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Western New York Flash
The Western New York Flash (WNY Flash) was an American women's soccer club based in Elma, New York, that most recently competed in the United Women's Soccer league in 2018. They won league championships in four different leagues: the USL W-League in 2010, Women's Professional Soccer in 2011, Women's Premier Soccer League Elite in 2012, and the National Women's Soccer League in 2016.
The team was founded in 2008 as the Buffalo Flash and played in the USL W-League from 2008 to 2010. In 2011, the team became the Western New York Flash and joined Women's Professional Soccer (WPS), its only season in the league. In 2012, following the folding of the WPS, the team was a member of Women's Premier Soccer League Elite (WPSL-E). The Flash won three consecutive league championships from 2010 to 2012 under head coach Aaran Lines—W-League in 2010, WPS in 2011, and WPSL-E in 2012. The Flash reached the inaugural NWSL Championship during the 2013 season, but fell to the Portland Thorns FC while searching for their fourth straight title. In 2016, the team won the NWSL Championship for the first and only time.
The team was owned by the Sahlen family, who run the Sahlen's meat packing company in Buffalo. Joe Sahlen was the team's owner. His daughter, Alex Sahlen, was the team President and a former defender on the team. While the professional team was replaced in the NWSL by the North Carolina Courage and folded following two seasons in the United Women's Soccer League, the franchise remains through a youth academy player development program.
In 2009, the Buffalo Flash made its debut in the Great Lakes (formerly Northern) Division of the USL W-League's Central Conference, lining up against teams from Hamilton, Laval, London, Ottawa, Quebec City, Rochester and Toronto. It finished second, with a regular season record of 9–2–3 from their 14 matches, undefeated in their seven games on the road, and with 40 goals scored, and 10 conceded. In the post-season playoffs, the Flash reached the Central Conference semi-final, to end their inaugural season with a 10–3–3 record. They were beaten 3–0 by FC Indiana, the only other full-time professional outfit in the league.
The 2009 team roster included players from six countries across four continents. There were four local players from Western NY, various U.S. players from numerous states (including two with U.S. U-20 National Team experience), players from the full Italian national team, Portuguese national team, South African national team, and also from Spain and Japan. To aid team bonding, the squad were housed in the same apartment complex.
Before the 2010 season Buffalo Flash signed English trio Gemma Davison, Eartha Pond and Ann-Marie Heatherson. Mele French and Kelly Parker arrived from German club SC Freiburg. Kimberly Brandão returned despite attending a training camp with Sky Blue FC, but Erika Sutton left for the Boston Breakers and Sarah Wagenfuhr joined St. Louis Athletica.
In 2010 Buffalo Flash competed in the Midwest Division of the USL W-League, finishing the regular season 14–0–2 against Chicago Red Eleven, Cleveland Internationals, Kalamazoo Outrage and London Gryphons. Buffalo Flash won the W-League Championship by defeating the Vancouver Whitecaps 3–1 at Harry Welch Stadium in Santa Clarita, California. They finished the season undefeated, while Kelly Parker was named W-League MVP.
The team made plans to move to Women's Professional Soccer for the 2011 season. In September 2010, team president Alex Sahlen and coach Aaran Lines—both of whom have played for Rochester-based soccer teams—indicated that the team was looking at playing up to half of its WPS home games at Rochester's Marina Auto Stadium (now Rhinos Stadium). On September 24, WPS officially confirmed that the new team would indeed join the league. The name of the WPS team was announced as the Western New York Flash on December 1, 2010. The September announcement confirmed that the team would play half its home games at Marina Auto Stadium. The remaining games were originally intended to be played at Niagara Field, a smaller facility on the campus of Niagara University in Lewiston that was set to be expanded to 4,000 for the 2011 WPS season. The league also attempted to negotiate a deal with All-High Stadium in Buffalo, although the owners of the field, Buffalo Public Schools, never responded – likely due to existing conflict with four city high schools (which take precedence) and an agreement with Medaille College. However, the December announcement indicated that the entire 2011 home schedule would be in Rochester.
Western New York Flash
The Western New York Flash (WNY Flash) was an American women's soccer club based in Elma, New York, that most recently competed in the United Women's Soccer league in 2018. They won league championships in four different leagues: the USL W-League in 2010, Women's Professional Soccer in 2011, Women's Premier Soccer League Elite in 2012, and the National Women's Soccer League in 2016.
The team was founded in 2008 as the Buffalo Flash and played in the USL W-League from 2008 to 2010. In 2011, the team became the Western New York Flash and joined Women's Professional Soccer (WPS), its only season in the league. In 2012, following the folding of the WPS, the team was a member of Women's Premier Soccer League Elite (WPSL-E). The Flash won three consecutive league championships from 2010 to 2012 under head coach Aaran Lines—W-League in 2010, WPS in 2011, and WPSL-E in 2012. The Flash reached the inaugural NWSL Championship during the 2013 season, but fell to the Portland Thorns FC while searching for their fourth straight title. In 2016, the team won the NWSL Championship for the first and only time.
The team was owned by the Sahlen family, who run the Sahlen's meat packing company in Buffalo. Joe Sahlen was the team's owner. His daughter, Alex Sahlen, was the team President and a former defender on the team. While the professional team was replaced in the NWSL by the North Carolina Courage and folded following two seasons in the United Women's Soccer League, the franchise remains through a youth academy player development program.
In 2009, the Buffalo Flash made its debut in the Great Lakes (formerly Northern) Division of the USL W-League's Central Conference, lining up against teams from Hamilton, Laval, London, Ottawa, Quebec City, Rochester and Toronto. It finished second, with a regular season record of 9–2–3 from their 14 matches, undefeated in their seven games on the road, and with 40 goals scored, and 10 conceded. In the post-season playoffs, the Flash reached the Central Conference semi-final, to end their inaugural season with a 10–3–3 record. They were beaten 3–0 by FC Indiana, the only other full-time professional outfit in the league.
The 2009 team roster included players from six countries across four continents. There were four local players from Western NY, various U.S. players from numerous states (including two with U.S. U-20 National Team experience), players from the full Italian national team, Portuguese national team, South African national team, and also from Spain and Japan. To aid team bonding, the squad were housed in the same apartment complex.
Before the 2010 season Buffalo Flash signed English trio Gemma Davison, Eartha Pond and Ann-Marie Heatherson. Mele French and Kelly Parker arrived from German club SC Freiburg. Kimberly Brandão returned despite attending a training camp with Sky Blue FC, but Erika Sutton left for the Boston Breakers and Sarah Wagenfuhr joined St. Louis Athletica.
In 2010 Buffalo Flash competed in the Midwest Division of the USL W-League, finishing the regular season 14–0–2 against Chicago Red Eleven, Cleveland Internationals, Kalamazoo Outrage and London Gryphons. Buffalo Flash won the W-League Championship by defeating the Vancouver Whitecaps 3–1 at Harry Welch Stadium in Santa Clarita, California. They finished the season undefeated, while Kelly Parker was named W-League MVP.
The team made plans to move to Women's Professional Soccer for the 2011 season. In September 2010, team president Alex Sahlen and coach Aaran Lines—both of whom have played for Rochester-based soccer teams—indicated that the team was looking at playing up to half of its WPS home games at Rochester's Marina Auto Stadium (now Rhinos Stadium). On September 24, WPS officially confirmed that the new team would indeed join the league. The name of the WPS team was announced as the Western New York Flash on December 1, 2010. The September announcement confirmed that the team would play half its home games at Marina Auto Stadium. The remaining games were originally intended to be played at Niagara Field, a smaller facility on the campus of Niagara University in Lewiston that was set to be expanded to 4,000 for the 2011 WPS season. The league also attempted to negotiate a deal with All-High Stadium in Buffalo, although the owners of the field, Buffalo Public Schools, never responded – likely due to existing conflict with four city high schools (which take precedence) and an agreement with Medaille College. However, the December announcement indicated that the entire 2011 home schedule would be in Rochester.