Star-Studded MagicJack Win Game 1 of Women's Professional Soccer Playoff at Boca's FAU

South Florida's Fairy Tale women's soccer team with the unlikely name magicJack defeated the Boston Breakers Wednesday night, capturing the first game in the Women's Professional Soccer (WPS) playoffs, 3-1.

The game was played at magicJack Field, on the campus of Florida Atlantic University in Boca Raton.

In spite of the score, the magicJack, led by player-coach Abby Wambach and boasting some of the best women's soccer players in the world, dominated both halves of the match.

Wambach scored first, driving a rebound from the penalty area into the left-hand corner of the net in the sixth minute. Some 25 minutes later, in one of the few chances for the Breakers, midfielder Keelin Winters uncorked a powerful shot from 20 feet out, just past magicJack goalkeeper Jillian Loyden to even the score.

In the second half, in the 57th minute, after Sarah Huffman was fouled inside the penalty box, Wambach converted the penalty kick to put the magicJack back in the lead to stay.

Icing on the cake was the goal of the night, in the 63rd minute, when Megan Rapinoe headed Christen Press' low chip across the face of the goal hard into the back of the net.

The magicJack, formerly the Washington Freedom, have been overlooked down the stretch, winning four of their last five contests, building up a massive amount of momentum heading into the three-game, winner-take-all playoffs.

But this team, as it now looks to the next playoff match Saturday against the Philadelphia Independence in Philadelphia, has brought joy and excitement to thousands of South Florida fans. It's kept the spirit of the Women's World Cup alive. It has elevated women's soccer along the way and enriched the prestige of athletic programs at FAU. But it also has endured a cartload of obstacles during its troubled first season under a new and controversial owner.

Read the story in Thursday's Sunshine State News.

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