While the players are with the National Team, they of course are keeping an eye on the results from their WPS clubs as the season enters its critical stage in the run to the playoffs. The players mostly have to follow Twitter, text messages from their teammates, WPS MatchTracker and post-game phone calls, but Lori Chalupny and Cat Whitehill were lucky enough to be able follow the St.

In a bit of a rush this morning, as usual. Our black lab Willie came up lame yesterday. He has a chronic shoulder problem which something seems to have exacerbated. This morning he seems a little bit better, but still not himself. He'll be turning 10 this summer, so it's worrisome to see him hurting.

It's a sweltering afternoon in Carson and to call this crowd "sparse" - or even a crowd, frankly - would be charitable.

The Sol XI (4-4-2): goalkeeper Karina LeBlanc; defenders Brittney Bock, Stephanie Cox, Allison Faulk, Manya Makoski; midfielders Ali Wagner, Shannon Boxx, Aya Miyama, Camille Abily; forwards Christie Welsh, Marta.

Upon further research by statistics guru extraordinaire Peter Hirdt of Elias Sports Bureau, we have discovered that Christine Nairn is the 9th youngest player ever to score a goal for the full U.S. Women's National Team. Kristine Lilly was the youngest at 16 years, 22 days, a record that will likely never be broken (one of many seeingingly unbreakable records by Lilly!

Chicago posts 5-10-5 record to wrap up first WPS season
The Chicago Red Stars closed their inaugural Women's Professional Soccer season with a 2-0 loss to St. Louis Athletica on Wednesday night at Anheuser-Busch Soccer Park in Fenton, Mo.
Chicago out-shot St. Louis, 10-8, but only put two shots on goal to St.

By CHRISTA MANN

Sky Blue FC (NJ) will be making an improbable trip to the WPS Championship after pulling off yet another upset when they defeated the St. Louis Athletica 1-0 in the WPS playoff semifinal on Wednesday.

For the first time since July 18, St.

They were Canadian international defender Sharolta Nonen, who started two games after joining the team in the wake of defender Christie Shaner breaking her leg on her Sol debut, and midfielder Katie Larkin, a BYU product who made five starts for the Sol.

Full details of today's expansion draft are here.

Photo by ISIphotos.com

By CHRiSTA MANN

After an extensive review process in Women's Pro Soccer, the league can now shift from analyzing Week Six to opening Week Seven.

Photo by ISIphotos.com

By CHRISTA MANN

Week 20 marks the final weekend in the regular season of Women's Pro Soccer.

Photo by ISIphotos.com

By CHRISTA MANN

Week 20 marks the final weekend in the regular season of Women's Pro Soccer.

Other WPS All-Star blog posts on Soccer Science:
WPS All-Star Weekend Begins
WPS All-Star Weekend II: WPS Awards Ceremony through Kick-Off

We've just finished editing the videos from the WPS Awards Celebration and thought it would be nice to post links to all of them here so you can see the acceptance speeches.

Drury Panthers, Christie Stewart

12:00 – #6 Drury at #3 Bellarmine (W) #3 Bellarmine (W)
Drury's third straight venture into the Great Lakes Valley Conference Tournament field will begin on the road this time, with the sixth-seeded Panthers set to visit third-seeded Bellarmine in a noon (CST) match on Sunday in Louisville, Ky.

Yup - it's a busy day in Canterbury, with lots of computer work on tap, as well as some growing grass to catch up with, a bike to get to the bike shop, maybe even a little bit of exercise (other than mowing) and reading to squeeze in along the way. (Hah!)

Here's the WPS preview for the weekend - with some interesting match-ups, starting with FC Gold Pride and the Daniela-less (and MacNeill-less) Athletica tonight at 8PM ET.

Washington Freedom 0 Sol 1

Game story.

Sol XI: Karina LeBlanc; Stephanie Cox, Brittany Bock, Christie Shaner (Manya Makoski, 52'), Shannon Boxx ©, Camille Abily, Aya Miyama, Katie Larkin, McCall Zerboni, Han Duan, Marta.

Highlights: