalupny at halftime. And actually, the offense worked pretty well with Tancredi playing up front behind We/alsh.
This was Sara Larsson’s last game of the season. Because of her injury, she won’t make the trip to Bay Area this weekend, so she’s headed back to Sweden to start getting ready for the European Championships.
Shouldn’t Chicago have been up 2-0 at the half? Or 2-1? They create a lot of chances and some of their players are pretty dangerous, but they just can’t score.
Daniela wasn’t on the eligible list Wednesday, which leads me to believe she won’t play again this season. With limited travel rosters, I think it’s unlikely the team would take her to Gold Pride, and it would be tough to have her first game back be a playoff. She does have two more weeks till the semifinal, but it looks to me like the clock will run out on her, maybe by a week.
Just now back in town leaving after Wednesday’s match with the Stars. Athletica continue to impress me with their gutsy efforts. Nice to see Welsch score especially since Eni won’t be available. I’m impressed with the balance of the league, Chicago seemed to have the better of the play but again as they have through out, Athletica counters so well and their “D” has rally picked/backed up nicely. Hope is still the GK of the league. Go Big Green!
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I did not know what to expect from last evening’s game. Going into it I was musing a few scenarios. Would the Stars, fresh off a remarkable victory over the Sol, just roll over? Perhaps Coach J’s desire to rest players and test bench boots to fill the pending void of the A’s “one trick pony” offense would lead to a disjointed effort? Maybe even a slide back of the team’s momentum as a natural breather sated by the playoff berth in hand. Last night shows what I know. Nothing!!! Much was accomplished despite the statistical meaningless of the match. The least of which is the winner of the third/fourth playoff and potentially the Sol know what the A’s are made of – heart and verve.
The mission of Women’s Professional Soccer (WPS) is to be the premier women’s soccer league in the world and the global standard by which women’s professional sports are measured.
I experienced this last night.
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I think it is excellent soccer. i have played and coached my whole life and this is some of the better soccer i have watched, and it is in our backyard/// that makes it even better. Cant wait for the playoff and the All Star Game!!!!
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Generally when officiating is the talk as alot of it has been at times. It has taken away the play of the girls. Im not a big fan of the league but I can’t help but think that this is a garage league with the terrible officiating!
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Bad news about Gray, Chalupny, and Daniela, but at least it looks like Lori’s okay to play. Really sorry to hear about Tarpley, too.
I thought Chicago had a nice edge in play early, but after Welsh’s goal we seem to pick it up. Masar did have some good opportunities for Chicago. As far as the refs go, I generally agree. Somebody for Athletica really got taken down in the 2nd half (it was at the other end so I couldn’t tell whom), but the ref was so busy getting out of way of the ball he missed the call. It’s been pretty inconsistent, as have been offsides calls. However, I have seen worse.
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