# 2011 Philadelphia Independence season

The 2011 Philadelphia Independence season was the team's second and final season in the Women's Professional Soccer league, and its final season as a team.

## Review

The Independence traded Karina LeBlanc to the Chicago Red Stars to move up to the second overall pick in the 2011 WPS Draft and midfielder Caroline Seger to the expansion Western New York Flash for their first pick in the draft's second round. The Independence selected University of Virginia midfielder Sinead Farrelly with the acquired first-round pick. The Independence would select seven players in the draft, more than any other team in the 6-team league. It also signed goalkeeper Nicole Barnhart on February 24, 2011, after the dissolution of FC Gold Pride.
The team also changed home venues, moving from West Chester University to Widener University.
The Independence finished second in league play, won the WPS Super Semifinal 2–0 over magicJack, then drew the Western New York Flash in the 2011 WPS championship after extra time, losing in penalties 5–4. Head coach Paul Riley was named WPS Coach of the Year for the second consecutive season, and Verónica Boquete was named Player of the Year.
This was the team's final season, as it dissolved in 2012 along with the Women's Professional Soccer league itself. Many of its players and staff would go on to other teams that moved to different leagues, while others appeared in the next fully professional women's soccer league, the National Women's Soccer League, after it launched in 2013.

## Squad
### Roster

As of September 26, 2011
Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules; some limited exceptions apply. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.
| No. | Pos. | Nation | Player |
| 0 | FW | USA | Tasha Kai |
| 1 | GK | USA | Val Henderson |
| 3 | DF | USA | Allison Falk |
| 4 | MF | USA | Jen Buczkowski |
| 6 | MF | USA | Lori Lindsey |
| 7 | DF | USA | Leigh Ann Robinson |
| 8 | FW | USA | Amy Rodriguez |
| 9 | FW | USA | Danesha Adams |
| 10 | FW | ENG | Lianne Sanderson |
| 13 | FW | ESP | Laura del Rio |
| 14 | MF | USA | Sinead Farrelly |
| No. | Pos. | Nation | Player |
| 15 | DF | USA | Nikki Krzysik |
| 16 | DF | USA | Kia McNeill |
| 17 | MF | USA | Joanna Lohman |
| 20 | FW | USA | Gina DiMartino |
| 21 | FW | ESP | Verónica Boquete |
| 22 | DF | USA | Lauren Barnes |
| 23 | GK | USA | Nicole Barnhart |
| 24 | DF | CMR | Estelle Johnson |
| 25 | MF | USA | Tina DiMartino |
| 28 | DF | USA | Lauren Fowlkes |
| 39 | GK | USA | Robyn Jones |

### Team Management

| Position | Staff |
| Head coach | Paul Riley |
| Assistant coach | Paul Royal |
| Assistant coach | Skip Thorp |
| Strength and conditioning coach | Mike Demakis |
Last updated: November 10, 2011 Source: WPS

## Competitions
### Women's Professional Soccer
#### Results by round

| Round | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 |
| Ground | A | H | A | H | A | A | H | H | A | H | H | H | A | A | A | H | H | A |
| Result | D | W | L | W | W | D | L | D | W | W | W | W | W | L | W | W | W | L |

#### Home/away results

| Overall | Overall | Overall | Overall | Overall | Overall | Overall | Overall | Home | Home | Home | Home | Home | Home | Away | Away | Away | Away | Away | Away |
Last updated: August 22, 2011. Source: WPS

#### League table

| Pos | Teamvte | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Promotion or relegation |
| 1 | Western New York Flash | 18 | 13 | 3 | 2 | 40 | 18 | +22 | 42 | Advance to Championship |
| 2 | Philadelphia Independence | 18 | 11 | 3 | 4 | 31 | 18 | +13 | 36 | Advance to Super Semifinal |
| 3 | magicJack | 18 | 9 | 2 | 7 | 29 | 29 | 0 | 28 | Advance to First round |
| 4 | Boston Breakers | 18 | 5 | 4 | 9 | 19 | 24 | −5 | 19 | Advance to First round |
| 5 | Sky Blue FC | 18 | 5 | 4 | 9 | 24 | 29 | −5 | 19 | |
| 6 | Atlanta Beat | 18 | 1 | 4 | 13 | 7 | 32 | −25 | 7 | |
* ↑ magicJack were deducted a point for various league violations.
* 1 2 BOS: 7 pts; SKY: 4 pt

### WPS Playoffs
## Squad statistics

Source: WPS
Squad statistics are of the regular season only.
| N | Pos | Player | GP | GS | Min | G | A | PK | Shot | SOG | SOG% | Foul | FS | YC | RC |
| 0 | F | Tasha Kai | 17 | 16 | 1234 | 9 | 1 | 0 | 49 | 28 | 57.14% | 9 | 19 | 1 | 0 |
| 4 | M | Jen Buczkowski | 18 | 18 | 1620 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 7 | 3 | 42.86% | 18 | 9 | 1 | 0 |
| 6 | M | Lori Lindsey | 9 | 1 | 254 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 5 | 3 | 60.00% | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| 7 | D | Leigh Ann Robinson | 17 | 17 | 1530 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 5 | 0 | 0.00% | 4 | 4 | 0 | 0 |
| 8 | F | Amy Rodriguez | 10 | 6 | 641 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 19 | 8 | 42.11% | 5 | 9 | 0 | 0 |
| 10 | F | Lianne Sanderson | 17 | 8 | 670 | 3 | 3 | 1 | 19 | 12 | 63.16% | 5 | 9 | 1 | 0 |
| 13 | F | Laura del Rio | 15 | 3 | 471 | 2 | 3 | 0 | 29 | 19 | 65.52% | 2 | 4 | 0 | 0 |
| 14 | M | Sinead Farrelly | 14 | 13 | 1101 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 13 | 8 | 61.54% | 7 | 5 | 1 | 0 |
| 15 | M | Nikki Krzysik | 18 | 18 | 1620 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | 14 | 3 | 1 | 0 |
| 16 | D | Kia McNeill | 17 | 17 | 1453 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 7 | 6 | 85.71% | 12 | 6 | 1 | 1 |
| 17 | D | Joanna Lohman | 9 | 6 | 495 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 11 | 4 | 36.36% | 6 | 11 | 1 | 0 |
| 19 | M | Danesha Adams | 13 | 8 | 703 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 20 | 13 | 65.00% | 6 | 12 | 1 | 0 |
| 21 | F | Verónica Boquete | 11 | 10 | 902 | 5 | 4 | 0 | 29 | 21 | 72.41% | 5 | 12 | 0 | 0 |
| 24 | D | Estelle Johnson | 15 | 13 | 1194 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 5 | 2 | 40.00% | 4 | 4 | 0 | 0 |
| 25 | M | Tina DiMartino | 18 | 18 | 1429 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 18 | 8 | 44.44% | 4 | 9 | 0 | 0 |
| 26 | F | Holmfridur Magnusdottir | 12 | 6 | 586 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 10 | 3 | 30.00% | 11 | 1 | 2 | 0 |
| Team Total | Team Total | Team Total | 230 | 178 | 15903 | 30 | 21 | 1 | 246 | 138 | 56.10% | 114 | 118 | 10 | 1 |
| N | Pos | Goal keeper | GP | GS | Min | GA | GA/G | PKA | PKF | Shot | Sav | Sho |
| 23 | GK | Nicole Barnhart | 9 | 9 | 810 | 10 | 1.11 | 1 | 2 | 49 | 37 | 3 |
| 1 | GK | Val Henderson | 9 | 9 | 810 | 8 | 0.89 | 1 | 1 | 28 | 20 | 4 |
| Team Total | Team Total | Team Total | 18 | 18 | 1620 | 18 | 2.00 | 2 | 3 | 77 | 57 | 7 |

## Transfers
### 2011 WPS Draft

| Player | Pos | Previous club | Notes |
| Sinead Farrelly | MF | University of Virginia | Round 1, Pick #2 |
| Lauren Fowlkes | DF | University of Notre Dame | Round 5, Pick #5 |
| Jennifer Stoltenberg | FW | University of Oregon | Round 2, Pick #9 |
| Caitlin Farrell | DF | Wake Forest University | Round 2, Pick #11 |
| Lauren Barnes | DF | University of California, Los Angeles | Round 3, Pick #15 |
| Bianca D'Agostino | MF | Wake Forest University | Round 3, Pick #18 |
| Teresa Rynier | MF | James Madison University | Round 4, Pick #23 |

### In

| Date | Player | Position | Previous club | Fee/notes |
| December 22, 2010 | Tasha Kai | FW | Sky Blue FC | Signed |
| December 27, 2010 | Megan Rapinoe | MF | Chicago Red Stars | Signed as free agent |
| January 31, 2011 | Verónica Boquete | FW | RCD Espanyol | Signed, joined at conclusion of 2010–11 Superliga Femenina |
| January 31, 2011 | Laura del Rio | FW | Boston Breakers | Trade |
| February 22, 2011 | Nicole Barnhart | GK | FC Gold Pride | Signed as free agent |
| March 24, 2011 | Sinead Farrelly | MF | University of Virginia | Signed draft pick |
| March 24, 2011 | Gina DiMartino | FW | Boston College | Signed to main roster |
| April 1, 2011 | Lauren Barnes | DF | UCLA | Signed draft pick |
| April 4, 2011 | Lauren Fowlkes | DF | Notre Dame | Signed draft pick |
| April 6, 2011 | Robyn Jones | GK | New Jersey Wildcats | Signed to main roster |
| | Leigh Ann Robinson | DF | Atlanta Beat | Signed |

### Out

| Date | Player | Position | Destination club | Fee/notes |
| October 12, 2010 | Karina LeBlanc | GK | Chicago Red Stars | Traded for 1st- and 3rd-round picks in 2011 WPS Draft. |
| November 8, 2010 | Lyndsey Patterson | MF/FW | Atlanta Beat | Waived |
| November 8, 2010 | Sarah Senty | DF | | Waived |
| December 22, 2010 | Caroline Seger | FW | Western New York Flash | Traded for 2nd-round picks in 2011 and 2012 WPS Drafts. |
| January 15, 2011 | Heather Mitts | DF | Atlanta Beat | Traded for 3rd-round pick in 2012 WPS Draft. |
| June 21, 2011 | Megan Rapinoe | MF | magicJack | Traded in exchange for cash considerations. |
| July 25, 2011 | Hólmfríður Magnúsdóttir | MF/FW | Valur | Mutually terminated rights |

## Awards
### Player of the Week

| Week | Player of the Week | Week's Statline |
| Week 11 | Verónica Boquete | 3 A, 1 G |
| Week 13 | Natasha Kai | 3 G |
| Week 13 | Natasha Kai | 1 G |
| Week 14 | Verónica Boquete | 1 G |
| Week 16 | Verónica Boquete | 1 G, GWG |
| Week 16 | Verónica Boquete | 1 G, GWG |

### WPS year-end awards

| Award | Player | Notes |
| Michelle Akers Player of the Year | Verónica Boquete | Also earned league's top honor as MVP |
| WPS Coach of the Year | Paul Riley | Led his team to a seven-game unbeaten streak and playoff final |
| Citi Sportswoman of the Year | Nikki Krzysik | Team captain selected by her peers for exemplary leadership |
Source: 2011 WPS Year End Awards

#### 2011 WPS Best XI

| Player | Position |
| Kia McNeill | Defense |
| Nikki Krzysik | Defense |
| Verónica Boquete * | Midfield |
| Jen Buczkowski | Midfield |
* – unanimous selection Source: WPS Announces Best XI of 2011