The match itself was a ton of fun. Trying to get in with a ticket fiasco going on (despite the fact many people, including me, had Sol tickets, we had to go to several box offices because you couldn’t get into the match without a Galaxy ticket), was a pain in the rear, but seeing the players and the game made it totally worth it. It was also cool to see one of the US women’s youth national teams in attendance. The crowd was into it, and the players were extremely nice. It was like going to the US WNT play…and I will upload some photos from one of their matches eventually (including a few close ones when practically the entire team came over to sign).

When the match was over, Hope Solo came over, talked for a bit, and signed some autographs, which was awesome (yeah, I got one). She’s super friendly.

Since the Athletica basically get no love from the WPS game of the week on television and the Sol always, I’ll give you a few impressions on St. Louis:

First of all, they need someone–anyone–at the top that is capable of breaking through a defense and shooting under pressure. The Athletica are one team that does not have a dominant scorer, and it showed only too well when their shots on goal and runs would be cut down quickly. Losing Daniela is a major, major blow to the team. They also need a defense that can protect against runs on the sides. This is one of the other deadly factors in their match…they kept allowing the Sol to penetrate from deep in the corners and by allowing runs to the far left and right, mainly keeping their focus on Marta and not looking enough at the potential that other Sol players had to score.

I was also impressed by Aluko. She is speedy and made some nice runs. Tina Ellerton also did a good job in defending against Marta. In one particular play, she was able to run Marta into the right corner, preventing her from getting a shot at the goal. Chups was fantastic and, though the score doesn’t dictate this, Solo had some top-notch diving and leaping saves.

…But you’re going to have to wait til tomorrow to get it! Ha, sorry about that. I am sure you’ll enjoy it, though.

It was quick work by both country’s soccer minds to put together this match on such short notice, so that’s pretty sweet. As you know, the US will also be playing Canada in their July friendlies.

The cancellation of one of the matches likely bites into the possible playing time for the national team newbies, but the experience that they’ll get training with the vets should be a nice experience. Abby Wambach will be looking for 100th career goal for the US, while Christine Sinclair will be looking for her 100th international goal playing for Canada. Making that story a tad more interesting is the fact that two players have never tried for their 100th goals in the same match in soccer history.

Despite assurances from US Soccer that risks would be low of any players contracting the virus, Japan has decided not to travel and risk the possibility. Hard to blame them, but cries of pandemic have eased considerably since the initial outbreak.

Fans who had purchased tickets to the matches will receive a full refund. Full information about these refunds can be viewed here.

Anyway, the St. Louis Athletica earned their first win this season against FC Gold Pride, taking the match 1-0. Lori Chalupny found the back of the net with a swerving corner kick, giving the team all they needed, as Hope Solo got a shutout. Solo’s backup on the US WNT, Nicole Barnhart, was in goal for FC Gold Pride. Barnhart had a collision in the penalty area during the match, breaking her nose. She stayed in the game, though. Welsh and Fletcher came off the bench in the victory. Looking for space to add its new players, St. Louis waived Sheree Gray.

But all was not great for St. Louis, as Daniela has been listed as being out indefinitely following her tangle with Abby Wambach. She has been diagnosed with a cracked tibia and two damaged ligaments, meaning that she is probably out for the season.

Sky Blue FC also got themselves on the board in the win column as they downed the Chicago Red Stars 2-0. Chicago had been one of the more consistent teams, but their defense was unable to keep up with the Sky Blue offense, who came up with a couple of nice runs to earn their tallies. Natasha Kai and Sarah Walsh connected to get the goals.

Boston and LA were also at work on Sunday afternoon, but the teams settled for a 0-0 tie. LA has had five clean sheets in the six matches that they have played. Very impressive.

After watching the match against the Freedom, which St. Louis absolutely should have won, it is clear that they needed an offensive and defensive boost. Not only were their first goals of the season scored (and two by Daniela), but their defense allowed too many people to get loose by running wide, giving opponents a free shot at Solo with tons of open net.

None of the players in the league are particularly old, so while it does hurt St. Louis to lose their draft picks, they won’t be hurting too much. They need to compete now, and losing Daniela is a huge blow to both their offense and defense.

Los Angeles, on the other hand, is one of the best teams in the league, with a great balance of offense and defense. They could afford to lose a bit of depth, and they can take heart in the fact they’ll have two first rounders in 2011 (for now, anyway).

Fletcher, a member of the national team, is a solid defender who will help to close the gaping holes that St. Louis showed they were vulnerable to making in their television debut.

Welsh, also a member of the national team, will provide an offensive boost to a team that has failed to convert on some mighty good chances at the net.

The conditional first-round pick to the Sol for 2010 becomes a second rounder if the Athletica are not one of the top five teams in the league this season. Their chances of finishing in the top five have definitely improved based upon this move, but I guess we’ll see how it plays out. For now, I like it a lot.

Goalkeepers:
Nicole Barnhart
Kelsey Davis
Hope Solo

Defenders:
Brittany Bock
Rachel Buehler
Lori Chalupny
Marian Dalmy
Amy LePeilbet
Heather Mitts
Christie Rampone

Midfielders:
Shannon Boxx
Angela Hucles
Carli Lloyd
Christine Nairn
Heather O’Reilly
Megan Rapinoe
Lindsay Tarpley

Forwards:
Lauren Cheney
Casey Nogueira
Amy Rodriguez
Abby Wambach

So, in the goal, we’ve got our usual suspects in Hope and Barny, but we’ve also got a new face in Kelsey Davis, who used to play in the goal at UCLA but headed up to Portland for her final season. She probably won’t get much playing time (if at all), since Sundhage will have the responsibility of keeping two WPS keepers with seniority on the national team fresh for their teams. Solo is guaranteed at least one start, with maybe Barnhart taking over at the half or taking the start in the second match. Sundhage could get the three keepers playing time by starting Solo or Barnhart in the net and having the three rotate for minutes in the second half.

Buehler, Chups, Mitts, and Rampone were givens for the roster, and Dalmy also earned herself another invite. Brittany Bock has done a stellar job for the Sol so far this season, and her play on defense has earned her a call to the national squad. LePeilbet has 23 caps with the national team, but has not seen time with the team since 2006. I’m a bit surprised that Stephanie Cox did not get a call, but perhaps there is some sort of limit on how many players Sundhage could take from a team. Also absent on defense from some of the more familiar names are Kendall Fletcher, who was recently traded from Los Angeles to St. Louis, Kate Markgraf, who is pregnant with her second child, Ali Krieger, and Cat Whitehill, who has returned from her ACL injury and is playing with the Freedom.

Next we’ve got our midfielders, where we see Boxx, Hucles, Lloyd, O’Reilly, Rapinoe, and Tarpley as the old guard. The newest and youngest face to add to the list is Christine Nairn, a Penn State freshman. Interesting pick. Absent are Tina DiMartino, Tobin Heath, Kristine Lily, Leslie Osborne, Aly Wagner, and Kacey White. Of any of these to not be picked, I suppose it’s the Queen of Caps, Lily, who really caught my attention for not being added. I thought Sundhage seemed higher on Wagner and White of late, so they’re exclusion also surprised me.

Finally, the forwards. Abby Wambach, of course, returns in the hopes of finally drilling that 100th goal. She is back and as scary as ever playing up top for the Freedom. It’s hard to believe she’s playing with a titanium rod in her leg. Lauren Cheney, fresh off her junior season at UCLA (Go Bruins!), is up, as is Amy Rodriguez, the first ever draft pick by the WPS out of USC. The newbie in this crowd is Casey Nogueira, a sophomore forward at UNC, a school that just might have a good soccer program. Just maybe. She has one career cap with the senior team. Tina Ellerton, who has played some great ball with St. Louis, and Natasha Kai, playing for the struggling Sky Blue FC, are not listed…Kai is the most surprising, but after struggling and losing her starting spot to Amy Rodriguez in the Olympics and following tour, Sundhage is apparently looking for more fresh faces.

Abby was suspended based on a hard tackle that she made in the 80th minute, while McNeill is banned for her hard contact throughout the match (and she did take down Abby).

Commissioner Tonya Antonucci reviewed the game and came to the decision. She describes the process for picking out the suspensions in her release, which can be found here.

Antonucci apparently has the power to independently choose to suspend players based on the nature of play and if she deems it necessary. There were a lot of hard tackles in the Freedom-Athletica match. Abby always plays the game hard and she attacked hard, but she also received the brunt of the blows from the Athletica, so I do think that the suspensions were justified. I was already surprised that there weren’t any red cards or more yellow cards pulled in the match.

Update 3:07 pm: We’re off and St. Louis is trying to take some momentum early. Daniela took a shot on frame for St. Louis, but right at Kati Jo Spisak.

Update 3:11 pm: Daniela sends another one soaring over the net. St. Louis has had some nice touches, but they aren’t taking the time to shoot and to get a cleaner shot.

Update 3:12 pm: Hope Solo gets her first chance as Abby Wambach dribbles one right to her in the centre of the net. Looks like a nice crowd on hand for today’s match…good to see people coming out to watch the matches.

Update 3:13 pm: Daniela finally gets the first goal for the Athletica! After a diving shot by Spisak, Daniela got her foot around on the rebound and drilled it while Spisak was on the ground to the left. 1-0 Athletica.

Update 3:16 pm: The Athletica are putting tons of pressure on the Freedom defense. They’re keeping Spisak on her toes, and she’s having a bit of a hard time keeping hold of rebounds.

Update 3:18 pm: Ouch, Francielle goes down in the midfield. The field is a bit slippery after Maryland got some heavy rains earlier. She’s up after a few seconds.

Update 3:22 pm: Beautiful diving save by Spisak on a rocket shot by Daniela.

Update 3:26 pm: And now Solo makes a nice save in the air coming off her line. With Abby Wambach behind her waiting to head the ball into the net, she elevates enough to swipe the ball away.

Update 3:27 pm: Good running tackle by Tina Ellerton to keep Sonia Bompastor away from the Athletica goal. Bompastor had a nice breakaway.

Update 3:30 pm: Abby Wambach has a clear shot on goal on a breakaway but sends the ball over the net.

Update 3:35 pm: Oh man, Bompastor send a kick right past a diving Solo into the lower corner of the net. 1-1.

Update 3:40 pm: A definite shift in momentum from the beginning of the game…the Freedom have taken control for the past 15 minutes or so.

Update 3:43 pm: Free kick for Whitehill. Solo gets knocked back by Wambach, but the ball squirts out.

Update 3:46 pm: Youch, Wambach takes a real hard shot on the back by Kia McNeill…she’s booked for a yellow card.

Update 3:48 pm: Wow, blazing strike by Daniela–she rips a shot by Spisak into the upper left portion of the net. 2-1 Athletica.

Update 3:49 pm: Odd shot by Spisak…she takes a pass back at the goal and shoots it far into the stands.

Update 3:52 pm: Whoa, I’m surprised…Ellerton takes a hard shot at Wambach and there’s no call…she’s been taking some super hard knocks today. She certainly takes her own hard shots at other players, but some of these should at least get a whistle.

Update 3:53 pm: Two minutes of stoppage time added as Whitehill lofts an easy shot for Solo. Very physical match today, making for a more interesting match than expected. Bodies flying everywhere.

Update 3:54 pm: Broadcasters bring up a nice point. Either Abby is an amazing actress, or she is getting tossed with hard body shots the entire game. McNeill knocks her just inside the box and the ball pops into Sool’s waiting arms…and it’s the end of the half.

Update 3:56 pm: It’s raining at halftime. I’m sure that St. Louis is feeling better now that they’ve gotten their first scores of the WPS season. They’ll try to carry that momentum into the second half as they try to get their first win on the year…Sky Blue FC and the Athletica are the only teams without a win. Sky Blue will get a chance to get one tonight as they take on the FC Gold Pride at 5 PM PT.

Update 4:05 pm: Rain continues to fall and it looks like fall is starting to roll in…waiting for the second half to start.

Update 4:09 pm: Second half is just about to start…okay, now it has.

Update 4:11 pm: Allie Long is out for the Freedom and Lisa De Vanna is in.

Update 4:16 pm: Lori Lindsey sends a hard dribbler to Solo, who jumps on it.

Update 4:18 pm: Lindsey sends another hard shot to Solo, who gets it off the ground.

Update 4:20 pm: Francielle had a good shot at goal, but Spisak dives to her left and the ball ricochets off her chest.

Update 4:22 pm: Bompastor gets bumped and will earn a corner for the Freedom. Solo punches it clear to the far right.

Update 4:26 pm: Ellerton does a poor job in cutting off Wambach near the St. Louis box and Wambach gets a clean shot on goal, but Solo dives hard to get the save.

Update 4:28 pm: Kristin DeDycker got caught up in a hard tackle with Daniela earlier, and she has been limping around the field…looks like an ankle injury. She’s going to be taken out for Rebecca Moros.

Update 4:33 pm: Eniola Aluko takes advantage of a hesitation by Spisak in the goal and crosses a ball into the back of the net. 3-1 Athletica.

Update 4:38 pm: Ellerton’s hunched over…looks like she’s going to be taken out. Niki Cross will come in for her. Not sure about the injury to Ellerton, but the trainer came out.

Update 4:41 pm: The Freedom are creating some chances and maintaining the majority of possession this half, but they haven’t been able to string anything together on the Athletica defense.

Update 4:44 pm: Wambach feeds a nice cross DeVanna, who slips the ball past Solo. Ball trickled off her arm and into the goal. 3-2 Athletica. And bad news for the Athletica…Daniela’s down and not getting up…

Update 4:45 pm: Daniela’s probably going to be taken off…she’s certainly in some major pain in the legs. Yeah, she’s going to be taken off on a stretcher in a considerable amount of pain. It looks like she made some hard contact with Wambach and that led to the injury. The trainers and Solo lift her onto the stretcher.

Update 4:48 pm: Kerri Hanks will come on for St. Louis in place of Daniela. This is a huge blow to the Athletica offense. Daniela had been battling a knee injury, and it looks like the injury was to her right leg. The offense will really have to step up if Daniela is out for any period of time…and I think it’s probably safe to think she won’t be playing next week.

Update 4:50 pm: The Freedom string together some nice passes culminating in a strike by Lindsey, but her shot sails over the net.

Update 4:52 pm: Daniela’s getting some ice on her knee over on the sidelines, still on the stretcher. Aluko goes down, but she’s up pretty quickly.

Update 4:54 pm: There will be 6 minutes of stoppage time, the majority coming from the time that Daniela spent on the ground. And just as that is announced, Hanks is booked with a yellow card…and Bompastor gets her second goal of the match on a header just out of the reach of a jumping Solo. 3-3.

Update 4:59 pm: Wow, Solo takes quite a shot by Homare Sawa at the posts, but she shakes it off and sends the ball back in.

Update 5:01 pm: The match is over with a final score of 3-3. St. Louis finally earns their first goals on the season, but they lose Daniela to an apparent knee injury and allow 2 goals for the Freedom to equalize, failing to win the match. It’ll be another week of waiting for a victory.

How about that Chicago blowout over Boston? The Red Stars thumped out four goals in their rain-soaked victory (that sound familiar?). Chicago was on the attack the entire game, outshooting the Breakers 20-8. Kelly Smith of the Red Breakers had just returned from the English National Team and was available to play in the game, but Tony DiCiccio decided not to play her in the thrashing.

And last, but certainly not least, was the 0-0 game featuring the Sol and Athletica. It was a game of missed opportunity, as both teams had chances to win with penalty kicks. Aly Wagner’s strike in the 73rd minute was saved by Hope Solo, who made a nice stab diving to her right. Lori Chalupny missed her opportunity to score for St. Louis, as she drilled her shot straight at Sol goalkeeper Karina LeBlanc. The Athletica will continue to search for a goal, but they did save themselves from being handed another defeat. They are the only team to have kept the Sol from victory, moving their record to 0-2-1 and the Sol’s to 3-0-1. They’ll keep searching for a win (and a goal) when they take on the Washington Freedom on Sunday.