University of North Carolina Athletics
Jones & Whitehill Prep For WPSL Playoffs
July 24, 2012 | Women's Soccer
The Women's Premier Soccer League Elite begins its playoff run Wednesday with a pair of former Tar Heel players playing prominent roles for regular season champion Boston. Courtney Jones and Catherine Whitehiil, Classes of 2012 and 2004, respectively, helped lead the Boston Breakers to the WPSL Elite regular-season champion with 33 points the league standings.
Starting defener Jones shared the team league in assists with teammate Kathryn Shoepfer with six. Jones played in all 13 games for the Breakers and had two goals and six assists for 10 points while Whitehill (Cat Reddick while at UNC) played in 12 games overall. Lori Chalupny, Class of 2006, will lead the No. 4 seed Chicago Red Stars into playoff action. In 11 games this year Chalupny had five goals, four assists and 14 points.
The eight-team league came together with several franchises claimed from the former WPS (Women's Professional Soccer) which folded before the season began. Playoffs for the WPSL Elite are being held Wednesday, July 25, at Sahlen's Stadium in Rochester, N.Y., site of the 2011 WPS championship game.
The first playoff match will take place at 5 p.m. between the No. 2 seed Western New York Flash (9-2-3, 30 points) and the No. 3 seed New York Fury (9-3-2, 29 points). The second game, at 8 p.m. ET, features the Breakers (11-3-0, 33 points) vs. No. 4 seed Chicago Red Stars (9-4-1, 28 points).
All matches take place at Sahlen's Stadium, 460 Oak St., Rochester, N.Y. The winners will play Saturday, July 28, at 1 p.m. at Sahlen's Stadium in the 2012 WPSL Elite Championship.
Overall, nine former Tar Heel players were listed on WPSL Elite rosters in 2012, although some saw limited playing time because of National Team commitments. The Boston Breakers featured Courtney Jones, Heather O'Reilly and Catherine Whitehill. The Chicago Red Stars' roster was highlighted by Lori Chalupny. The New York Fury roster included Tobin Heath, Merrit Mathias and Casey Nogueira and the Western New York Flash roster included Meghan Klingenberg.
