PUMA athlete Tasha Kai celebrates her game winning goal- image courtesy of isiphotos

 

This past weekend marked the opening of the second season for Women’s Professional Soccer. Four great matches were played across the country while the Sky Blue FC vs Chicago Red Stars match was broadcasted on FSC. The PUMA Power line was the theme of the weekend as all the teams sported their Power 1 and Power 5 kits, played with the WPS Power ball and more than half the athletes wore their new women’s power c2.10 boots. The new Recognize Awesome campaign made its debut with our new commercial spot launching on FSC and was supported by multiple in-stadium touchpoints including program booklets, fieldboards, in-stadium activations and giveaways. Newly signed PUMA athlete Natasha Kai was a highlight of the weekend and scored Sky Blue’s first goal of the season! 4 more games will be played this upcoming Saturday and Sunday.

 

 See below for a quick snap shot of all the action!

 

Saturday, April 10th

Washington Freedom vs Boston Breakers

Location: Maryland Soccer Plex

Final Score: Boston 2- Freedom 1

Attendance: 3,899

Game Highlights: The Breakers tallied the season’s first goal in the 7th minute when Lauren Cheney tapped the ball in off a Kristine Lilly corner kick.  Thirteen minutes later, Kelly Smith recorded her first goal of the 2010 season to put the Breakers up 2-0.  In the 87th minute, the Freedom’s Abby Wombach connected with teammate Alli Long to score their first goal of the season.

 

Sunday, April 11th

Saint Louis Athletica vs FC Gold Pride

Location: Anheuser-Bush Soccer Park, Fenton, MO

Final Score: Saint Louis 2- FC Gold Pride 0

Attendance: 3,356

Game Highlights: Eniola Aluko struck twice for Athletica as Saint Louis made an early statement in WPS league play. Aluko’s first goal was courtesy of an FC Gold Pride turnover that Shannon Boxx forced. Boxx intercepted a flat pass near the midfield circle and quickly picked out Aluko making a run through the center channel. Boxx’s ball was weighted perfectly, allowing Aluko to finish cleanly past Nicole Barnhart. Aluko’s second came in the 61st minute from a corner kick that Aya Miyama took. Miyama’s corner found Shannon Boxx who headed the ball back through the six-yard box finding Aluko who nodded home for a 2-0 Athletica lead.

 

 

Philadelphia Independence vs Atlanta Beat

Location: John A. Farrell Stadium, West Chester, PA

Final Score: Philadelphia 0- Atlanta 0

Attendance: 6,028

Game Highlights: The first real opportunity for the Independence came in the 7th minute off a through ball from PUMA athlete Amy Rodriguez, which Atlanta keeper Allison Whitworth tipped just wide.  Atlanta’s Mami Yamaguchi, a threatening offensive presence all game, retaliated seconds later putting two shots in a row just outside of the post.  Atlanta’s best opportunity of the game came in the 26th minute when Amanda Cinalli nailed a header off the far post.  In the closing minutes o the first half, Amy Rodriguez pushed forward on the right side, sending a floated cross into the box for midfielder Jen Buczkowski, who was unable to connect cleanly.

 

 

Sky Blue FC vs Chicago Red Stars

Location: Yurcak Field, Piscataway, NJ

Final Score: Sky Blue 1- Chicago 0

Attendance: 4,440

Game Highlights: On the 6th minute tally, Sky Blue’s O’Reilly settled the ball at the top of the box and fed it to newly signed PUMA athlete Natasha Kai in the center of the field. Kai, who led Sky Blue by registering six goals in 2009, needed just one touch to find an opening and struck the ball past Chicago goalkeeper Jillian Loyden to make it 1-0.

On Friday night, just hours after the 2010 WPS Draft in Philadelphia, PUMA and the WPS unveiled the 2010 uniforms worn by veteran players from the league’s nine teams as well as nine newly-drafted players who proudly wore their team colors for the first time.

Fusing fashion with sport, PUMA launched the newly-designed uniforms from the Power collection, which highlighted both performance as well as style.   The WPS athletes in attendance were: Atlanta Beat:  Leigh Ann Robinson, Defender and Tobin Heath, #1 draft pick for WPS 2010 Boston Breakers:  Leslie Osborne, Midfielder & PUMA Athlete and Lauren Cheney Chicago Red Stars:  Ella Masar, Forward and Whitney Engen FC Gold Pride:  Tiffeny Milbrett, Forward and Kelley O’Hara Los Angeles Sol:  Manya Makoski, Defender and Casey Nogueira Philadelphia Independence:  Amy Rodriguez, Forward & PUMA Athlete and Caroline Seger Sky Blue FC:  Yael Averbuch, Midfielder and Brittany Taylor St Louis Athletica:  Kendall Fletcher, Defender and Angie Kerr, Midfielder Washington Freedom:  Cat Whitehill, Defender and Nikki Marshall

 

 

Click below to check out a video of the event: