With the Freedom gone, this is what locals are left with (in order of seniority): Northern Virginia Majestics The Majestics are the best-established local team, having been around since 1998. However, they've never been especially successful, having won just one playoff game in the team's history. They might pick up some of the better local players who would normally have joined the Freedom's W-League team, so we'll see how they do this year. Affiliation: W-League, Eastern Conference, Atlantic Division Home stadium: Hellwig Memorial Field Stadium, Manassas, VA Home games: 6/03 (Fri) 7 pm - Dayton 6/11 (Sat) 7 pm - Charlotte* 6/18 (Sat) 5 pm - Atlanta* 7/06 (Wed) 7 pm - Virginia Beach 7/13 (Wed) 7 pm - Fredericksburg ASA Chesapeake Charge For someone who followed the amateur-era Freedom, there were a host of familiar names on the Charge roster last year: Kelly Hammond, Ashly Kennedy, Brittany Tegeler, and player/coach Lisa Zanti. With the demise of the TSC Maryland Pride, they look to be adding names like Emily Janss and Christen Karniski. They made the playoffs in their inaugural season last year but lost in the first round. Affiliation: WPSL, East Conference, Mid-Atlantic Division Home Stadiums: Meade HS, Ft. Meade, MD; Arundel HS, Gambrills, MD Home Games: 5/14 (Sat) TBD - BuxMont Torch FC 5/21 (Sat) TBD - FC Bucks 6/04 (Sat) TBD - Chelsea Metro 6/18 (Sat) TBD - New Jersey Blaze 7/09 (Sat) TBD - Penn Legacy Inferno* DC United Women They're in the W-League. They'll play at the Soccerplex. They have that much in common with the Freedom's top amateur team (and the top team, period, pre-WPS). We'll see if they can put together as formidable a team as Gabarra and co. did. Affiliation: W-League, Eastern Conference, Northeast Division Home stadium: Maryland Soccerplex Stadium, Boyds, MD Home games: 6/09 (Thu) 7 pm - New Jersey Wildcats* 6/25 (Sat) 7 pm - New York 6/30 (Thu) 7 pm - Long Island* 7/08 (Fri) 7 pm - New Jersey Rangers 7/10 (Sun) 5 pm - North Jersey *Most formidable opponents based on past performance
Update, including a schedule change and a finalized home venue: ASA Chesapeake Charge The roster is now online and includes a few familiar names: Yewande Balogun (Freedom Futures 2010), Kelly Hammond (W-League Freedom 2006; W-League Majestics 2007-2009), and Emily Janss** (WUSA New York Power, 2001-2003; Amateur/W-League/WPS Washington Freedom 2005-2009). Affiliation: WPSL, East Conference, Mid-Atlantic Division Home Stadiums: Arundel High School, Gambrills, MD Home Games: 5/21 (Sat) 6 pm - FC Bucks 6/04 (Sat) 6 pm - Chelsea Metro 6/18 (Sat) 6 pm - New Jersey Blaze 7/02 (Sat) 7 pm - BuxMont Torch FC 7/09 (Sat) 7 pm - Penn Legacy Inferno* **Pictured at left (at least until I change my avatar).
The Chesapeake Charge downed FC Bucks, 3-1, in their season opener at home. Erica Marshall scored two of the goals, while Kelly Hammond - a familiar name from the Freedom's amateur days - scored the third. Former Freedomite Emily Janss also played.
The Chesapeake Charge remained undefeated as they downed Chelsea Metro, 3-0, at home. And the only reason the game was that close was that the Charge forwards took until the second half to realize that there's not much point in asking for the ball when you're a yard behind the last defender. I've haven't seen that many offsides called in a half since Pretinha played at RFK. Former Freedom stalwart Emily Janss played almost the entire game, coming out only in the closing minutes. She captained the team and in particular controlled a defense that scarcely allowed a dangerous shot the entire match. The Charge also defeated Vereingung Erzgebirge, 6-3, in US Open Cup play on May 15. That tournament continues tomorrow at 2 at Arundel High School as they play the New York Athletic Club.
Meanwhile, the Northern Virginia Majestics lost their opener, 1-0, on May 21 on the road against the Fredericksburg Impact, but then Friday night scored two goals in the last 30 minutes against the Dayton Dutch Lions to squeak out a tie in their first home match. Incidentally, even though a lot of the W-League teams have only played three games so far, only three teams - Ottawa, New Jersey, and Long Island - still have unblemished records. And the latter two are both in the Northeast Division, so that guarantees that at least one of them will drop off the list before the end of the season.
ASA Chesapeake Charge advance to the region finals of the Womens Open Cup by a score of 2-1 over last year's champ New York Athletic Club.
The Majestics fell yesterday to the division-leading Charlotte Lady Eagles. They are currently 0-2-1 and in last place in the division, but almost all of the other teams have played more matches. The Charge played to a scoreless draw on the road against the Penn Legacy Inferno on Saturday. They are 2-0-1 and in fourth place in their ten-team division, but with a game in hand on the three teams ahead of them. The team plays two matches next weekend, a WPSL game at home on Saturday, then the Women's Open Cup Region I Championship on Sunday at 11 am against the Peninsula Aztecs at the Ukrainian American Sports Center in Horsham, PA.
The Northern Virginia Majestics lost at home to the division-leading Atlanta Silverbacks, 2-0. They currently have a 0-3-1 record and are in last place in the division, with but 1-3 games in hand on everyone else. Unfortunately for them, they go on the road this weekend to play the top two teams in the division (Atlanta and Charlotte). Odds are that they'll be eliminated from the playoffs by the time they're done.
The ASA Chesapeake Charge had a grueling but successful weekend. Saturday evening they defeated the New Jersey Blaze, 3-1, at home. Then they went on the road to face the Peninsula Aztecs at 11 am for the USASA Region I Women's Open Cup championship. They won that match, 1-0, on a goal scored by former Freedomite Kelly Hammond off a critical assist from Alexis Prior-Brown, who drew the goalkeeper's attention before sliding the ball over to Hammond, who had an open net to shoot into. With the win they'll be going to Kentucky the weekend of July 15-17 to play teams from other regions for the Open Cup Championship. Finally, they went a few miles up the road to face BuxMont Torch FC at 5 pm in a second WPSL match. Word is that they won, but I don't have specifics. Last night they were on the road again against Chelsea Metro. The bus broke down enroute to the Camden, NJ, area venue, and they lost, 4-1. This was their first loss of the season and leaves them with a 4-1-1 record, good enough for second place in the 10-team East--Mid-Atlantic division with a game in hand on their two main rivals, the New York Athletic Club and the Penn Legacy Inferno. There are four games left in their season, three against the three bottommost teams in the league, and one against the Penn Legacy Inferno, their final match of the regular season (on July 2) and one that might well decide their playoff fate.
The Northern Virginia Majestics faced a tough road trip over the weekend, playing the Atlantic-Division-leading Atlanta Silverbacks on Friday, then the second place Charlotte Lady Eagles on Saturday. They lost the first game 0-1 and the second 0-3. This left them with a 0-5-1 record and 15 points out of playoff position with 4 games to play. Hence, it is no longer possible for them to make the playoffs.
Meanwhile, the Chesapeake Charge eked out a 1-1 draw against the Milburn Magic on the road Friday evening. This dropped them to third place in the Mid-Atlantic Division but still only three points out of first place with a game in hand. They go on the road again to New Jersey Thursday evening, then are home both of the next two Saturdays, first against the inept BuxMont Torch FC, then against the capable Penn Legacy Inferno.
Charge, Torch play to scoreless draw We’ve all seen games where one team dominated throughout but couldn’t find the net to save their lives. Well, this game might be my all-time exemplar of that (though the 2008 W-League Freedom caused similar teeth-gnashing as well). Typical moment: In about the 79th minute, Buxmont, the opposing team, slips on defending a long free kick and lets a Charge forward through. She’s one-on-one with the goalkeeper but fires the ball straight to her. The goalkeeper can’t hang onto the ball, which rolls out to the right. With the goalkeeper scrambling after it, the Charge forward gets there first and crosses the ball back across the goalmouth. On the other side, another Charge player runs onto the ball and with the goalkeeper totally out of the picture bounces it off a defender covering. That rebound comes to a third Charge player, still with most of the goal to choose from, who sends it right to the keeper, who hangs on this time. Now imagine an entire second half of this. The Charge were working furiously against the Torch, the last-place team in the division whom they beat on the road despite it being their third match in two days, to the point where Emily Janss, normally a central defender, moved up top, probably because she was the best technical player on the team. In intensity it was reminiscent of England storming back against New Zealand the other day but, unlike the Three Lions, Chesapeake were unable to finish. (Another defining moment was when one of their corner kicks went off the right post but stayed in play. Unfortunately for them the same player who took the kick played the ball, which was a double-touch and therefore a turnover.) The result leaves the Charge in third place in their division. They have one game left in their regular season, against the fifth place Penn Legacy Inferno, which will take place next Saturday. (Unfortunately, I won’t be able to attend that match due to other obligtions.) I have no idea why the playoff setup is for the WPSL, but from the way the Charge played, I'm inclined to think they're right on the bubble and know it.
Did some searching on the WPSL website and eventually found this: "The East Conference will have 16 teams and will be divided into two divisions: the Northeast & Mid-Atlantic. The six-team post-season playoff format will go as follows: the two divisional winners will receive a first-round bye, while the top four teams remaining in points (regardless of division) will be re-seeded for the quarterfinal matches." The Charge are currently in playoff position, but there are teams with games in hand that could catch them, particularly if they lose their final match this coming Saturday.
The ASA Chesapeake Charge beat local rivals Penn Legacy Inferno, 1-0, to clinch a playoff spot. They are currently in second position of teams without a first-round bye (which I hope would mean one more home game), but could be dropped to third if the CFC Passion win their final three matches.
The CFC Passion indeed passed the Charge in the playoff standings and will therefore host them in a first-round playoff game to be played on Tuesday, July 19, at Yale University.
Last weekend the ASA Chesapeake Charge headed to Kentucky for the final four of the USASA Women's Open Cup but fell in Friday's semifinals, 0-2, to the St. Louis JB Marine, who went on to win the championship on Sunday. Player Q&A with the Charge's Heather Cooke, whose other claim to fame is appearing on MTV's The Real World: Las Vegas. The playoff match with the CFC Passion at Yale University will kick off at 7 pm tonight. Meanwhile, despite what the website says, apparently seven teams made the East Conference playoffs: the Northeast Division champion Boston Aztec U-23 got a bye, the defending champions Boston Aztec already downed the New York Athletic Club, and the New York Fury - whom I thought would get a bye as the winner of the Atlantic Division - defeated the New England Mutiny.
The ASA Chesapeake Charge found their missing offense in a playoff victory over the CFC Passion last night. After scoring only three goals in their last five games, they matched that total in 90 minutes to down the Passion, 3-1. As a result, they'll move on to the East Conference semifinals, presumably playing the Northeast Division champion Boston Aztec U-23s Thursday at 5 pm.
I stand corrected: The WPSL continues to baffle - I would have expected that the teams from different divisions would play each other, rather than the teams from the same division. (Note, incidentally, that the Aztec U-23 actually finished ahead of the senior Aztec team in the standings.)
WOOT! Never count out the ASA Chesapeake Charge when it really matters. The Mid-Atlantic Division regular-season champion New York Fury scored an average of three goals a game during the season, but the stalwart Charge defense shut them down, propelling the team to a 1-0 win despite playing their second road match in three days. As a result, the Charge get to host (!) the East Conference Championship match this Monday at 7 pm at Arundel High School. Their opponents will be the Boston Aztec Breakers Reserves, who easily overcame their U-23 team, 4-0, for the spot in the final. The winner of this match gets to go to Chicago to play in the WPSL Championship.
Match was moved to 7:30 this evening, then 8, then delayed 50 minutes by a torrential thunderstorm. The normally stalwart Charge defense had some ugly breakdowns, leading to a 3-0 for the defending WPSL champion Boston Aztec. All the goals were scored in the first half. Chesapeake stepped up in the second half but were unable to break through. Alexis Prior-Brown, who came in late in the first half and played for much of the second, gave the Aztec defense fits but was never able to put the ball in the net.
2011 WPSL ALL-EAST CONFERENCE TEAM Coach of the Year - Albert Oni. First Team: Jess Hnatiuk (D) Emily Janss (D) (There's a reason why the Charge didn't give up many goals this year.) Second Team: Kristen Schmidbauer (F) Yewande Balogun (GK)