Atlanta Soccer » Marta

Atlanta Beat Win, Lose, & Draw in same game!

Scott — Tue, 02 Aug 2011 17:48:12 +0000

On Saturday, July 22nd, in the Atlanta Beat’s first home game since the end of the World Cup the fans came out in full support with a sold out KSU Soccer Stadium. The official attendance was announced at 9,345. The Beat were looking to break their 12 game winless streak against a magicJack team that was coming off short rest after taking on Western New York Flash three days prior.

Abby Wambach, of magicJack, had the first dangerous chance of the night in the opening minutes. In the 8th minute of regulation Atlanta’s Lori Chalupny took a feed from Kelly Parker but sent it just wide. It was an open game with chances on both sides. Parker had several good looks but struggled to put the ball on frame. The Beat defense played good in the first half and shut down the magicJack offense.

In the second half the game slowed down a bit as the heat started to wear on the players. With magicJack playing on a short week they settle in defensively and looked to capitalize off counter attack and set piece opportunities. Afterwards many of the National Team players talked about how difficult it’s been to prepare for these games with all that has been going on since their return from Germany.

In the 72′ minute of play Wambach was substituted off to cheers from the crowd. It was Wambach’s replacement, Lisa DeVanna, who almost put the game away in the waning minutes with a breakaway one-on-one opportunity but Atlanta Beat goalkeeper, Allison Whitworth, came up big once more stopping the shot long enough for a defender to come in and hit it out of bounds. Allison had a fantastic game and was the difference between earning a point and taking the loss. Unfortunately earning only a point wasn’t enough as the Beat fell out of contention for the final playoff spot. So the Beat won at the gate with attendance, tied in a scoreless draw, and lost their shot at the playoffs and winning the WPS Championship.

After the game Whitworth had this to say about the sold-out stadium.

“It was amazing. We want to play in front of a [full stadium] — and these are the crowds we can have in Atlanta. We want them to love what we do, love the game, and come watch good soccer.”

The fans were treated to a post-game fireworks display to help cap off the evening but the day wasn’t over. At least not for the players who remained for nearly an hour longer signing autographs and posing for pictures with their fans. Chants of “Abby, Abby, Abby” echoed through the stadium as they waited for the 2011 FIFA Women’s World Cup Silver Boot winner to make her way around.

With the heat, the game, the media attention, and fans clamoring I could understand the players just making an appearance and then heading off to catch their breath and start their recovery process. But they understand that they have a chance to capitalize on this energy to help the struggling Women’s Professional Soccer (WPS) league gain some momentum and hopefully retain these new and reinvigorated fans.

Wambach had this to say on the topic of WPS maintaining the momentum from the recent World Cup.

“If we continue to play good soccer - the buzz is out there from the World Cup, we’ve just got to keep it alive and do our part as players by getting out into the community and as role models to keep it alive and keep the word out there.”

The Beat host Alex Morgan and Marta of the Western New York Flash on Saturday, Aug. 6 during PUMA’s Project Pink night. The Atlanta Beat chose the American Cancer Society Making Strides Against Breast Cancer as their PUMA Project Pink charity of choice. Wear pink, do good: a simple request, but one that could help change the lives of women across the country. For more information on Project Pink, visit www.puma.com/projectpink .

Tickets are still available for their home finale on Aug. 6 at KSU Soccer Stadium. Call 678-298-4780 or visit www.TheAtlantaBeat.com for more information.

Do you think we’ll see another sellout? Who are you more excited to see from the Western New York Flash, Alex Morgan or Marta?

Atlanta Beat vs. FC Gold Pride

Scott — Tue, 03 Aug 2010 12:21:42 +0000

The Atlanta Beat started the season like most expansion teams do, by losing. But after an infusion of new players from the now defunct St. Louis Athletica the Atlanta Beat have started to turn things around. Prior to the All-Star break the Beat had gone 1-5-3 to earn 6 points through 9 games. Since the All-Star break the team has gone 3-2-1 to take their total points earned to 16. With 9 games left the Atlanta Beat has as good of a shot at making the playoffs as any team does.

In their previous game the Beat netted 3 goals against the Washington Freedom which is the most they’ve tallied in one game this season. They did it without their primary forwards Aluko & Bachmann. They will have to use the confidence gained from that match if they are going to compete with the FC Gold Pride who holds the best record in Women’s Professional Soccer.

Coach O’Sullivan could have come out with a defensive minded setup but opted to go with a three-four-three putting Aluko, Bachmann, and Ocampo all in at forward and have 2 defensive midfielders that could track back but also get into the offense when opportunities allowed. Early on it seemed to work as FC Gold Pride couldn’t get their game going and Atlanta had the better of the chances. In two different instances Aluko had the ball in the 18 yard box but came up wanting on both plays. Both teams had their opportunities but with Hope Solo making some big plays the score at the half was nil-nil.

FC Gold Pride created chances but with Marta having a personal escort around the field she was unable to make an impact on the game. Kia McNeill neutralized the reigning FIFA Women’s Player of the Year for a vast majority of the game. Hope Solo and her goal post took care of everyone else. It was a shutout performance that earned her the WPS Player of the Week award. Solo was well deserving as she made several incredible saves in route to the scoreless draw and helped the team earn another point on their journey to secure a playoff spot.

The Atlanta Beat are now tied for 6th with the Washington Freedom at 17 points. With a win this Wednesday the Beat would be tied for 4th, the final post-season slot, and have a game in hand.

Atlanta travels to Boston to take on the Breakers and keep their undefeated streak going. They’ll then turn around and head back home for a game 3 days later against the defending WPS champions, Sky Blue FC, at 7Pm at KSU Soccer Stadium.

Do you think Atlanta will be able to make the push and earn a playoff spot? Who, or what, do you think has made the biggest impact in turning this team around?

2010 WPS All-Star Game

Scott — Thu, 01 Jul 2010 02:05:23 +0000

The second annual Women’s Professional Soccer (WPS) All-Star Game was held at the KSU Soccer Stadium on Wednesday, June 30, 2010. This year’s format was a major change from last year and took a fun twist as the teams were picked playground style. In this format the top 2 vote-getters were team captains and selected 11 starters for each team from among the top 22 highest vote-getters in the All-Star balloting at a pick ‘em event for fans hosted by STATS in downtown Atlanta. The team breakdown is as follows:

Marta XI (Albertin Montoya – Head Coach)

Goalkeeper: Erin McLeod (Washington Freedom)

Defenders: Allison Falk (Philadelphia Independence), Rachel Buehler (FC Gold Pride), Brittany Taylor (Sky Blue FC)

Midfielders: Kristine Lilly (Boston Breakers), Aya Miyama (Atlanta Beat), Kelly Smith (Boston Breakers), Sonia Bompastor (Washington Freedom)

Forwards: Ramona Bachmann (Atlanta Beat), Marta (FC Gold Pride), Christine Sinclair (FC Gold Pride)

Reserves: D Christie Rampone (Sky Blue FC), D Becky Sauerbrunn (Washington Freedom), F Amy Rodriguez (Philadelphia Independence), GK Erin McLeod (Washington Freedom), D Alex Scott (Boston Breakers), F Cristiane (Chicago Red Stars), GK Karen Bardsley (Sky Blue FC)

Abby XI (Paul Riley – Head Coach)

Goalkeeper: Hope Solo (Atlanta Beat)

Defenders: Amy LePeilbet (Boston Breakers), Tina Ellertson (Atlanta Beat), Cat Whitehill (Washington Freedom)

Midfielders: Lori Lindsey (Philadelphia Independence), Shannon Boxx (FC Gold Pride), Heather O’Reilly (Sky Blue FC), Lori Chalupny (Atlanta Beat)

Forwards: Eniola Aluko (Atlanta Beat), Lauren Cheney (Boston Breakers), Abby Wambach (Washington Freedom)

Reserves: M Angie Kerr (Atlanta Beat), M Karen Carney (Chicago Red Stars), F Kelley O’Hara (FC Gold Pride), M Laura Kalmari (Sky Blue FC), F Tasha Kai (Sky Blue FC), GK Jillian Loyden (Chicago Red Stars)

From the opening whistle Marta’s XI had Abby’s XI on their heels. None other than Marta got the opening goal in the 7^th minute. But she didn’t just score one goal in the 7^thminute, she scored two. This was the first game I’ve seen Marta play in person. She really is an incredible player with tremendous talent. Having just heard Thierry Henry’s comments concerning Messi’s abilities being easier to attain due to his size I can see what he means when you see the explosive maneuvers in Marta’s small frame. She has this ability to dart between players like a kid in a crowd.

Many predicted this game could have 10 goals but I couldn’t help but wonder if that might have been conservative. Things settled down to a degree and both team had several chances but just as a lull fell over the game Christine Sinclair gave team Marta another goal in the 31^stminute and got the energy flowing. Atlanta’s own Eniola Aluko got Abby’s XI on the board with a goal just 4 minutes later. That would be the last goal of the half as Marta’s XI took an early 3-1 lead.

It took a while in the second half to get things going but with Atlanta Beat’s Aluko wrapping up the first half with a goal teammate Aya Miyama decided to kick things off in the second half with a goal of her own to extend Team Marta’s lead to 3. Then moments later Lauren Cheney worked to narrow the gap and scored to bring the tally to Abby 2 - 4 Marta. But that wouldn’t last long as within minutes A-Rod scored what would be the final goal capping off the win for Team Marta with a final score of 5 – 2.

It was an entertaining game and the 4,610 on hand got their money’s worth. The 7 goal thriller was everything you could want from an All-Star game and helpfully it will help bring some additional attention to this great venue and Atlanta Beat organization. Did you attend or watch the All-Star game? If so, what were your thoughts?

Interview: Shawn McGee Part 2

Scott — Tue, 02 Mar 2010 13:00:43 +0000

As the conversation with Shawn McGee, Atlanta Beat GM & COO, continued we turner our attention toward players. I couldn’t help but wonder if after 4 drafts leading up to this season if they were staying in that mode and making preparations for the 2011 draft. After a few laughs McGee said he’s been able to talk to GM friends in MLS that have been in the role for 2-3 years and discuss how much more experience he has in the last few months than they do in the last few years.

All 18 roster spots have been filled with the recent announcement of Shelley Thompson signing as the first German player to join WPS. The Beat continue to hold the rights to international player Therese Sjögran but as she is still under contract we won’t see her prior to 2011.

The draftee’s will come in and compete to pick up the remaining developmental spots prior to the roster cut down date of March 15^th. Most of those players funneled in over the weekend and began practicing Monday.

We’ll get one of the first looks at the team in an exhibition match against UNC at Kennesaw State Soccer field, not stadium, on Sunday, March 28^th at noon. It should be a good opportunity to see how the team is meshing

During one of those drafts the Atlanta Beat had the opportunity to pick up Marta, the four time and reigning FIFA Women’s World Player of the Year. I asked if it was a difficult decision to pass on Marta? McGee said it did take a long time to decide.

“If you state that you’re going to be the best team in the world it’s hard not to say “why don’t we go after the best player in the world?”. We also want to be here for years to come and we had to look at the budgetary side of it, salary cap, and how it would allow us to reach our goals on and off the field. There’s no doubt that she’s the world greatest player currently. We felt she would help from attendance and sponsorship but when you looked at the financials those improvements didn’t justify the decision for [The Atlanta Beat]. Secondly, when we got the offer from St. Louis for Kia McNeill and Angie Woznuk it just made sense for us.”

When asked if he was surprised at the support in the soccer community of that decision to trade vs acquire Marta McGee responded by saying

“I was surprised but at the same time I was appreciative that people looked beyond the Marta factor to say that while the team could be great with Marta we could also be great without Marta.”

One another note we also talked about a former World Great in Michele Akers. After last year’s floods in Georgia we got word that much of Akers Horse Rescue Farm was destroyed. Along with the WPS, the Atlanta Beat is auctioning off local sports/event tickets and sports memorabilia to help raise funds to restore Akers Farm. For more information check out this letter from Shawn. If you would like to help contribute there are still items being auctioned here.

I hate that I had to boil down my conversation with Shawn to two 500 word blog post. I wish everyone could have the opportunity like I did to hear about what they’re doing and how they’re doing it. I have a feeling the product they put on the pitch will speak volumes. This is the beginning of a team that is taking steps everyday to become “The Best in the World”. So join me at a game and in the midst of a resurgence.

Let’s Make A Deal!

Scott — Tue, 02 Feb 2010 06:30:20 +0000

With the Dispersal Draft getting ready to take place on Thursday could we see a trade for Marta’s rights happening soon? Speculation is growing that St. Louis and Atlanta are going to make a deal.

If this were to happen I could see Atlanta trading the rights for Marta in exchange for Eniola Aluko, the team leader in assist and scoring for St. Louis last year, and another player (perhaps a defender). As well as St. Louis’ 8th &/or 9th pick.

Prior to the draft St. Louis acquired Lindsay Tarpley via trade and with Marta added Aluko would be surplus and trading her would free up some much needed cap space. Depending on how much of a cap hit Marta will make we could see St. Louis needing to make even more space. That’s where I think that second player comes into the mix. St. Louis was second in the league last year in fewest Goal Allowed (15), GAA (.75), and shutouts (10). They also added Free Agent Sara Larsson in the off-season. Does the name sound familiar? Beat fans may remember she was selected 5th by Atlanta in the international expansion draft last fall before being released as a free agent. We won’t be seeing Larsson but they may be willing to part with Kia McNeill or Elise Weber who both had great years last season.

With that 8th &/or 9th pick we could pick up a quality midfielder or defender based on who’s left on the board. I guess we’ll find out in the next few days. So what do you think will happen? Any way we could pry Lori Chalupny or Lindsay Tarpley from St. Louis instead of Aluko? Think we’ll just pass on Marta all together and pick up Shannon Boxx.

LA’s Loss is Atlanta’s Gain

Scott — Fri, 29 Jan 2010 02:37:37 +0000

Let me start by saying I think it’s very unfortunate that the deal to get new ownership for the LA Sol of Women’s Professional Soccer fell through. You hate to see if firstly for the individuals involved directly with the club in LA, but also the fans and the WPS league. Hopefully we’ll see someone step up soon in an ownership role that can bring WPS back to LA.

Atlanta Beat Owner T. Fitz Johnson said “All the team owners and members of the Board are confident that this setback will be quickly overcome by the exciting developments that the league has in store for the 2010 WPS Season. This includes two new franchises, the debut of a brand new stadium built specifically for WPS, a longer regular season and an even better product on the field with incoming talent from the college ranks and the many top internationals that have been signed in the off-season. Without question, this season is poised to build on our successful launch year.”

Several of the Los Angeles players, including WPS All-Stars Shannon Boxx and Marta, are signed to multi-year, guaranteed contracts, and are expected to play in WPS for the remainder of their contracts with other WPS teams following the dispersal draft.

The dispersal draft will be held Thursday, Feb. 4 with the eight franchises selecting players from the Sol roster over three rounds. Atlanta will have pick #1, 16, & 17.

Marta would seem the obvious choice but the question would be how much of her salary would the Beat be on the line for covering. As LA found out last year Marta doesn’t have the full Beckham effect. LA’s attendance at The Home Depot Center last year was about 6,000 for the Sol. It’s been rumored Marta will go to whomever is willing to put up the most money. Whether that means Atlanta will get anything in return for that remains to be seen.

For more details see the press release here or stay tuned to The Equalizer who focuses on Women’s Soccer.

Who do you think Atlanta should pick? Will there be a ripple effect spurring a new round of trades?