WPS Game Attendance for the weekend of 4/11/09

A good indicator of the strength of the league is in its attendance, so we'll be keeping an eye on that in addition to the scores and game details. For this weekend the attendance info is:

Washington Freedom vs Chicago Red Star at the Maryland SoccerPlex in front of 5,028 fans.

Boston Breakers vs St Louis Athletica at Harvard Stadium in front of 4,804 fans.

FC Gold Pride vs Sky Blue FC in front of 2,735 fans at TD Bank Park in Bridgewater, N.J (Down from 6,051 last week against Los Angeles Sol)

Attendance matters! Tell your friends, talk up the WPS at work, at your kids soccer games, at church and any and all social occasions. Spread the word. Let's keep those stadiums full!

Sky Blue vs Gold Pride WPS game ends in a draw

Sky Blue FC, FC Gold Pride game a 1-1 draw

Sky Blue FC finally found the back of the net for the franchise’s first goal ever late in the second half. Local girl Heather O’Reilly did the honors to help Sky Blue FC tie with FC Gold Pride in a Women’s Professional Soccer match at TD Bank Ballpark.

Sky Blue FC came from behind to tie with the California Bay Area team. O’Reilly scored in the 76th minute. This erased the lead that Carrie Dew had given FC Gold Pride in the 33rd minute. O’Reilly, an East Brunswick, N.J. native, thrilled the home crowd. Sarah Walsh set up the play for O’Reilly. Then O’Reilly rolled a right-footed shot into the goal from 10 yards away.

The tie game was played to a crowd of 2,753 fans. Last week's game against the Sol played to a sold out crowd of 6,053. Let's hope the numbers climb back to their Marta levels in the coming games.

"We as a team are really happy with a lot of things that happened tonight. The atmosphere of this game was incredible. Our team is getting better and better and we played against some world class players tonight from FC Gold Pride; the best players in the world. We dominated them and we played a great game. They came back and scored a goal early but we showed a lot of fight and grit and we stayed unified and really put the heat on them. Unfortunately we come away with a tie but we have to be happy with the growth of our team from the first game."

- Heather O'Reilly on the draw against FC Gold Pride

I'm glad the team is growing and I hope the fan base grows too, under 3,000 fans sounds like an awfully small crowd. NY/NJ get out and support your team!

Attendance for WPS April 4th and 5th Games

A good indicator of the strength of the league is in its attendance, so we'll be keeping an eye on that in addition to the scores and game details. For this weekend the attendance info is:

Saint Louis Athletica vs Chicago Red Star in front of a capacity crowd of 5,008 at Ralph Korte Stadium in Saint Louis.

Boston Breakers at FC Gold Pride in Santa Clara, CA 6,459 attending.

Los Angeles Sol vs Sky Blue FC in front of 6,051 fans at TD Bank Park in Bridgewater, N.J

Let's keep those stadiums full!

FC Pride wins debut game against Boston Breakers

It was a perfect debut - Beautiful weather, a solid home crowd of 6,459 and a last minute win. FC Gold Pride brought it home for the team's inaugural Women's Professional Soccer game at Buck Shaw Stadium on Sunday.

Tiffeny Milbrett, scored in the final minute with a shot from 10 yards out leading the team to win its first game, 2-1 over the Boston Breakers. What a way to start the season!

WPS its all about Inspiration

The fans love their heros, the stadium was packed, a good game was played and none of that was the point. The inaugural game has come and gone for Women's Soccer. The Los Angeles Sol left the field as the winners. And it's about so much more than that.

The existence of Women's Pro Soccer is success in itself. Its giving young girls and women across the nation a group of role models to look up to and a sport to aspire to play on a professional level. So often in America today, sexism is ignored and it still exists. Professional sports are great example of the unlevel playing fields. Its great to have another step taken to create a more equal field to dream on.

As Peter Wilt, president of the Chicago Red Stars, one of the WPS's seven inaugural teams said, "Our definition of success is not 10,000 fans a game, or being on 'SportsCenter' every night, or even on the front pages of newspapers,". WPS's success is being the inspiration they are to women across America. Thank you!

Inaugural Game of Women's Pro Soccer - Washington Freedom vs Los Angeles Sol

The Inaugural Game of Women's Pro Soccer is a Success!

The Inaugural Game of the new Women's Pro Soccer league was an unqualified success. Won 2-0 by the Los Angeles Sol over the Washington Freedom in front of a crowd of 14,832 this game launched the season with a Bang!

The national anthem was sung by The Beach Girl 5. Washington had the kickoff. Then with the first score by the Sol in the 6th minute of the game it was off to a roaring start. Allison Falk scored the point with an assist by Marta, as the crowd went wild with their Bam Bam's provided by Amway Global.

The score at the half was Washington 0 - Los Angeles 1. The Crenshaw High School marching band kept up a lively cadence as girls youth teams played on the field. When the game started up again the competition increased. Washington Freedom #21 Alex Singer gave Marta a run for her money.

The second score came at the 87th minute of the game. Again assisted by Marta, Camille Abily (#20) scored. So the game ended a win for the new Los Angeles Sol, a win for the happy fans and a win for Women's Soccer in America.

Great Game!!