July 6, 2010
WPS THIS WEEK – PART I
A look at Wednesday’s games

Wednesday, July 7
Sky Blue FC (5-4-2, 17 pts) at Washington Freedom (4-3-4, 16 pts), 6 p.m. CT, Maryland SoccerPlex, Boyds, Md.
These two teams haven’t met since underdogs Sky Blue FC ousted the Washington Freedom in the first round of last season’s WPS playoffs. They have been close neighbors in the standings all season, and are separated by a single point going into Wednesday’s match. The Freedom are coming off a disappointing scoreless home draw with Chicago last Sunday, only the second time this season their usually-productive offense has been shut out since opening day. Abby Wambach is tied for third in the league goalscoring race with five, and leads the league in assists with seven. Sky Blue was off last week, but took a big hit anyway, when league-leading goalkeeper Karen Bardsley (56 saves, 5 SO) broke her clavicle during practice for the WPS All-Star Game. Laura Kalmari leads Sky Blue with four goals, followed by Tasha Kai and Rosana with three each.



Atlanta Beat (1-6-3, 6 pts) at Chicago Red Stars (3-5-2, 13 pts), 7:30 pm CT, Toyota Park, Bridgeview, Ill.
The Atlanta Beat have had good luck against the Chicago Red Stars this season, following up a scoreless tie on June 6 with the only win in franchise history, 1-0 on June 19. While Atlanta bolstered their lineup considerably with talent from the departed Saint Louis Athletica, including high-scoring forward Eniola Aluko and U.S. National Team goalkeeper Hope Solo, the hoped-for turnaround has been less than dramatic. The expansion team was dismantled 4-0 by front-running FC Gold Pride in their last outing, and surrendered the fastest goal in league history to Gold Pride’s Christine Sinclair less than a minute after kickoff. The Red Stars, meanwhile, are still trying to find their form. While they did pick up a point from last weekend’s scoreless draw with Washington, they put only three of their 23 shots on goal, and none in it.