On Thursday, WPS teams officially announced their opening day rosters. The maximum number of roster spots available on each team is 24, although none of the six WPS teams are currently sporting full rosters. For some, that leaves room for late additions (like the Western New York Flash leaving space to add Brazilian midfielder Maurine).
Check out the full rosters below the jump. Some notes: Former University of Florida goalkeeper Katie Fraine made the Atlanta Beat’s roster after being drafted and cut by magicJack. Australian Leah Blayney, who last played for Canberra United in the Westfield W-League, made the Boston Breakers roster. So too did former Portland defender Elli Reed, who flew to Boston the day after being cut by Western New York.
The Philadelphia Independence only have two goalkeepers, one of which is World Cup-bound Nicole Barnhart. Val Henderson should get plenty of time this year, but Philly will need a third goalkeeper to be safe. Check out The Equalizer’s preview of Philadelphia here.
Sky Blue FC is the only team to keep four goalkeepers: Karen Bardsley, Jenni Branam, Erin Guthrie and Kristin Arnold. Sky Blue FC also signed 24-year-old Spanish striker Adriana Martin Santamaria. She is a stud for Spain and she is young, which should limit comparisons to the likes of older international players who have failed in New Jersey (Italian Patrizia Panico and the younger but still experience Swede Jessica Landstrom come to mind).
The U.S. Women’s National Team jerseys that were once in question are now on U.S. Soccer’s store, making them pretty official (talk about a soft unveiling).
And don’t look now, but the Bay Area Breeze and Orange County Waves, part of a group looking to enter WPS in 2012, are building a heck of a squad of ex-WPS players who were impacted by the decreased number of roster spots in 2011. Ex-Chicago Red Stars Natalie Spilger and Brittany Klein are headed to Orange County, while ex-FC Gold Pride midfielder Kim Yokers will play with the Bay Area. More signings are sure to come with WPS roster cuts taking place.
Check out Opening Day Rosters:
Atlanta Beat
Katie Bethke
Kerri Butler
Lori Chalupny
Bianca D’Agostino
Keeley Dowling
Colleen Flanagan
Katie Fraine
Megan Jesolva
Kristina Larsen
Meghan Lenczyk
Allison Lipsher
Carli Lloyd
Analisa Marquez
Heather Mitts
Katherine Reynolds
Angela Salem
Lauren Sesselmann
Vendula Strnadova
India Trotter
Catherine Whitehill
Allison Whitworth
Kylie Wright
Boston Breakers
Jordan Angeli
Leah Blayney
Liz Bogus
Rachel Buehler
Lauren Cheney
Stephanie Cox
Niki Cross
Kelsey Davis
Ifeoma Dieke
Taryn Hemmings
Amy LePeilbet
Kasey Moore
Alyssa Naeher
Kelley O’Hara
Leslie Osborne
Ashley Phillips
Elli Reed
Katie Schoepfer
Alex Scott
Kelly Smith
Nikki Washington
Keelin Winters
Claire Zimmeck
magicJack
Shannon Boxx
Amanda DaCosta
Marian Dalmy
Omolyn Davis
Lisa DeVanna
Tina Ellertson
Sarah Huffman
Meghan Klingenberg
Jillian Loyden
Brett Maron
Nikki Marshall
Ella Masar
Rebecca Moros
Christen Press
Christie Rampone
Johanna Rasmussen
Becky Sauerbrunn
Sophie Schmidt
Meghan Schnur
Hope Solo
Lindsay Tarpley
Abby Wambach
Kacey White
Philadelphia Independence
Danesha Adams
Lauren Barnes
Nicole Barnhart
Veronica Boquete
Jen Buczkowski
Laura del Rio
Christina DiMartino
Gina DiMartino
Allison Falk
Sinead Farrelly
Lauren Fowlkes
Val Henderson
Estelle Johnson
Tasha Kai
Nikki Krzysik
Lori Lindsey
Joanna Lohman
Holmfridur Magnusdottir
Kia McNeill
Megan Rapinoe
Leigh Ann Robinson
Amy Rodriguez
Lianne Sanderson
Sky Blue FC
Eniola Aluko
Kristin Arnold
Anita Asante
Karen Bardsley
Carolyn Blank
Jenni Branam
Kiersten Dallstream
Carrie Dew
Kendall Fletcher
Erin Guthrie
Tobin Heath
Danielle Johnson
Lindsey Johnson
Laura Kalmari
Angie Kerr
Allie Long
Adriana Martin Santamaria
Alyssa Mautz
Casey Nogueira
Heather O’Reilly
Therese Sjögran
Brittany Taylor
Michelle Wenino
Western New York Flash
Yael Averbuch
Brittany Bock
Ashleigh Bowers
Kim Brandão
Brittany Cameron
Candace Chapman
Gemma Davison
Becky Edwards
Whitney Engen
Kaley Fountain
Beverly Goebel
Ashlyn Harris
Gina Lewandowski
Marta
Alex Morgan
Kelly Parker
Ali Riley
Alex Sahlen
Caroline Seger
Christine Sinclair
Julianne Sitch
Kandace Wilson
McCall Zerboni
