The Good, The Bad, The Ugly [Originally appeared at All White Kit 9/14/2010]

This was part of a larger piece in which several All White Kit contributors listed their good, bad and ugly for the 2010 Women’s Professional Soccer season.

THE GOOD Karen Bardsley stops a PK and then stones , just for fun (05/01/2010): In theory, penalty kicks are exciting. Truthfully, usually the drama and the pomp and circumstance leading up to the kick -- the whistle, the pause, the point to the spot, the stare down between keeper and kicker -- are exponentially more exciting than the actual thing. That the ball will go in is kind of a foregone conclusion. Except when it's not. On a spring afternoon at Yurcak Field, Daphne Koster was whistled for fouling Kelley O'Hara in the box, the pomp and circumstance ensued, the crowd at Yurcak held their breath and then Karen Bardsley made a diving stop on Camile Abily's PK. Bardsley wasn't done though, immediately making a point blank save on Marta's shot off the rebound. The Yurcak faithful (they do exist!) simultaneously exhaled and erupted. FSC cameras caught KB after the sequence, patting her heart as if to say "phew," and of course, smiling. A week later she'd win Player of the Week -- and ultimately Player of the Month -- honors for her performance against Atlanta, almost singlehandedly stealing a win from the Beat in Kennesaw. And while those accolades were certainly deserved, it was the double save at Yurcak that let Sky Blue fans know that their team would be just fine without Jenni Branam - and that Karen Bardsley was no backup keeper.

Sky Blue FC beats Philadelphia (08/22/2010): One year to the day after Sky Blue FC won the WPS Championship, the Jersey side beat the Philadelphia Independence 1-0 in a game that took some four hours courtesy of a little lightning. Independence Head Coach Paul Riley was understandably less than thrilled with the whole affair, summing it up thusly: "Terrible day really all the way around. I think we left Philadelphia at 10 o'clock this morning, it feels like the longest day of my life. I feel like we could've gone to Gold Pride in a shorter time and played a game."

While it may have been the longest day of Paul Riley's life (and mine - five hours in the press box at Yurcak is not nearly exciting as one may think), it may have been the best day of Yael Averbuch's. The NJ native scored her first pro goal (and one of just five Sky Blue scored at home all season) off a beautiful volley in the 60th minute and Sky Blue FC celebrated like it was 2009. And why not? Since the All-Star Game the Blue and Orange had been beaten and bruised and looked like a team -- or the shell of a team -- playing with the weight of the world on its shoulders. But the moment that the ball hit the back of the net and Tasha Kai jumped into the arms of Averbuch and the rest of the team followed suit, the load seemed suddenly lighter. Sky Blue looked like a team again and one that, for the first time in a long time, could breathe again. And more importantly, like a team that believed again.

Tasha Kai scores in the sixth minute (04/11/2010): After tearing through preseason, Sky Blue FC showed up to Yurcak Field for the first game of the regular season looking ready, willing and able to play. Just six minutes in to the 2010 season Tasha Kai put the home side up 1-0 on the visiting . Kai ran to the sideline, pounding her chest in celebration and Sky Blue fans rejoiced. It was a sign of things to come and it read "everything will be okay this time." Except everything wasn't okay. Minutes later the Blue and Orange started to crack, barely hanging on for the next 84 minutes. And so went the season; a team always just barely hanging on through injuries, coaching changes, some downright brutal losses and a few moments of sheer brilliance mixed in for good measure. It would take an astonishing four months and 624 minutes for Sky Blue FC to score another run of play goal at home, and ultimately the Jersey team's season would end with them on the outside of the postseason looking in. As the final whistle blew on 2010 on September 11th, Kai -- the same player who had given her team and its fans a reason to believe five months earlier -- wasn't in the swarm of Breakers and Sky Blue players congregated at midfield. Instead the sometimes-embattled star was alone near the sideline, crouched down and clearly emotional, left to wonder what we all were: what could have been. It'll be a long offseason for Sky Blue FC, but everyone who's ever rooted for the Blue and Orange will always have that sixth minute goal to look back on -- to a time when everything was going to be okay.

Honorable, not Sky Blue FC related, mention: The Chicago Red Stars look like a real team (09/05/2010): It took two full seasons, but in Chicago's 2010 finale against the , the Red Stars finally actualized as, well, a team. The game meant nothing for Chicago in terms of the standings -- the Red Stars were long out of playoff contention and already destined to finish with the worst two-season record in WPS (but also with the most awesomely ridiculous hair in WPS). And yet, it was easily one of the best performances in their short history. Goals from Casey Nogueira and Megan Rapinoe, both coming via assists from 2011 WPS Michelle Akers Player of the Year candidate (yeah, I'm calling it now) Veronica Boquete, lifted the Red Stars to a 2-1 victory over DC. It didn't matter that Jill Loyden lost the clean sheet as the Red Stars, maybe still a little caught up in celebrating Pinoe's first o' the season, let one in late. What mattered was that Chicago, for the first time, truly looked like a team that, crazy hair and all, understood that being a team is about more than wearing matching jerseys and calling the same guy "Coach." Too bad it happened 44 games - and countless boring hairdos - too late.

THE BAD Carli Lloyd does something silly and makes Sky Blue pay (09/01/2010): In the final 2010 edition of 'The Battle of Teams that Prefer Not to Identify Geographically' Sky Blue FC had held its own against FC Gold Pride for 90 minutes and was actually up 1-0 on the league leaders care of a 72nd minute strike from Tasha Kai. Enter Carli Lloyd, making her first appearance in four months after recovering from a broken ankle. Lloyd committed a reckless foul as regular time ended, earned a yellow card and gifted Gold Pride a free kick. Becky Edwards ran onto Camile Abily's service and slammed the ball past Meghann Burke for her first career goal. Coming off a disappointing loss to the Freedom a few days earlier, SBFC was ohsoclose to a much-needed three points. At the time, they weren't yet mathematically eliminated from the postseason, but with the stoppage time goal, Becky Edwards and FCGP began hammering that final nail into Sky Blue's season.

And as if she hadn't done enough already, after the game Lloyd took to the Twitter: "Got minutes in the game tonight and felt awesome! I'm on my way just have to get fit again! Tough tie tonight but good game." Which one can only assume she did because it was probably easier than actually going up to each Sky Blue fan individually and punching them in the face.

WPS players maybe didn't drink enough milk as kids - and I say this as a vegan: Here's to hoping that Erin McLeod, , Karen Bardsley, Lisa DeVanna, Sarah Walsh, Kiersten Dallstream, Tobin Heath, Manya Makoski, Jenni Branam and anyone else I may have forgotten return to the field real soon.

THE UGLY WPS (and pretty much everyone else too) drops the ball: After 'Dockgate' or 'Hope Solo vs. The Riptide' or whatever you want to call it, the league, teams, fans, players and media all had the opportunity to enter into a real, honest and meaningful discussion about supporters groups -- and more importantly -- about the history and place of racism, sexism, homophobia, etc. in soccer. Instead, the league pretended like it didn't happen, fans took shots at each other and at players, and Atlanta Beat GM Shawn McGee and GM Andy Crossley got into an online pissing contest. Where there was an opportunity to introduce an initiative like "Show Racism the Red Card" into WPS, we all decided we'd rather just act like jerks instead.