Aug. 19 (2009)

The St. Louis Athletica lose, 1-0, to Sky Blue FC of Harrison, N.J., in the Women’s Professional Soccer semifinals before 5,064 fans at the Soccer Park. Sky Blue entered the playoffs as the fourth seed, while the Athletica, who finished second during the inaugural season of WPS with a 10-6-4 record, are the second seed. The game’s only goal comes in the 30th minute when defender Keeley Dowling takes a pass from Ya’el Averbuch and curls a left-footed shot past Athletica and U.S. Women’s National Team goalkeeper Hope Solo. Solo (shown at left during the game) is otherwise unbeatable. Her performance includes diving to her left to stop what appears to be a certain goal on a shot from point-blank range by Kerri Hanks in the fourth minute. Solo then robs Kacey White with a two-handed, diving save to Solo’s right on a shot headed for the top far corner of the net in the 14th minute. The Athletica’s best chance comes when St. Louis native Lori Chalupny lays off a free kick to Nikki Cross, who sends a 25-yard drive just wide of the far lower corner in the 79th minute. The result sends Sky Blue into the finals. They will meet the heavily favored Los Angeles Sol, which had a league-best 12-3-5 record. Sky Blue, which barely made the playoffs while posting a 7-8-5 regular-season record, will defeat the Sol, 1-0, in the championship game on Aug. 22. The 2009 season is the only full season the Athletica will play. The club will fold on May 27, 2010, six games into the season.