FC Gold Pride left back Ali Riley (Pacific Palisades/Harvard-Westlake School), Philadelphia Independence forward Amy Rodriguez (Lake Forest/Santa Margarita HS and USC) and Washington Freedom forward Abby Wambach (Hermosa Beach) are on Women’s Professional Soccer’s Best XI, which will be announced Wednesday.
Riley, the WPS Rookie of the Year, is among five players from the league champions on the team, which was chosen by a media panel. Also honored from the Bay Area team: WPS MVP Marta, Goalkeeper of the Year Nicole Barnhart, defender Rachel Buehler and forward Christine Sinclair.
Marta was the only unanimous selection in the balloting, which concluded Tuesday.
Others on the team: Boston’s Amy LePeilbet, the two-time WPS Defender of the Year, Kelly Smith and Jordan Angeli, and Philadelphia’s Lori Lindsey.
Angeli also was a rookie.
Riley, who plays for New Zealand’s national team, had a huge role in Gold Pride’s romp to a 16-3-5 regular-season record and 4-0 triumph over Philadelphia in the title game, setting a standard for her position as an attacker and defender.
Rodriguez and Wambach were MVP finalists after leading their teams to the playoffs. Rodriguez scored 12 regular-season goals for the expansion Independence, then scored an overtime winner to beat Washington in the playoff opener and had an assist in Philly’s semifinal win over Boston. Wambach scored 13 goals, second in the league to Marta’s 19.
Sinclair stars for Canada’s national team, and Smith is England’s top player. The others, aside from Angeli, are U.S. national team veterans.
The team:
G Nicole Barnhart (FC Gold Pride)
D Rachel Buehler (FC Gold Pride)
D Amy LePeilbet (Boston Breakers)
D Ali Riley (FC Gold Pride)
D/M Jordan Angeli (Boston Breakers)
M Lori Lindsey (Philadelphia Independence)
M Kelly Smith (Boston Breakers)
M/F Marta (FC Gold Pride)
F Amy Rodriguez (Philadelphia Independence)
F Christine Sinclair (FC Gold Pride)
F Abby Wambach (Washington Freedom)