22 August 2009 - Sky Blue Reigns

On 22 August 2009, New Jersey's Sky Blue FC and the Los Angeles Sol faced each other in the Final of the inaugural Women's Professional Soccer playoffs. The Sol, who had had beaten Sky Blue in the latter's opening match of the season, finished at the top of the regular league table, but Sky Blue won the rematch to claim the new league's first title.

The top four finishers in the regular season qualified for the playoffs, which used an unusual format. The third-ranked team , hosted the fourth-place team, with the winner advancing to face the second-place team. The winner of that match then met the regular-season champions for the trophy. Sky Blue finished fourth, so had to defeat third-place Washington Freedom (winning 1-2) and second-place St. Louis Athletica (0-1) in order to play the Los Angeles Sol.

Playing before a crowd of 7,218 at the Sol's home stadium, the Home Depot Center in Carson, California, Sky Blue played a strong defensive game to shut down Sol star Marta, the league's leading scorer. But when a deep throw-in early in the first half gave them a rare scoring opportunity, they made the most of it; defender Keeley Dowling's cross found Natasha Kai in the box, the striker headed the ball down to midfielder Heather O'Reilly (pictured, no. 9), who knocked it into the net off of Sol keeper Karina LeBlanc to give Sky Blue a 16th-minute lead.

The Sol's chances were further frustrated in the 27th minute, as center back Allison Falk received a red card for a challenge on Kai. Down to ten players, the hosts were unable to mount a serious threat and the match ended 0-1.

12 August 2008 - Setting Records At Record Speed

On 12 August 2008, Brazilian forward Cristiane and US forward Heather O'Reilly both turned in record-setting performances in the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing.

It was the last day of the group stages in the women's football competition. Brazil faced Nigeria and went down 0-1 to a 19th-minute penalty strike before Cristiane turned the match around. She scored the equalizer in 34th minute, then added a second in the 35th minute and a third in the third minute of first-half injury time (45'+3) to complete the fastest hat-trick in the history of women's Olympic football. The final score of 3-1 sent Brazil to the top of their qualifying group and into the knockout rounds.

Later that day, the US were playing New Zealand when O'Reilly scored 41 seconds into the match - the fastest goal in the history of women's Olympic football. The US won 4-0 to finish at the top of their qualifying group.

Brazil and the United States met in the Final, where the US side claimed a 1-0 win.

22 August 2009 - Sky Blue Reigns

On 22 August 2009, New Jersey's Sky Blue FC and the Los Angeles Sol faced each other in the Final of the inaugural Women's Professional Soccer playoffs. The Sol, who had had beaten Sky Blue in the latter's opening match of the season, finished at the top of the regular league table, but Sky Blue won the rematch to claim the new league's first title.

The top four finishers in the regular season qualified for the playoffs, which used an unusual format. The third-ranked team , hosted the fourth-place team, with the winner advancing to face the second-place team. The winner of that match then met the regular-season champions for the trophy. Sky Blue finished fourth, so had to defeat third-place Washington Freedom (winning 1-2) and second-place St. Louis Athletica (0-1) in order to play the Los Angeles Sol.

Playing before a crowd of 7,218 at the Sol's home stadium, the Home Depot Center in Carson, California, Sky Blue played a strong defensive game to shut down Sol star Marta, the league's leading scorer. But when a deep throw-in early in the first half gave them a rare scoring opportunity, they made the most of it; defender Keeley Dowling's cross found Natasha Kai in the box, the striker headed the ball down to midfielder Heather O'Reilly (pictured, no. 9), who knocked it into the net off of Sol keeper Karina LeBlanc to give Sky Blue a 16th-minute lead.

The Sol's chances were further frustrated in the 27th minute, as center back Allison Falk received a red card for a challenge on Kai. Down to ten players, the hosts were unable to mount a serious threat and the match ended 0-1.

12 August 2008 - Setting Records At Record Speed

On 12 August 2008, Brazilian forward Cristiane and US forward Heather O'Reilly both turned in record-setting performances in the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing.

It was the last day of the group stages in the women's football competition. Brazil faced Nigeria and went down 0-1 to a 19th-minute penalty strike before Cristiane turned the match around. She scored the equalizer in 34th minute, then added a second in the 35th minute and a third in the third minute of first-half injury time (45'+3) to complete the fastest hat-trick in the history of women's Olympic football. The final score of 3-1 sent Brazil to the top of their qualifying group and into the knockout rounds.

Later that day, the US were playing New Zealand when O'Reilly scored 41 seconds into the match - the fastest goal in the history of women's Olympic football. The US won 4-0 to finish at the top of their qualifying group.

Brazil and the United States met in the Final, where the US side claimed a 1-0 win.