The Los Angeles Sol was an American professional

soccer Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a team sport played between two teams of 11 Football player, players who almost exclusively use their feet to propel a Ball (association football), ball around a rectangular f ...

club that was based in the

Los Angeles Los Angeles, often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, most populous city in the U.S. state of California, and the commercial, Financial District, Los Angeles, financial, and Culture of Los Angeles, ...

suburb of

Carson, California Carson is a city in the South Bay (Los Angeles County), South Bay and the Los Angeles Harbor Region, Harbor regions of Los Angeles County, California, located south of downtown Los Angeles and approximately away from Los Angeles International ...

, that participated in

Women's Professional Soccer Women's Professional Soccer (WPS) was the top-level professional women's soccer league in the United States. It began play on March 29, 2009. The league was composed of seven teams for its first two seasons and fielded six teams for the 2011 ...

. The team was co-owned and operated by

Anschutz Entertainment Group Anschutz Entertainment Group, Inc. (AEG), also known as AEG Worldwide, is an American global sporting and music entertainment presenter and a subsidiary of the Anschutz Corporation. It is the world's largest owner of sports teams and sports ...

(AEG) and Blue Star, LLC, a subsidiary of AEG. The team played its home games at

Home Depot Center Dignity Health Sports Park is a multi-use sports complex located on the campus of California State University, Dominguez Hills, in Carson, California. The complex consists of the 27,000-seat Dignity Health Sports Park soccer stadium, the Dignit ...

. It was announced on January 28, 2010, that the team would cease operations.

History

The formation of

was announced on September 4, 2007, and it was also announced on that day that a franchise had been awarded to Los Angeles. The Los Angeles Sol was officially unveiled on October 26, 2008. US women's national team midfielder

Shannon Boxx Shannon Leigh Boxx Spearman (; born June 29, 1977) is an American retired soccer player and former member of the United States women's national soccer team, playing the defensive midfielder position. She last played club soccer for the Chicago Re ...

was the first player in Sol history when she was allocated to the team on September 16, 2008.

2009 season

The team played its first game on March 29, 2009, against the

Washington Freedom Washington Freedom may refer to: * Washington Freedom (cricket) * Washington Freedom (soccer) {{dab ...

resulting in a 2–0 victory. The first goal in club and league history was recorded in the sixth minute of the match, when defender

Allison Falk Allison Jane Falk (born March 31, 1987) is a former American professional soccer defender. She previously played for the Los Angeles Sol and Philadelphia Independence of Women's Professional Soccer (WPS). She was a WPS All-Star in 2010. Early l ...

out-jumped a crowd of Freedom defenders in the penalty area to head in a free kick from Japan national team star

Aya Miyama is a Japanese former footballer who played for the Japan national team starting in 2003, and from 2012 to 2016 served as captain of the team. She appeared in four World Cups between 2003 and 2015, and was part of the team that won the 2011 W ...

. The Sol won their next two games as well, totaling a +5 goal differential, setting them apart early as the best team in the league. Though they did not win either of their next two games, they never dropped from first place in the table, and then went on an eleven-game unbeaten streak, with three draws and eight wins, at times having twice the number of points as the second-place team. They then lost to the

Saint Louis Athletica Saint Louis Athletica was an American professional soccer club that was based in the St. Louis suburb of Fenton, Missouri that participated in Women's Professional Soccer. Athletica started the 2009 season playing its home games at Ralph Korte ...

in their last home game of the season, which ended their streak and kept alive the hopes that some team other than the Sol could win the regular season title, but a 0–0 draw against

FC Gold Pride FC Gold Pride was an American professional women's soccer club based in the San Francisco Bay Area, which participated in Women's Professional Soccer (WPS). The club replaced the San Jose CyberRays of the defunct Women's United Soccer Associati ...

(who was the worst team in the league) gave the Sol the regular season title with two games to spare. The lost 1–3 to the

Chicago Red Stars Chicago Stars Football Club is an American professional soccer team based in the Chicago metropolitan area that competes in the National Women's Soccer League (NWSL). A founding member of the Women's Professional Soccer (WPS) league as the Chic ...

and won 2–1 against the

Boston Breakers The Boston Breakers were an American professional women's soccer club based in the Boston neighborhood of Allston. The team competed in the National Women's Soccer League (NWSL). They replaced the original Breakers, who competed in the defu ...

to end their regular season, the win giving the Sol the title of the first team to beat every other team in the league. They finished the season with 41 pts. (a 12–3–5 record) and a +17 goal differential. Being regular season champions, the Sol received a bye to the August 22nd championship match. They lost 0–1 to

Sky Blue FC Gotham Football Club is an American professional soccer team based in the New York metropolitan area that competes in the National Women's Soccer League (NWSL). Founded in 2006 as Jersey Sky Blue, the team was known as Sky Blue FC from 2008 un ...

who made the playoffs when potential invitees Boston earned no points in their final regular season match against the Sol.

Sale and folding

In November, AEG gave their share of the Sol back to WPS. WPS ran the Sol for the next three months, completing trades, changing coaches, and participating in the

2010 WPS Draft The 2010 WPS College Draft took place on January 15, 2010. It was the second college draft held by Women's Professional Soccer to assign the WPS rights of college players to the American-based teams. Format

Players

2009 Roster

Milestones

* First game: 2–0 vs.

Washington Freedom Washington Freedom may refer to: * Washington Freedom (cricket) * Washington Freedom (soccer) {{dab ...

; March 29, 2009 * Largest win: 4–0 vs.

, Home Depot Center; June 27, 2009 * Worst defeat: 1–3 vs.

Toyota Park SeatGeek Stadium is a soccer-specific stadium in Bridgeview, Illinois, about 12 miles southwest of downtown Chicago. It is the home stadium of Chicago Stars FC of the National Women's Soccer League, Chicago Fire FC II of MLS Next Pro, and th ...

; August 2, 2009

References

External links

Official Los Angeles Sol Website (archive)
{{Womens Professional Soccer Women's Professional Soccer teams Defunct soccer clubs in California Soccer clubs in California Association football clubs established in 2007 Association football clubs disestablished in 2010 2007 establishments in California 2010 disestablishments in California Anschutz Corporation