Women’s Professional Soccer held its dispersal draft Feb. 4 for players’ rights previously held by the Los Angeles Sol, whose operations were discontinued Jan. 28. FIFA World Player of the year Marta fell to FC Gold Pride with the third selection, instantly making the Bay Area club favorites in the 2010 title chase--if they can sign the Brazilian. Shannon Boxx was selected first by the Saint Louis Athletica. The Philadelphia Independence snatched goalkeeper Karina LeBlanc with the second.

Head over to our WPS page for the full story.

After several weeks of negotiations with a potential new ownership group fell through at the last minute, Women’s Professional Soccer discontinued operations of the Los Angeles Sol on Thursday. The rights to the 19 players currently held by the Sol will be dispersed during a special draft for the league’s eight franchises on Thursday, February 4 and will be announced later that day.

Details on the dispersal draft and more on our WPS page.

Friday night in Philadelphia, PUMA and Women’s Professional Soccer unveiled the new 2010 WPS Home and Away Uniforms, including the official kit debut of the newest franchises, the Atlanta Beat and Philadelphia Independence. The launch event, which took place hours after the 2010 WPS Draft, highlighted veteran players from the league’s nine teams as well as newly drafted professional players who proudly wore their team colors for the first time.

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The Los Angeles Sol is being sold by Anschutz Entertainment Group, which also operates the Galaxy, to a group of local investors. The pending sale, which the league says could be done by the coming week, comes as no surprise. The team reportedly lost around $2 million last year and AEG had always said that their involvement with the Sol and WPS was temporary. While it is unsettling for the league, the Sol and its fans, these changes could in fact serve the team very well in the long run.

ASN's Ivan Yeo reports from Los Angeles.

Sky Blue FC spent its 2009 season embroiled in turmoil, both on and off the pitch. The New York/New Jersey-based franchise waddled near the bottom of the WPS standings for a good part of the season and saw two head coaches leave the organization. But the club clawed its way to two road playoff victories, then pulled off the mother of all upsets, as one strike off the foot of Heather O’Reilly coupled with some gritty defense and some timely breaks enabled Sky Blue FC to claim the inaugural WPS championship over the host Los Angeles Sol 1-0 Saturday afternoon at the Home Depot Center. ASN's Ivan Yeo reports from Carson, Calif. Photos on the way.

ASN's Craig Bennett was at Home Depot Center Sunday gathering photographic evidence of the Washington Freedom vs. Los Angeles Sol match (read ASN's match report here) and check out the photos here.

All photos ©ASN/Craig Bennett, 112575 Media Inc. To see more of Craig's work check out his Web site.

Another week, another effort by the Los Angeles Galaxy to pick up the full three points.

Following their seventh tie in eight matches last week at FC Dallas, the Galaxy will host the Kansas City Wizards Saturday night in the latter of a busy day for professional soccer at the Home Depot Center.

The Galaxy are actually unbeaten in their last eight matches, but have only won once during that stretch, a 1-0 win over the New York Red Bulls on May 2. Los Angeles sits in a tie for fifth place with 11 points and a 1-1-8 record. The Galaxy’s latest draw in Texas last week actually saw them take the lead three minutes into the match on a Landon Donovan strike, his sixth of the season. FC Dallas however equalized in the 31st minute as Drew Moor successfully headed Dave Van Den Bergh’s corner kick into the back net. The Galaxy had several chances to add to its third-minute goal, but were unsuccessful.

Saturday’s match could perhaps be the last good chance for the Galaxy to get a win, as Donovan will leave the team shortly after the match for national team duty, starting with the Confederations Cup, which begins on June 14. The Galaxy will also have to make do without defender and 2008 MLS rookie of the year Sean Franklin, who was diagnosed with a torn hamstring tendon and is out for the rest of the season.

Kansas City’s 2009 season has produced mixed results. The Wizards lost their first two matches, came back with two straight wins and it’s been up and down ever since. Curt Onalfo’s team are 4-4-3 with 15 points, putting it in fourth place in the Eastern Conference. Kansas City did play league-leading Chivas USA to a 1-1 draw at CommunityAmerica Ballpark on May 23. The Wizards are led by Josh Wolff’s six goals and Claudio Lopez’s four goals.

Saturday’s match isn’t the only soccer match to be played at the Home Depot Center. The Los Angeles Sol of Women’s Professional Soccer will host Saint Louis Athletica in the first leg of the doubleheader. The Sol still sit atop first place in WPS with 17 points and a 5-1-2. The Sol’s latest win occured last Sunday against FC Gold Pride 2-0. Camille Abily scored the Sol’s first goal in the 27th minute on a penalty kick after midfielder Aya Miyama was fouled in the box on a breakaway. Sol forward Han Duan sealed the win with a strike in the 86th minute for her first goal of the season. The Sol were actually without midfielder Shannon Boxx and goalkeeper Karina LeBlanc, who were away on international duty, but both will be back in time for today’s match.

Saint Louis Athletica have started to show signs of life after a slow start. Athletica went winless in its first four matches of the season, but has bounced back with two straight wins. St. Louis’ first win came against FC Gold Pride on May 9 and Athletica followed the win with a 2-0 win over regional rival Chicago Red Stars. Athletica currently stands in fifth place with eight points and a 2-2-2 record. St. Louis is led by standout goalkeeper Hope Solo and midfielder Lori Chalupny.

The Sol and Athletica have gotten to know each other quite well during the season’s first two months. The two teams played to a scoreless draw on April 25 at Robert R. Hermann Stadium in St. Louis. Los Angeles was missing Duan and Marta, both of whom were away on International duty. Shortly after the match, Los Angeles and St. Louis made a trade that saw the Sol send forward Chrstie Welsh and defender Kendall Fletcher to Athletica for future draft considerations.

The Los Angeles Sol and Washington Freedom provided a well-played and hard-fought opening match to the brand new Women's Professional League, much to the appreciation of 14,832 spectators at Home Depot Center (more than the defending MLS champion Columbus Crew's home opener, more than the New York Red Bulls' home opener and more than twice the amount that attended MLS' Sunday feature at Pizza Hut Park in Frisco, Tex.). Three-time FIFA world player of the year Marta was as good as expected, assisting on the second Sol goal and leading her club to victory. ASN's Ivan Yeo was there and filed this report.

After five years, women’s professional soccer is back in the United States, figuratively and literally. A new seven-team league, Women’s Professional Soccer (WPS), is set to kick off today. Two teams that figure to receive plenty of attention, the Los Angeles Sol and the Washington Freedom, will take the field at the Home Depot Center on Sunday at 3 p.m. local time to start a new and long overdue era in women's professional soccer.

ASN's Ivan Yeo reports from Los Angeles.