Sports
Riley Plays for Second WPS Title Saturday
The Palisadian and her Western New York Flash host Philadelphia in the final.
Ali Riley and the Western New York Flash had to play the waiting game after wrapping up the Women's Professional Soccer regular season title on August 14 with a 2-0 home victory over the Atlanta Beat. With the win, the team earned the right to host the championship game, which kicks off Saturday afternoon.
Riley, who grew up in Pacific Palisades and starred at , Harvard-Westlake High and Stanford University, played a key role in the physical game, taking several spills in the first half on a cold and wet field at Sahlen's Stadium in Rochester, N.Y. The left side back set up the first goal by Caroline Seger in the 37th minute, then played air-tight defense throughout the second half as reigning FIFA Player of the Year Marta added an insurance goal in the 75th minute.
As a rookie in the WPS last season, Riley helped lead Bay Area's FC Gold Pride to its first league championship, but after that franchise folded in November the 23-year-old Palisadian signed with the Flash and now her new team is on the brink of the title in its inaugural WPS season.
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For the first time in league history, the top two playoff seeds will play for the championship. Western New York finished first in the regular season standings with 13 wins, two losses and three draws for a total of 42 points. Philadelphia (11-4-3) took second place with 36 points and won the last two of its three meetings against the Flash and all three games were decided by one goal.
The Independence shut out the South Florida-based magicJack 2-0 in the semifinals last Saturday to earn their second straight finals berth. Riley's defense keyed Bay Area's 4-0 win over Philadelphia in the 2010 final.
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Saturday's championship game will be televised live from New York on Fox Sports Net beginning at 1 p.m. Pacific Time.
Riley played for New Zealand's national team at the Women's World Cup in Germany this summer and since she reunited with her Flash teammates against Sky Blue FC on July 17 in New Jersey, the team has not lost a game (seven wins, zero losses and one tie).
