Los Angeles Sol

Los Angeles Sol
Full name Los Angeles Sol
Nickname(s) Sol
Founded 2007
Dissolved 2010
Stadium Home Depot Center
(Capacity: 27,000)
League Women's Professional Soccer
2009 WPS Supporters Shield Champions 2009
Home colors
Away colors

The Los Angeles Sol was an American professional soccer club that was based in the Los Angeles suburb of Carson, California that participated in Women's Professional Soccer. Since 2009, the Sol had played its home games at The Home Depot Center. The team was co-owned and operated by Blue Star, LLC and AEG, a subsidiary of the Anschutz Entertainment Group[1]. It was announced on January 28, 2010 that the team would cease operations. [2]

Contents

History

The formation of Women's Professional Soccer was announced on September 4, 2007, and it was also announced on that day that a franchise had been awarded to Los Angeles. The Los Angeles Sol was officially unveiled on October 26, 2008. USA Women’s National Team midfielder Shannon Boxx was the first player in Sol history when she was allocated to the team on September 16, 2008.[3].

2009 Season

The team played its first game on March 29, 2009, against Washington Freedom, a 2-0 victory. The first goal in club and league history was recorded in the sixth minute of the match, when defender Allison Falk out-jumped a crowd of Freedom defenders in the penalty area to head in a free kick from Japanese National Football Team star Aya Miyama.[4].

The Sol won their next two games as well, totaling a +5 goal differential, setting them apart early as the best team in the league. Though they didn't win either of their next two games, they never dropped from first place in the table, and then went on an eleven-game unbeaten streak, with three draws and eight wins, at times having twice the amount of points as the second-place team. They then lost to the Saint Louis Athletica in their last home game of the season, which ended their streak and kept alive the hopes that some team other than the Sol could win the regular season title, but a 0-0 draw against FC Gold Pride (who was the worst team in the league) gave the Sol the regular season title with two games to spare. The lost 1-3 to the Chicago Red Stars and won 2-1 against the Boston Breakers to end their regular season, the win giving the Sol the title of the first team to beat every other team in the league. The finished the season with 41 pts. (a 12-3-5 record) and a +17 goal differential.

Being regular season champions, the Sol received a bye to the August 22nd championship match. They lost 0-1 to Sky Blue FC who made the playoffs when potential invitees Boston earned no points in their final regular season match against the Sol.

Sale and folding

In November, AEG gave their share of the Sol back to WPS. WPS ran the Sol for the next three months, completing trades, changing coaches, and participating in the 2010 WPS Draft. However, the potential ownership group that WPS had been working with to take on the Sol backed out "in the 11th hour" according to league commissioner Tonya Antonuci. Following this failure to sell the team, the league announced its decision to disband the Sol on January 27th, 2010, and organized a dispersal draft for the 19 players under contract to be held February 4th.

Players

Former notable players

See also All-time Los Angeles Sol roster

See also

Women's Professional Soccer

References

External links

Media related to [//commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Category:Los_Angeles_Sol Los Angeles Sol] at Wikimedia Commons