USL Feature
Friday, April 15, 2011
By: Nicholas Murray
The Western New York Flash make their Women’s Professional Soccer debut on Sunday against the Boston Breakers armed with a squad that could make the expansion club an immediate contender for the title.
Among the team’s members are five-time Women’s World Player of the Year Marta, Canada’s Christine Sinclair, who was also nominated for the award this year, and Swedish captain Carolina Seger.
And then there’s this year’s WPS Draft No. 1 selection Alex Morgan. Just 21, and already a member of the U.S. Women’s National Team squad, Morgan is eager to begin her professional career with the expansion franchise.
“Coming into a new franchise, I think it’s good for me because I’m trying to figure out how I fit into this team but this team is figuring out how we want to play, how our style is going to be,” Morgan said. “I’m not just coming onto a team that’s been playing for a while, we’re all coming together and doing this together for the first time. I think that’s a really good thing and the owner and the coaching staff and everyone involved with the Flash has been great so far.”
Morgan previously played for the Pali Blues in the USL W-League, in addition to a standout career at the University of California that saw her be nominated as Hermann Award finalist in 2010. The atmosphere Charlie Naimo established in Pali, which has also featured current young USWNT players Tobin Heath and Lauren Cheney in recent seasons, is something that Morgan believes will help her as she moves into the professional ranks.
“The way he represented the team was in a very professional manner, and it kind of replicates the way a lot of these [WPS] teams are run,” Morgan said. “Even though it was only a W-League team, not a WPS team, it was still a very professional environment and the girls were very serious about each game and their roles on the team, so it’s definitely prepared me a little bit as well as college and being with the national team.”
Morgan is also eager to learn from players like Sinclair and Marta. While the Brazilian only arrived with the club today, Sinclair’s influence is already having an impact on Morgan’s game.
“Sinclair is one of the best forwards in the world, and I just think I can learn so much from her,” Morgan said. “She’s great holding the ball and holding defenders off and I’ve really had to learn that and improve my game in that specific area, so that’s great to watch. She’s a ball-winner in the air as well and gets herself in great positions.”
Whether Morgan will get to use that new-found knowledge at the Women’s World Cup this season is yet to be seen. While she has been a consistent member of the squad for the past six months, Morgan is not taking anything for granted when it comes to her selection to the squad for Germany.
The experience she’s gained, along with the rest of the team, through competing in CONCACAF qualifying, the Cyprus Cup and the team’s recent trip to Great Britain is going to be valuable if she is selected.
“I think that we’ve learned a lot from Pia and the coaching staff, and as a team we’ve learned a lot about each other,” Morgan said. “Being together so much this year from the time in Portugal to England, we’ve been together a lot in the past few months and that’s helped the team chemistry and I think being together a lot can only help the team.
“I also think that we’ve learned what our roles were, because we have a pretty set starting lineup and then you have the roles or whether it’s on the bench, coming in for the last 20 minutes or starting, everyone contributes to the team winning and I think that’s important for everyone to recognize. We’ve really been recognizing that because we’ve played so many games in the past few months.”
For now, though, Morgan is focused on helping the Flash find success in the club’s first season in WPS.
“As of right now, I’m just looking forward to our first game in the WPS against Boston this weekend,” she said. “Of course, we’re anticipating our home opener, but right now we’ve really been preparing for our first game against Boston and that’s what I’m really looking forward to because that will be my first professional game with my new team.”