2009 Sky Blue FC season
After victories over the Washington Freedom and Saint Louis Athletica, Sky Blue FC defeated the Los Angeles Sol, the top team in the regular season, in the championship match to become the first WPS champions.
The players that joined Sky Blue FC as a result of the allocation were striker Natasha Kai, Heather O'Reilly, and defender Christie Rampone; the latter two attended high school in New Jersey.
Sky Blue FC had the 7th, 8th, 21st, and 22nd picks, and chose Cori Alexander, Keeley Dowling, Kacey White, and Jenny Anderson-Hammond.
[7] Sky Blue FC began their first WPS campaign on April 5, in a match against the Los Angeles Sol at TD Bank Ballpark.
[11] Against the Chicago Red Stars on April 19, goalkeepers Karen Bardsley and Jenni Branam combined for six saves in a scoreless draw.
In the eighth minute, Walsh received a pass from McCallum and scored to give Sky Blue FC the lead.
[16] Before the match, Sawyers was suspended from his duties with the club; team president Thomas Hofstetter said in a statement that "Differences have arisen between Ian and the ownership of the organization.
[17] Goals by the Freedom's Cat Whitehill and Lisa De Vanna in the first half led to a two-goal deficit for Sky Blue FC at halftime.
A first-half strike by Amanda Cinalli gave Athletica an eventual 1–0 win, and left Sky Blue FC in last place.
[7] Sky Blue FC traded Walsh to Saint Louis Athletica for forward Kerri Hanks and midfielder Francielle on June 26; the clubs also exchanged draft picks.
[24] Against the Breakers the following week, O'Reilly's sixth-minute goal was the only scoring as Sky Blue FC won their fourth match of the season.
[25] In another match against the Breakers on July 12, a Kai goal gave Sky Blue FC the lead in the first half before Rosana made the score 2–0 in the 37th minute.
Despite a late Jennifer Nobis goal for Boston, Sky Blue FC held on for a 2–1 win to move up to fourth place in the WPS standings on 18 points.
[32] Underdogs entering the first-round match, Sky Blue FC were without the services of Bardsley and Anita Asante, who were with the England national team at the UEFA Women's Euro 2009.
Their opponents, who were missing French midfielder Sonia Bompastor because of international duty, featured Abby Wambach, who scored a team-high eight goals during the regular season.
[33] In the match, which took place on August 15 at Maryland SoccerPlex, Sky Blue FC outshot Washington 14–5 in the first half, but neither team scored.
[34] With the victory, Sky Blue FC advanced to face Saint Louis Athletica in the next round,[35] a club they had lost to in each of their three regular season meetings.
[36] Three days after the semifinal contest, Sky Blue FC played Los Angeles in the WPS championship match.
[37] In front of 7,218 fans at the Home Depot Center,[38] Sky Blue FC effectively held possession against the Sol,[37] and had control of the match for much of the opening half.
In the 27th minute, Kai gained possession of the ball in the Sky Blue FC half of the field and ran until she was near the opposition's box, where Los Angeles defender Allison Falk brought her down from behind.
Marta had an opportunity to level the match with a free kick in second-half stoppage time, but her shot from 28 yards went over the Sky Blue FC goal.
