27 August 2011 - Last One Out Gets The Lights

On 27 August 2011, the Western New York Flash won the WPS Championship, beating the Philadelphia Independence on penalties, 1-1 (5-4). It turned out to be the last WPS Championship, as the league folded soon afterward.

The Flash were an expansion team playing in the first league season, but they had acquired several players from the previous season's champions, FC Gold Pride, who had dissolved in 2010. They picked up where the Pride left off, topping the regular season table with a record of thirteen wins, two draws, and two losses that sent them directly into the playoff final.

The Independence were not much older, having entered the league in 2010. They finished the 2011 regular season in second, which qualified them for a semifinal match against magicJack, whom the beat 2-0 to advance to the final.

Playing at Sahlen's Stadium in Rochester, former Pride forward Christine Sinclair gave the Flash a 64th-minute lead that they almost took to the final whistle. But in the 88th minute, Philadelphia winger Amy Rodriguez equalized to send the match into extra time. With the score still level at 1-1 after extra time, the match went to a penalty shootout.

There, both teams converted their first four kicks each. After Yael Averbuch scored on the Flash's fifth attempt, Western New York goalkeeper Ashlynn Harris made a diving save to deny Independence forward Laura del Rio and win the title.

19 February 1986 - The Start Of Marta

On 19 February 1986, five-time World Player of the Year Marta was born in Dois Riachos, Brazil.

A forward, she started her career at the age of 14 with Vasco da Gama, but the women's team folded after her second season there, prompting her 2002 move to Belo Horizonte to play for Santa Cruz. In 2004, she left Brazil for Sweden, joining the reigning UEFA Women's Cup holders Umeå IK and, in her first season, helped them successfully defend their title.

She won back-to-back league titles with Umeå in 2005 and 2006, leading to the first of five consecutive World Player of the Year awards. After winning two more league titles in 2007 and 2008, she moved to the United States to play for the Los Angeles Sol in the inaugural season for the new league, WPS.

Despite winning the title, Los Angeles folded after one year, prompting Marta's transfer to FC Gold Pride in 2010, then to the Western New York Flash in 2011, winning titles with both. Since 2012, she has played for Tyresö in Sweden.

Along the way, she has scored 73 goals in 88 appearances for Brazil.

14 January 2011 - Not Exactly Going Out On A Limb There

On 14 January 2011, the Western New York Flash selected forward Alex Morgan with the first pick in the WPS draft. She went on to become a breakout star for club and country.

Born and raised in California, she played for the University of California, Berkeley from 2007 to 2010, finishing as the team's top scorer in all four years. In March 2010, she earned her first senior cap for the United States, making a total of eight appearances that year. With her star clearly on the rise, Western New York needed little incentive to make her the draft's top pick over Virginia's Sinead Farrelly (chosen second by Philadelphia) and North Carolina's Meghan Klingenberg (taken third by Washington).

The Flash had gone undefeated in 2010, winning the W-League Championship, but moved to the top-flight WPS for 2011. Playing alongside forwards Marta and Christine Sinclair, Morgan made thirteen appearances and scored four times as the Flash won the league in their debut season.

Unfortunately, WPS suspended operations before the 2012 season, but Morgan moved back to the W-League to play for the Seattle Sounders. She continued to shine for the United States, mostly as a substitute in 2011, but becoming a regular starter in 2012. She led the team in goals (28) and assists (21) and helped them claim the Olympic gold medal over Japan, then finished third in voting for the 2012 FIFA Player of the Year Award.

In 2013, Morgan signed with the Portland Thorns of the new women's top flight, the NWSL, and won the league title.

2 June 1980 - The USA's Heiress Apparent

On 2 June 1980, forward Abby Wambach was born in Rochester, New York. She is poised to become the USWNT's all-time leading scorer, currently sitting three goals behind Mia Hamm.

After playing for the University of Florida from 1998 to 2001, she began her professional career in 2002 with the Washington Freedom, who selected her as the second overall pick in the WUSA draft (the Carolina Courage chose defender Danielle Slaton with the first pick). She rewarded their faith by scoring 10 goals and providing 9 assists in her first season and was named the league's Rookie of the Year.

Wambach won the Founders Cup with Washington the following year, but the league folded soon after. She returned to Washington with a new league, WPS, in 2009, and remained with them when they relocated to Florida and rebranded as MagicJack. During the WPS's final season in 2011, she served as the team's player-manager. She currently plays for the Western New York Flash in the new NWSL.

Since earning her first cap for the United States in 2003, she has gone on to make a total of 204 appearances and has won a gold medal at the 2004 and 2012 Olympics, missing the 2008 tournament due to injury. Her current total of 155 goals is the team's second-highest, behind Mia Hamm's 158 (though Hamm made a total of 275 appearances, giving Wambach a better goals-per-game average of 0.76 to Hamm's 0.57).

[Update: Wambach scored her 159th international goal on 20 June 2013 to become the all-time leading scorer for the US women.]

27 August 2011 - Last One Out Gets The Lights

On 27 August 2011, the Western New York Flash won the WPS Championship, beating the Philadelphia Independence on penalties, 1-1 (5-4). It turned out to be the last WPS Championship, as the league folded soon afterward.

The Flash were an expansion team playing in the first league season, but they had acquired several players from the previous season's champions, FC Gold Pride, who had dissolved in 2010. They picked up where the Pride left off, topping the regular season table with a record of thirteen wins, two draws, and two losses that sent them directly into the playoff final.

The Independence were not much older, having entered the league in 2010. They finished the 2011 regular season in second, which qualified them for a semifinal match against magicJack, whom the beat 2-0 to advance to the final.

Playing at Sahlen's Stadium in Rochester, former Pride forward Christine Sinclair gave the Flash a 64th-minute lead that they almost took to the final whistle. But in the 88th minute, Philadelphia winger Amy Rodriguez equalized to send the match into extra time. With the score still level at 1-1 after extra time, the match went to a penalty shootout.

There, both teams converted their first four kicks each. After Yael Averbuch scored on the Flash's fifth attempt, Western New York goalkeeper Ashlynn Harris made a diving save to deny Independence forward Laura del Rio and win the title.