# 2011 Western New York Flash season

The 2011 Western New York Flash season was the team's inaugural and only season in the Women's Professional Soccer league, after competing as the Buffalo Flash in the USL W-League. The Western New York Flash won the league, then went on to win the 2011 WPS championship over the Philadelphia Independence.

## Review

The Flash joined the Women's Professional Soccer league as an expansion team in 2011, following its undefeated championship season in the USL W-League in 2010 as the Buffalo Flash. The team retained Aaran Lines, who coached the Flash the prior two seasons in the W-League, as its head coach, and remained under the ownership of Joe Sahlen.

## Squad
### First-team squad

As of August 16, 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 | GK | USA | Brittany Cameron |
| 2 | DF | USA | Alexandra Sahlen |
| 3 | DF | NZL | Ali Riley |
| 4 | MF | POR | Kim Brandão |
| 5 | DF | CAN | Candace Chapman |
| 6 | DF | USA | Gina Lewandowski |
| 7 | MF | USA | McCall Zerboni |
| 8 | DF | USA | Kandace Wilson |
| 9 | MF | SWE | Caroline Seger (captain) |
| 10 | FW | BRA | Marta |
| 12 | FW | CAN | Christine Sinclair |
| 13 | FW | USA | Alex Morgan |
| No. | Pos. | Nation | Player |
| 14 | MF | USA | Becky Edwards |
| 16 | FW | ENG | Gemma Davison |
| 17 | DF | USA | Kaley Fountain |
| 18 | MF | USA | Yael Averbuch |
| 19 | MF | USA | Beverly Goebel |
| 20 | FW | BRA | Maurine |
| 21 | DF | USA | Brittany Bock |
| 23 | DF | USA | Whitney Engen |
| 24 | GK | USA | Ashlyn Harris |
| 30 | GK | USA | Ashleigh Bowers |
| 38 | FW | USA | Rebecca Moros |

### Transfers
#### Out
## 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 |
| 18 | M | Yael Averbuch | 13 | 8 | 734 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 11 | 1 | 9% | 4 | 5 | 0 | 0 |
| 21 | M | Brittany Bock | 18 | 17 | 1456 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 11 | 9 | 82% | 21 | 16 | 2 | 0 |
| 4 | D | Kimberly Brandao | 2 | 2 | 180 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| 5 | D | Candace Chapman | 12 | 12 | 1026 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | 1 | 6 | 0 | 0 |
| 16 | F | Gemma Davison | 12 | 5 | 507 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 10 | 6 | 60% | 6 | 9 | 0 | 0 |
| 14 | D | Becky Edwards | 18 | 18 | 1445 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 18 | 7 | 39% | 15 | 13 | 2 | 0 |
| 23 | D | Whitney Engen | 17 | 17 | 1530 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 5 | 2 | 40% | 3 | 5 | 1 | 0 |
| 17 | F | Kaley Fountain | 5 | 2 | 160 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 0% | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| 19 | M | Beverly Goebel | 14 | 3 | 428 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 5 | 2 | 40% | 2 | 3 | 0 | 0 |
| 6 | D | Gina Lewandowski | 8 | 6 | 594 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | 5 | 4 | 1 | 0 |
| 10 | F | Marta | 14 | 13 | 1192 | 10 | 5 | 1 | 41 | 27 | 66% | 17 | 16 | 0 | 0 |
| 20 | F | Maurine | 1 | 1 | 59 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 13 | F | Alex Morgan | 13 | 6 | 689 | 4 | 3 | 0 | 26 | 17 | 65% | 8 | 8 | 0 | 0 |
| 38 | F | Rebecca Moros | 17 | 11 | 1098 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 2 | 67% | 12 | 5 | 1 | 0 |
| 3 | D | Ali Riley | 15 | 15 | 1305 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 7 | 5 | 71% | 6 | 4 | 0 | 0 |
| 2 | D | Alexandra Sahlen | 2 | 1 | 79 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 9 | M | Caroline Seger | 12 | 10 | 938 | 5 | 1 | 1 | 19 | 14 | 74% | 7 | 9 | 1 | 0 |
| 12 | F | Christine Sinclair | 15 | 14 | 1191 | 10 | 8 | 1 | 44 | 25 | 57% | 5 | 5 | 0 | 0 |
| 8 | F | Kandace Wilson | 13 | 9 | 875 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 2 | 50% | 4 | 6 | 1 | 0 |
| 7 | M | McCall Zerboni | 14 | 11 | 915 | 4 | 3 | 0 | 13 | 8 | 62% | 5 | 8 | 1 | 0 |
| Team Total | Team Total | Team Total | 235 | 181 | 16401 | 39 | 30 | 3 | 220 | 127 | 57.73% | 123 | 123 | 11 | 0 |
| N | Pos | Goal keeper | GP | GS | Min | GA | GA/G | PKA | PKF | Shot | Sav | Sav% | Sho | YC | RC |
| 24 | GK | Ashlyn Harris | 18 | 18 | 1620 | 18 | 1.00 | 2 | 2 | 72 | 50 | 73.5% | 5 | 0 | 0 |

## Club
### Management

| Position | Staff |
| Head coach | Aaran Lines |
| Assistant coach | Scott Vallow |
| Strength and conditioning coach | Demeris Johnson |
Last updated: August 22, 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 | A | H | H | H | H | A | H | H | A | A | H | A | A | H | A | A | H |
| Result | W | D | W | W | W | W | W | D | L | L | W | W | D | W | W | W | W | W |

#### 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
## Awards
### WPS Player of the Week

| Week | Player of the Week | Week's Statline |
| Week 4 | Christine Sinclair | 2 G, GWG |
| Week 5 | Marta | 2 A, 1 G, GWA |
| Week 6 | McCall Zerboni | 1 A, 2 G, GWG |
| Week 7 | Caroline Seger | 2 G |
| Week 15 | Christine Sinclair | 1 A, 2 G, GWG |
| Week 15 | Christine Sinclair | BOS 2-2 WNY |

### WPS Player of the Month

| Month | Player of the Month | Month's Statline |
| May | McCall Zerboni | 2 G, 2 A in 5 games; Flash 5-0 in May |

### WPS year-end awards

| Award | Player | Notes |
| WPS Defender of the Year | Whitney Engen | Started and played the full 90 in all but one game |
| US Coast Guard Goalkeeper of the Year | Ashlyn Harris | Led the league in regular season goals per game average (1.00) |
| PUMA Golden Boot (Top Scorer) | Marta | Scored ten goals, earning her third consecutive award |
Source: 2011 WPS Year End Awards

#### WPS Best XI

| Player | Position |
| Ashlyn Harris | Goalkeeper |
| Whitney Engen * | Defense |
| Ali Riley | Defense |
| Caroline Seger | Midfield |
| Christine Sinclair * | Forward |
| Marta | Forward |
* – unanimous selection Source: WPS Announces Best XI of 2011