Contents

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.

• 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.

• 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.

2010 schedule

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

FC Gold Pride	4 - 0	Philadelphia Independence
Sinclair 16' 53' Wilson 28' Marta 90'

Attendance: 5,228

Referee: Jennifer Bennett

FC Gold Pride: GK 1 Nicole Barnhart FW 9 Kandace Wilson DF 5 Candace Chapman  80' DF 4 Rachel Buehler (c) DF 3 Ali Riley MF 77 Shannon Boxx  75' MF 20 Camille Abily  66' DF 14 Becky Edwards FW 15 Tiffeny Milbrett FW 12 Christine Sinclair FW 10 Marta (MVP) Substitutions: MF 13 Kristen Graczyk  80' FW 7 Kelley O'Hara  66' FW 11 Kiki Bosio  75' Manager: Albertin Montoya

Philadelphia Independence: GK 1 Val Henderson DF 15 Nikki Krzysik DF 3 Allison Falk DF 24 Estelle Johnson MF 26 Holmfridur Magnusdottir MF 6 Lori Lindsey (c)  58' MF 4 Jen Buczkowski MF 9 Caroline Seger  76' MF 25 Tina DiMartino FW 8 Amy Rodriguez FW 10 Lianne Sanderson  64' Substitutes: FW 19 Danesha Adams  58' DF 2 Heather Mitts  64' MF 16 Lyndsey Patterson  76' Manager: Paul Riley

Leading Goalscorers Rank Player Club G Min 1 Marta FC Gold Pride 19 2160 2 Abby Wambach Washington Freedom 13 1979 3 Amy Rodriguez Philadelphia Independence 12 2001 4 Kelly Smith Boston Breakers 11 1711 5 Christine Sinclair FC Gold Pride 10 2054 6 Eniola Aluko Saint Louis Athletica/Atlanta Beat 9 1608 7 Ella Masar Chicago Red Stars 8 1146 8 Jordan Angeli Boston Breakers 7 1457 9 Tiffeny Milbrett FC Gold Pride 6 1237 Kelley O'Hara FC Gold Pride 6 1445

Assist Leaders Rank Player Club A Min 1 Christine Sinclair FC Gold Pride 9 2054 2 Lori Lindsey Philadelphia Independence 8 1948 Abby Wambach Washington Freedom 8 1979 4 Camille Abily FC Gold Pride 6 1103 Amy Rodriguez Philadelphia Independence 6 2001 6 Caroline Seger Philadelphia Independence 5 1515 Shannon Boxx Saint Louis Athletica/FC Gold Pride 5 1705 Kelly Smith Boston Breakers 5 1711 Sonia Bompastor Washington Freedom 5 1877 Heather O'Reilly Sky Blue FC 5 1980 Marta FC Gold Pride 5 2160

Fouls Committed Rank Player Club FC Min 1 Formiga Chicago Red Stars 42 1887 2 Jen Buczkowski Philadelphia Independence 35 1808 3 Megan Rapinoe Chicago Red Stars 34 1477 4 Hólmfríður Magnúsdóttir Philadelphia Independence 31 1593 5 Caroline Seger Philadelphia Independence 30 1515 6 Katie Chapman Chicago Red Stars 29 1874 7 Abby Wambach Washington Freedom 27 1979 8 Shannon Boxx Saint Louis Athletica/FC Gold Pride 25 1705 Sonia Bompastor Washington Freedom 25 1877 10 Kelly Smith Boston Breakers 24 1711

Fouls Suffered Rank Player Club FS Min 1 Sonia Bompastor Washington Freedom 44 1877 2 Kelly Smith Boston Breakers 43 1711 3 Lori Chalupny Saint Louis Athletica/Atlanta Beat 38 1737 4 Abby Wambach Washington Freedom 37 1979 5 Formiga Chicago Red Stars 31 1887 6 Aya Miyama Saint Louis Athletica/Atlanta Beat 23 1952 7 Leslie Osborne Boston Breakers 22 1440 Karen Carney Chicago Red Stars 22 1449 9 Allie Long Washington Freedom 21 1847 Cristiane Chicago Red Stars 21 1886

Minimum 60 minutes played per game average

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

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

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

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

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

• First Goal of the Season: Lauren Cheney for Boston Breakers against Washington Freedom, 7th minute (April 10)^[11]
• Earliest Goal in a Match: 2nd minute
  • Lori Lindsey for Philadelphia Independence against Sky Blue FC (June 6)^[12]
• Latest Goal in a Match: 90th minute
  • Christie Welsh for Washington Freedom against Atlanta Beat (April 18)^[13]
• Widest Winning Margin: 5 Goals
  • Atlanta Beat 1-6 FC Gold Pride (August 28)
• Most Goals Scored in a Match: 7 Goals
  • Atlanta Beat 1-6 FC Gold Pride (August 28)
• First Hat-Trick:
• Fastest Hat-Trick:
• First Own Goal: Allison FalkofPhiladelphia Independence for Saint Louis Athletica (8 May)
• Average Goals per Match: 2.45

• First Yellow Card: Fabiana for Boston Breakers against Washington Freedom, 44th minute (April 10)^[11]
• First Red Card: Jen Buczkowski for Philadelphia Independence against Boston Breakers, 86th minute (April 18)
• Most Yellow Cards in a Match: 3
  • Boston Breakers 1-1 Philadelphia Independence - 3 for Philadelphia (Caroline Seger, 2x Jen Buczkowski) (April 18)^[14]
• Most Red Cards in a Match:

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 StadiuminKennesaw, 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.

• Official Site