News that really isn’t news anymore:

• Kierstan Dallstream is at the center of WPS’ first trade of the season as Sky Blue FC traded the defender/forward to Boston in exchange for their second round draft pick in the 2012 WPS draft. The addition of Dallstream brings the Breakers’ total of 2008 FIFA U-20 Women’s World Cup champions to four. Tony DiCicco helmed the team, of course. (For the record, of the 20 players in that squad, 12 are currently in WPS, three were drafted and subsequently released by WPS teams, and the remaining five are still in college.)

 

• The official attendance for the Atlanta/Western New York is being reported as 3,075 which seems a little generous. Perhaps that figure is coming from the same source that told Match Tracker that Keelin Winters has only taken one shot all season and Jillian Loyden made just three saves last weekend, despite the fact that Boston had 13 shots on goal.

 

• Jeff Kassouf reviews week three in WPS in his SI.com column.  

 

• Ian Darke and Julie Foudy have been confirmed as ESPN’s lead commentators for the 2011 FIFA Women’s World Cup.

 

• Alli Lipsher becomes the first player in league history to win WPS Player of the Week honors in two consecutive weeks.

 

• Pretty, pretty goals from the week gone by: 

[vsw id=”_dAS6Rzi1j8″ source=”youtube” width=”500″ height=”500″ autoplay=”no”] 

 

And now for stuff you may or may not know about:

• Due to an ankle injury, Josee Belanger out on the World Cup. This is bad news for Canada, as Belanger had a breakout year in 2010. Also, 2012 CONCACAF Olympic Qualification will . (H/T Lissa)

 

• Atlanta Beat head coach James Galanis (deservedly) praising his team after earning four unexpected points from their two most recent matches, as in .

 

• The Philadelphia Independence announced that ACME, Philadelphia Coca-Cola Bottling Company, and Hershey’s reGen have all come on board as local sponsors.

 

• WNY Flash central midfielder Caroline Seger in the mail today, and recounts her journey from Sweden to the U.S. here.

 

• espnW presents several fun facts about Christine Sinclair.

 

• Marta aims to be a WPS champion and a world champion by the end of the year, as per Jacqueline Purdy’s article on espnW.

 

• CanadaSoccer.com will profile a different CanWNT player every three days. First up is goalkeeper Karina LeBlanc. Canada’s “1a” goalkeeper reminisces about the 1999 FIFA Women’s World Cup and more in this article.  

 

• Oregon State forward Chelsea Buckland will reportedly be on Canada’s World Cup squad. The 21 year-old will depart to Rome for the third time in three months before joining the team in Germany for Canada’s final preparations. Buckland is waiting to earn her first senior cap with the national team.

 

• The University of Memphis nabbed central midfielder Natalia Gómez-Junco. The 18 year-old made one substitute appearance for Mexico in the quarterfinals 2010 U-20 FIFA Women’s World Cup and scored her team’s lone goal in a 3-1 loss against South Korea.

 

• Canadian Women’s National Team member Chelsea Stewart is transferring from Vanderbilt to UCLA.  

 

• In addition to acquiring the services of Tiffany Weimer and Sydney Leroux, the Vancouver Whitecaps signed blue chip collegians Ranee Premji, Amber Brooks (both UNC), Julie Armstrong (Oregon), and Jenna Richardson (Oregon State) for the team’s 2011 W-League season.

 

• Here’s a sneak peek of Notre Dame’s documentary about a 2010 season that started with uncertainity and ended with a national championship.

 

• Portland Pilot outside back Kendall Johnson has reportedly torn her ACL and MCL and has been replaced by Michigan midfielder Meghan Toohey on the current U-23 roster.

 

• , the U.S. U-20’s fell to the U.S. U-23’s 3-2 and defeated UC Irvine 1-0 on Wednesday night. Taylor Smith and Kelly Cobb scored against the U-23’s and Kylie McCarthy tallied the game-winner against UC Irvine.

 

• Australia native and current Boston Breaker Leah Blayney is one step closer to fulfilling her dream of playing pro soccer in the U.S.

 

• Here’s a lengthy, but interesting article about former Sky Blue FC midfielder and Australian Women’s National Team member Collette McCallum and her experiences of being the only girl in an elite boy’s club, rebounding from two ACL injuries, failing to find her feet in WPS, and preparing for his summer’s World Cup.  

 

• The U.S. State Department and U.S. Soccer have teamed up to send UCF head coach Amanda Cromwell and current magicJack GM Briana Scurry on a goodwill mission in Germany from May 1-7.

 

• Our Game has the Japanese roster for the team’s friendlies against the USWNT.

 

• Swedish center-back Stina Segerström will miss rest of the Damallsvenskan season as well as the Women’s World Cup after tearing her achilles tendon in a league match last weekend. This article states former Philadelphia Independence central defender Sara Larsson could step in to take her place in the national team.

 

• Capital One Cup update: in the women’s standings, Stanford has the lead after finishing strong in the basketball and swimming and diving championships with 82 points. Meanwhile Cal and Notre Dame are tied for second with 76 points. Following the spring athletics season a men’s and a women’s athletic program will be crowned the Capital One Cup winners and be awarded a trophy and $200,000 scholarship for post-graduate education in July at the ESPYs. To keep up with the race for the Capital One Cup throughout the rest of the academic year please visit CapitalOneCup.com or check us out on Facebook () and Twitter ().

 

• Women’s football will benefit most from a Great Britain Olympics team in the 2012 London Olympics, according to the LA Times.

 

• Consider Birmingham City the Atlanta Beat of the FA WSL. The surprise packages remain top of league after Thursday’s 2-1 win against Arsenal. Karen Carney proved to be the difference maker. The team currently have a 100% record with four wins in four matches. 

 

• The Arsenal/Birmingham City match also featured the second best attendance of the season as 789 people made it out to Boreham Wood on a Thursday night. Now for an FA WSL attendance check after two weeks of action:

Chelsea: 2,510, 273 = 1391.5 (-89% decrease from first game to second)

Lincoln: 750

Birmingham City: 602, 446 = 524

Liverpool: 835, 300 = 567.5 (-64% dip from opening match to second)

Everton: 230 (Worst figure of the season…hearkens back to FA Women’s Premier League gates)

Arsenal: 655, 789 = 722

Bristol Academy: 707

Doncaster: 578

 

Average attendance: 723

Median: 629

 

• A sample question from tomorrow 20 Q’s interview:

AWK: Before coming to Boston, you were a sports science studies teacher back at home. Were you cool and laid back or strict and no nonsense?

X: I think I was a little of both. I think my students felt they had a good connection with me so I rarely had to put anyone in their place. I would say I am quick-witted, so when a student would try to be smart, I could quickly come back with something and normally they would not try it again. My students knew what I expected of them, and they hardly ever disappointed me or let me down. Maybe I got the best of the bunch, ha.

 

• And if you’re considering attending the 2011 FIFA Women’s World Cup don’t forget to visit for all your travel needs.

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