Independence coach Paul Riley has high hopes for forward Tasha Kai this season, after unsuccessfully trying to acquire her from Sky Blue FC in 2010. “I think if we had pulled that trade off, we would have won the championship.”
As an expansion team least year, the Philadelphia Independence shocked WomenÂ’s Professional Soccer by advancing all the way to the league championship game before falling to the Marta-led Bay Area FC Gold Pride.
Independence coach Paul Riley thinks heÂ’s assembled an even better team this year than last.
“I thought we were ok last year,” said Riley. “Looking back now I think, ‘oh my god, we did too well’.”
Riley says the team has more depth this year at almost every position, especially in the attack, where the club has added Tasha Kai and Spanish international Veronica Boquete.
“If we had Boquete and Tasha…,” Riley says wistfully of last season and how it ended in a disappointing rout, following a pair of thrilling overtime wins in playoff contests against Washington and Boston.
“We tried to trade for Tasha about ten games in. I think if we had pulled that trade off, we would have won the championship,” Riley says.
“I think Tasha would have been the difference for us. She’s just that player we didn’t have. We had one weapon, we had A-Rod. If we couldn’t get it to A-rod we struggled a little bit. Having another weapon like Tasha or Boquete would have been crucial for us.”
Riley says Kai, who has been an on-again off-again member of the WomenÂ’s National Team, is looking to revive her career in Philadelphia after two less-than-stellar seasons in New Jersey.
“Tasha Kai has been on fire,” Riley said. “I’d be shocked if she doesn’t turn out to be one of the top scorers in the league and banging on the door for MVP. I think she’s in for a big year. She’s very, very hungry to play. She’s been misunderstood where she played before. We have a great relationship with her. I really think she’s going to fly.”
Riley already has a reputation for reviving playerÂ’s careers. After scoring only one goal in Boston in her first WPS season, Rodriguez challenged for the WPS scoring title last year, declaring she was much happier in Philly than Boston. Likewise Tina DiMartino, a mid-season acquisition after St. Louis Athletica folded, also gained a spark to her game playing under Riley.
Riley says the biggest question mark for the team right now is at goalkeeper. Last year, he used Canadian international Karina LeBlanc and American Val Henderson, with LeBlanc starting the season as the No. 1, then the two sharing the No. 1 spot, before Henderson eventually took it over.
LeBlanc was traded to the now-defunct Chicago Red Stars at the end of the season. The team signed U.S. goalkeeper and local area product Nicole Barnhart, but her national team duties leading up to the WomenÂ’s World Cup make her unavailable to the Independence for large stretches, and right now Henderson is hurt.
“We’re in a little bit of trouble with the goalkeeper situation,” Riley said. “Barney’s not in and Val’s injured. We don’t have anybody else signed right now. We’re looking to sign Robyn Jones and right now we have Mary Casey, who was at the University of Maryland.”
Otherwise, the Independence, who take the field for a pair of preseason games against Duke and UConn at United Sports Center in Downingtown on Saturday, look good according to Riley.
“The rest of the team is good,” Riley said. “We’ve got good depth, our college draft picks have done very well. Sinead Farrelly looks very good. Lauren Fowlkes I am very happy with and Lauren Bond, the kid out of UCLA, I’m very happy with all three of them.
“Last year we didn’t get much out of our picks, because we picked late, we gave up so much for A-rod. But this year the three of them will contribute at some point during the season.”
Riley says, other than at goalkeeper, he is not concerned about missing players because of the World Cup.
“I think more than anybody else, we recruited to play without the National Team players,” said Riley. “I actually put a team together to play without them. If they are here, they’re here. If they’re not, they’re not. That looks like the way it’s going to be at this point.”
In addition to Barnhart, the team also been without Rodriguez and midfielder Lori Lindsey, who were with the U.S. at the Algarve Cup, and have already been called into another National Team Camp next week. The U.S. Women also have scheduled a pair of games in May before heading to a final camp ahead of the World Cup.
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