16 July 2008 - A Bad Break For Wambach

On 16 July 2008, the United States women beat Brazil in a pre-Olympics friendly, but lost Abby Wambach, their leading scorer, who suffered a broken leg.

Played before a sold-out crowd of 7,502 at San Diego's Torero Stadium, the match was the second contest between the two teams in four days and the last for both teams before they headed to China for the Olympics. The US had won the earlier match 1-0 and were hoping for a repeat performance.

Those hopes took a blow in the 31st minute when Wambach--the leading scorer for the US that year with 13 goals and 99 goals in her international career--collided with Brazilian defender Andreia Rosa and immediately waved for the medical staff. She was taken straight to the hospital where x-rays confirmed fractures in her tibia and fibula. Despite the loss of Wambach, the Americans continued to press Brazil and were rewarded with an 85th-minute goal from substitute Natasha Kai for the 1-0 win.

Brazil and the US met again in the gold medal match in Beijing where the US won again by the score of 1-0. Wambach missed the tournament, but returned to the US team in May 2009 and scored her 100th goal in July of that year. Her tally currently stands at 121 after scoring critical goals against Brazil and France in the knockout stages of the 2011 Women's World Cup.

22 August 2009 - Sky Blue Reigns

On 22 August 2009, New Jersey's Sky Blue FC and the Los Angeles Sol faced each other in the Final of the inaugural Women's Professional Soccer playoffs. The Sol, who had had beaten Sky Blue in the latter's opening match of the season, finished at the top of the regular league table, but Sky Blue won the rematch to claim the new league's first title.

The top four finishers in the regular season qualified for the playoffs, which used an unusual format. The third-ranked team , hosted the fourth-place team, with the winner advancing to face the second-place team. The winner of that match then met the regular-season champions for the trophy. Sky Blue finished fourth, so had to defeat third-place Washington Freedom (winning 1-2) and second-place St. Louis Athletica (0-1) in order to play the Los Angeles Sol.

Playing before a crowd of 7,218 at the Sol's home stadium, the Home Depot Center in Carson, California, Sky Blue played a strong defensive game to shut down Sol star Marta, the league's leading scorer. But when a deep throw-in early in the first half gave them a rare scoring opportunity, they made the most of it; defender Keeley Dowling's cross found Natasha Kai in the box, the striker headed the ball down to midfielder Heather O'Reilly (pictured, no. 9), who knocked it into the net off of Sol keeper Karina LeBlanc to give Sky Blue a 16th-minute lead.

The Sol's chances were further frustrated in the 27th minute, as center back Allison Falk received a red card for a challenge on Kai. Down to ten players, the hosts were unable to mount a serious threat and the match ended 0-1.