Like a Flash: Led by Marta-Sinclair-Morgan, WNY Claims WPS Regular-Season Title

WNY Flash Win WPS Regular Season Championship: Western New York have earned the right to host the WPS championship match, as Philadelphia takes second place, magicJack overcomes franchise turmoil to finish third, and Boston grabs final playoff berth in fourth place.

Pundits have been saying it all season: on paper, Western New York Flash is the best club side in women's world football.

Sunday evening, the Flash turned in what has become rather customary for fans: a deserved 2-0 victory over Atlanta Beat on a rain-soaked night at Sahlen's Stadium before a crowd of 5,000 strong who had braved the adverse condition to watch their team.

The Flash made sure the fans got their money's worth, as the emphatic win over the last-place side in WPS was enough to clinch the Women's Professional Soccer regular season championship.

Atlanta were well-organized in defense, holding the vaunted Flash attack to two goals, withstanding a siege of shooting attempts by the Flash. WNY were not to be denied, however, and enter the playoffs as odds-on favorites to win.

Despite breezing to victory, the Flash will need a much better overall performance if they are to win the championship, set to take place Aug. 27 at Sahlen's Stadium.

Despite beating each WPS club at least once during their impressive regular season—with their only two losses coming against Philadelphia—it would be foolish for anyone to assume the Flash will enjoy a cakewalk to the victory podium come playoff time.

By virtue of winning the regular season championship, the Flash will “enjoy” a quirky-yet-beneficial rule of the WPS playoff format—the top seed receives a double bye through the quarterfinal and semifinal rounds and an automatic spot in the championship match—with home field advantage to boot.

So while the Flash get a two-week respite, their opponents will have played either one or two high-intensity playoff encounters during that time.

It will be essential that the Flash not allow the layoff to affect their match sharpness, as their opponent will come to the final in-form, with guns blazing.

The stop-gap becomes even more problematic since WNY's current starting lineup has struggled for cohesiveness in recent weeks—with striker play a cause of concern.

Despite boasting a Holy Trinity of world-class talent in their three-pronged system of attack: Brazilian phenom Marta on the left wing, Canada’s top player Christine Sinclair—who led the WPS in goals and assists—at center forward, and one of the heroes of the United States' recent World Cup campaign—Alex Morgan, starting at right wing.

No other front line in the world—including most national teams—can match this one in terms of talent. While pre-World Cup preparation, coupled with the actual tournament, prevented those three forwards from playing together for the better part of a month and a half—since returning from Germany, Marta, Sinclair, and Morgan have started—however feebly—to discover a rhythm.

The operative term is started: they are by no means a finished product.

Perhaps no WPS club was affected more by the disruption of the World Cup than the Flash. With eight senior internationals missing from the side during the competition, Western New York suffered its only two defeats of the seasons, and two of its three draws.

What’s worse, those two defeats came at the hands of Philadelphia, who finished in second place.

There is no doubt that Philadelphia are a talented side, sending a few players of their own to the World Cup. They did have an advantage in those two wins against the Flash, however, as their squad was close to full-strength.

Still, the Flash will be worried should they face Philadelphia in the final.

While their front line has yet to click with the regularity one would expect from such a talented trio at this stage of the season, the area Western New York must first address is its defense.

The Flash have often gotten by with less-than-stellar performances at the back, as their attacking prowess has come to save the day. As Manchester United skipper Sir Alex Ferguson readily attests, however, the greatest teams' success starts at the back. It is the bedrock for any championship side.

Western New York isn't lacking in defensive talent: it is maddening inconsistency and a penchant for mistake-prone football that has been the biggest problem. All-too-often, the defense suffers fatal lapses in concentration, allowing opponents too much space in attack—and often paying dearly for those gambles.

Much of the blame goes to the back line, but No. 1 keeper Ashlyn Harris bears some of the blame as well. She’s put in some impressive performances, amassing an impressive portfolio of top-notch saves, but she has only five clean sheets to show for it—despite playing for the highest-ever scoring side in league history. That is simply not good enough for a championship contender.

Harris leads the league in goals allowed, but I put her in the same category as Karina LeBlanc of Marta’s first WPS club—the now-defunct LA Sol.

In 2009, LeBlanc led the league in (the rather ignominious) category of goals allowed. She was saved, however, by the Sol offense—which led the league in goals scored. Quite the study in contrast.

Under different circumstances, LeBlanc was unable to enjoy the same success without the necessary attacking force to bail her out, and has since been dropped from the league.

I think Marta, Sinclair, Morgan and co. are making Harris look better than she actually is. She shows instances of her potential, but her tendency toward lapses in concentration and inconsistent displays are worrisome.

While she is likely to win the Coast Guard WPS Keeper of the Year award, she does not deserve it. The number of goals she's conceded far outweighs her number of saves.

The shaky Flash defense does Harris no favors, either.

Consider this: U.S. national team starting keeper Hope Solo was still available during the offseason, when the team decided to sign Harris. Solo remained on the market until the start of the season. Should the Flash lose the final on a goalkeeping blunder, they have only themselves to blame.

It appears that club owner Joe Sahlen—who perhaps lost sight of the need of defensive reinforcements as he pursued Marta during the offseason with star-crossed determination, has created a side top-heavy in attack.

Maybe Sahlen was convinced that if he had Marta he could live without Hope. I hope this will not come back to bite the Flash.

Philadelphia is not the only potential threat the Flash could face in the final. magicJack defeated Philly in the season finale, despite resting their stars.

Unable to move up from third place no matter the result, magicJack played their second team to keep their starters fresh for the first round of the playoffs—a Wednesday, Aug. 17 home match against Boston. Boston had clinched the last playoff spot at New Jersey's expense.

With a Flash loss, Philadelphia still had a chance to grab first place, but were unable to capitalize upon the opportunity.

magicJack has been playing very well in the aftermath of the World Cup, despite the unfolding soap opera between their team owner and league officials. They have endured a brutal run of packed fixtures to claim second.

A final between WNY and magicJack would be as good as a Lakers-Celtics showdown in the NBA finals. With New York native Abby Wambach's potential return as hometown hero should the Flash meet magicJack in the final there wouldn't be an empty seat in the house. There’s little doubt that the Flash's seating capacity of 15,404 would be over-capacity should that match up materialize. The Flash led the WPS in attendance this season.

But in order for the home team to win, they will have to tighten up their defense, tune up their front line, and find a way to keep everyone sharp and focused during an interminable two weeks of down time.

Year End Honors...

Western New York's Marta stole the Golden Boot award from teammate Christine Sinclair by scoring six goals in the last seven games of the season. That brings Marta's goal tally to 10—tied with Sinclair for best production in the league this season. Since Marta played fewer games, however, she wins through a superior goals-per-game tiebreaker.

Former California standout Alex Morgan should hold off all-comers, and grab Rookie of the Year, after a phenomenal first season. Sinclair remains the odds-on favorite to win Player of the Year. The afore-mentioned keeper Harris will likely win Keeper of the Year.

Aaran Lines is a top contender for Coach of the Year, along with last year's winner, Paul Riley of Philadelphia, and Abby Wambach, who has been "player-coach" for the troubled magicJack.

WPS Playoff Schedule

FIRST ROUND

DATE: Wednesday, August 17 (7:30 p.m. ET)

magicJack vs. Boston Breakers

LOCATION: FAU Soccer Stadium (Boca Raton, Fla.)
Television: FOX Soccer
TICKETS

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SUPER SEMI FINAL

DATE: Saturday, August 20 (4 p.m. ET)

Philadelphia Independence vs. Winner of First Round match

LOCATION: PPL Park (Chester, Pa.)
TELEVISION: Fox Sports Net
TICKETS

WPS CHAMPIONSHIP PRESENTED BY CITI

DATE: Saturday, August 27 | 4 PM ET

Western New York Flash vs. Winner of Super Semifinal
LOCATION: Sahlen's Stadium (Rochester, N.Y.)
TELEVISION: Fox Sports Net
TICKETS

John Wingspread Howell is a novelist, writer (about sports and life) and entrepreneur originally from, and now back home again in Buffalo, New York.  http://johnwingspreadhowell.com