Two Breakers in WPS Combine

W-League Reveals Players Set for Showcase

August 9, 2008

TAMPA, FL – The USL announced Friday that 128 players have been provisionally chosen to participate in the inaugural W-League Combine that will give the players an opportunity to showcase their abilities for Women’s Professional Soccer coaches and scouts in Tampa from September 4-7.

Of the 128, 20 names were released by the league on Friday, including two from the Boston Renegades: Therese Luckner and Ashlee Pistorius.

“The level of play in the W-League is among the best in the world and we are thrilled that the interest in the combine among our players and beyond met and actually exceeded our expectations for the event,” said W-League Director of Operations Melanie Fitzgerald.

A former professional in the Swedish and Norwegian leagues, Luckner helped turn around a Renegades defense that gave up 31 goals in 2007 and led to their first missed postseason since 1999. Boston only allowed 12 goals in 2008 behind an All-Conference honor effort from Luckner.

The Renegades returned to their status as a playoff participant with the addition of Pistorius, who led the team in scoring this season. The 2007 Honda Player of the Year finished in the top 20 in the league in points.

The last women’s league to launch –the Women’s United Soccer Association – scooped up 92 current and former W-League players in 2001. Numerous W-League players went on to find success in the WUSA, including several that also found a spot with the US National Team. Headed to the Olympics in August are two such players in Shannon Boxx and Angela Hucles. Boxx, a member of the Boston Renegades, was drafted by San Diego and would later debut for the US in 2003. A former Hampton Roads Piranha, Hucles was drafted by Boston and would go on to join the US squad in 2002.

"The W-League has successfully harvested many of the nation's best female soccer talent for years, growing the sport and priming these athletes for professional stardom," said Tonya Antonucci, Women's Professional Soccer (WPS) commissioner. "We applaud their accomplishments as we work in close partnership with the league in identifying and showcasing W-League talent to further raise the profile of women's soccer culminating in the launch of Women's Professional Soccer (WPS) in 2009."