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On Wednesday night, magicJack did away with the Boston Breakers in the First Round of the 2011 WPS Playoffs. Abby Wambach opened the scoring with a lovely swiveling finish, and Keelin Winters finished off a four-pass sequence to level matters. In the second half, Taryn Hemmings denied mJ a goal-scoring opportunity andWambach finished off the ensuing penalty kick. Just four minutes later, magicJack bookended their emphatic performance when Megan Rapinoe headed in a cheeky chip by Christen Press.

magicJack 3, Boston Breakers 1, and magicJack are off to face Philadelphia in the Super Semifinal at PPL Park this Saturday.

Boston struggled to deal with magicJack’s deep-lying midfielders.

Sophie Schmidt and Shannon Boxx formed a formidable partnership in midfield. The two disrupted Boston’s flow all night long. Alex Scott was really the only Breaker to pierce magicJack’s midfield, and that was only after she was given license to roam free. Meghan Klingenberg had a dynamic first 10 minutes but had to leave the game with a grim looking wrist injury. The Breakers just couldn’t get it together from that point on. Schmidt, in particular, is an absolute battler in midfield; inexhaustible and strong on the ball. The pair will match up well with Philadelphia’s stout and scrappy midfield.

magicJack’s defense is stellar.

mJ’s backline doesn’t get a ton of recognition because the team simply isn’t on television enough to judge. It seems Christie Rampone hasn’t missed a beat since her return from the World Cup and Becky Sauerbrunn was, as usual, in the right place at the right time. Tina Ellertson’s loss may have been a big blow to the team, but Lydia Vandenbergh stepped in and did a job. Boston’s attack was never really in sync, however, and magicJack’s defense will now have to work to contain Vero. Between Rampone’s sheer athleticism and Sauerbrunn’s clever positional sense, the recently-named Player of the Year will have to be on her game.

magicJack’s attacking corps is fearsome.

magicJack are now 6-0-0 when Abby Wambach scores, and she’s done a lot of that recently. Christen Press is a promising talent. Megan Rapinoe has now contributed two goals and two assists in six games. Sarah Huffman continues to impress; she’s an absolute force down the right wing. The team is stacked, particularly on the wings. If Abby Wambach isn’t rampaging through the middle and finding Press, Rapinoe and Huffman are sending in dangerous crosses from the wing. Last night the team was fine without Lisa De Vanna and Ella Masar which is telling.

Christen Press deserves a look.

Fresh off a Rookie of the Year honor, Press recorded a cheeky assist and constantly kept Alyssa Naeher on guard. It may not have been a flawless performance from the 22-year-old, but Press did enough to warrant considerable notice. The Stanford alum looks to have a nice working relationship with Abby Wambach, as mJ’s player-coach found her in key areas on several occasions. On Wednesday, Press coupled speed with smart decision-making. Perhaps that combination was enough to impress an on-looking Pia Sundhage. Sundhage’s going to have some serious decisions to make now, as she has a quartet of promising young strikers eager to claim a spot on the senior USWNT. Sarah Hagen, Sydney Leroux, and Melissa Henderson will look to round out their college careers with plaudits, trophies and lots of goals, while Press has already made the most of her rookie season in the pro’s.

Leslie Osborne is pure class.

The Boston Breakers’ best player on the night. Last weekend Osborne made some fairly ominous comments about maybe reaching “the end”. It’s not clear if she was referring to possible retirement or the league’s possible demise. Hopefully neither scenario will come to pass as Osborne is playing at the peak of her powers right now. The defensive midfielder was everywhere last night: dropping back to help in defense, spurring the attack from midfield, turning possession on the wings. WPS has a trifecta of excellent holding midfielders that includes Sophie Schmidt and Becky Edwards. Osborne leads the pack.

magicJack’s players deserve it.

Plain and simple. The players don’t deserve any less credit for their achievements because of off-the-field issues. With the utmost respect to Philly, a WNY/mJ final is pretty likely and it should be a cracking shoot-out in Rochester. As far as the emails, the termination, etc., etc., etc. are concerned, there is simply nothing left to say on the matter.

In case you haven’t seen them, the year end award winners and my picks (not that they matter now):

Coach of the Year: Paul Riley [My vote. Aaran Lines didn't win for the same reason Albertin Montoya didn't win last year.]

Rookie of the Year: Christen Press [My vote. Alex Morgan is a star, yes, but the award clearly wasn't decided by popularity. Press was just two goals away from equaling Marta and Sinclair.]

Defender of the Year: Whitney Engen [My vote. Engen showed glimpses of greatness on a mediocre Chicago team last year, but has really come into her own this season. A steady, smart, young defender. Eager to see her on the USWNT.]

Goalkeeper of the Year: Ashlyn Harris [Abstention. In my mind, Ashlyn Harris, Alyssa Naeher, Val Henderson, Jenni Branam, and Allison Whitworth all deserved it. I just couldn't pick one over another. No GK had a consistently outstanding season this year.]

Player of the Year: Vero [My vote. Christine Sinclair was probably the best player in WPS this season, but here's the criteria for this award: Awarded to the player judged to have the greatest impact on her team’s performance during the WPS regular season. Greatest impact? It's gotta be Vero. It doesn't matter that she only played in 11 games, she effectively guaranteed Philadelphia 12 points with four game-winning goals. Without those goals, Philadelphia would not be preparing to host a Super Semifinal. Plus, Vero isn't surrounded by the likes of Marta, Sinclair, and/or Seger. ]

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