Three Gators on Women's Professional Soccer Opening Day Rosters
Friday, March 27, 2009 | Soccer
Three past University of Florida All-American players are on the opening day rosters for the Women's Professional Soccer (WPS) league.
The Boston Breakers have two Gators on their 18-player roster - Heather Mitts and Stacy Bishop. Abby Wambach is a member of the Washington Freedom team.
The Washington Freedom and the Los Angeles Sol play in the WPS's inaugural match Sunday, March 29 at 6 p.m. ET at The Home Depot Center in Carson, Calif. Play opens for the Boston Breakers versus the FC Gold Pride in Santa Clara, Calif., on Sunday, April 5 at 6 p.m .ET. Both matches will be televised by FOX Soccer Channel.
Mitts and Wambach were assigned to their WPS team in September when the U.S. Women's National Team members were allocated to the various WPS teams. Bishop was selected in the WPS draft held in St. Louis, Mo., in January.
As a senior in 2001, Wambach led the nation in scoring with 31 goals, 14 assists for 76 points. She is the Gators' career leader in goals (96), assists (50) and points (242) and stands sixth on the NCAA Career charts in goals and points. Wambach earned National Soccer Coaches Association of American (NSCAA) All-America first-team honors in 1999 and 2001. She is a four-time member of the All-Southeastern Conference first team and picked up the SEC Player of the Year award in 2000 and '01.
Wambach is considered one of the world's top players. She has scored 99 goals, which computes to scoring in 78 percent of her 127 U.S. National Team appearances. She is one goal away from joining the U.S. Women's 100-goal scorers list, which currently includes such luminaries as Mia Hamm, Kristine Lilly, Michelle Akers and Tiffeny Milbrett. Wambach scored the game-winning goal in the 2004 Olympic final, but missed the 2008 Olympics after breaking her left leg versus Brazil June 16 in the team's last pre-Olympic exhibition match.
As a Gator, Mitts earned All-America and All-SEC honors in her final two seasons (1998 & '99). Mitts is third on UF's career list with 7,547 minutes played and is tied for fourth with 95 matches played. The defender also was a NCAA Championship All-Tournament team selection when the Gators claimed the 1998 national title. Mitts was part of the U.S.'s gold medal teams at the 2004 and 2008 Summer Olympics. She started every match at the 2008 Olympics at right back, playing the entirety of five of the U.S.'s six matches. Mitts missed the 2007 FIFA Women's World Cup after tearing her left anterior cruciate ligament against Canada in May of 2007.
Bishop earned All-America honors in both of her seasons with the Gators. She was a NSCAA/adidas All-America third-team selection in 2006 and a fourth-team selection by SoccerBuzz.com in 2007. She led the Gators in goals, assists and points in 2006 and 2007. On Florida's All-Time Career Points chart, Bishop is No. 9 with 22 goals, 16 assists for 60 points. Bishop was a two-time All-SEC first team as a Gator and earned All-SEC second team honors in 2004 at LSU. She was the most valuable player of the 2007 SEC Tournament. As a senior, Bishop was a semifinalist for the Missouri Athletics Club's Hermann Trophy, an award for the nation's player of the year.
About Women's Professional Soccer (WPS)
The mission of Women's Professional Soccer (WPS) is to be the premier women's soccer league in the world and the global standard by which women's professional sports are measured. Play kicks off in the spring of 2009, with WPS teams based in the Bay Area, Boston, Chicago, Los Angeles, New Jersey/New York, St. Louis, and Washington, D.C. The league expects to expand in 2010 with the addition of Atlanta and Philadelphia, while working to secure a facility for a Dallas team for the second WPS season.
