Three former Illinois soccer players are currently on Women's Professional Soccer rosters in the league's inaugural season.  Ella Masar and Mary Therese McDonnell are on the Chicago Red Stars, while Christen Karniski is on the roster of the Washington Freedom.  Masar is the only former Illini who has seen the field at this point of the season, appearing in all seven games and starting three.  She has yet to tally her first professional goal, but has gotten off three shots.

Looking at the WPS standings, both Chicago and Washington are in the middle of the pack at the moment.  Washington is in fourth place in the seven-team league, while the Red Stars are tied for fifth.  However, the two teams are headed in different directions.  The Red Stars have lost three straight games, all by shutout, after a 2-0-2 start.  In fact, four of the Red Stars six goals this season came in one game, a 4-0 victory over second place Boston.  Meanwhile, the Freedom has gone 2-0-2 in its last four games after going just 0-2-1 to start the season.  The Freedom have scored plenty of goals, leading the league with 12 tallies, but are last in WPS with 14 goals allowed.

Any Illini fans who would like to see these former Orange and Blue standouts in the professional ranks can head up to Chicago on Wednesday July 1 when Washington will visit the Red Stars at Toyota Park in Bridgeview.  You can click here for tickets, which range in price from $15 to $50 each.

I'm hoping to make it up to Bridgeview for at least one game this season, but haven't been able to make it work in my schedule so far.  When I do, I hope to be able to talk with Ella and M.T. to get their thoughts on being a part of WPS in its premiere season.  Thanks for reading.

bmoline@wdws.com