Sky Blue’s 2-0 win Wednesday night over FC Gold Pride helped its playoff chances. The New Jersey club now faces Washington Saturday, and one of seven scenarios gets the team into the playoffs. Washington (7-7-5, 26 points) also has seven scenarios which would send the team to the playoffs. Seemingly on the outside looking in, the Breakers have the toughest road, and as of now (prior to the Sky Blue v Washington fixture) the Breakers (fifth place, 7-8-4, 25 points) need some help. Not only do they have to beat or tie regular season champions Los Angeles, they need one of four scenarios to play out. If both Boston and Washington win, the two will play at Washington in the first round of the WPS Playoffs. If Washington draws with Sky Blue (7-7-5, 26 points), Boston hosts Washington in the first round, which is set for Saturday, Aug. 15. If both Sky Blue and Boston win, or if Sky Blue win and Boston draws, Boston will play at Sky Blue in the first round and Washington will be eliminated. The Boston players aren’t focusing on the what-ifs. They’re going out onto the Harvard Stadium pitch Sunday to win.

“It’s almost like playoffs start this weekend for us,” said defender Amy LePeilbet. “I think we can handle the pressure. It’ll be a good practice for us; if we win this one, we’re into the playoffs. It’ll be fun to face the best.”

Sunday’s game is particularly meaningful to two of Boston’s internationals – midfielder Kelly Smith and defender Alex Scott. If Boston makes the playoffs, the two will not play. They leave Monday (Aug. 20) for international duty to play for England in the UEFA Women’s Euro. Although they won’t have the chance to play in the playoffs if Boston wins, they both said they’ll do everything they can and more to get the Breakers into the playoffs.

“It’s unfortunate that we’re not going to be there, but we’re still going to take every game as we have and want to go out there and win,” Smith said. “A win is crucial for us in order to go through. Under no illusions that obviously LA finished top, and they’re a great side and have proved all season, but I think we’ve got to go out and prove a point that we deserve to be there, too. We’re going to give it everything that we’ve got. We’re going to be very attack-minded. We haven’t scored in the last three games. We’ve been working a lot this week on our final finishing, hopefully it will come together on the 9th.”

Scott missed the last game and all but five minutes of Boston’s game last Wednesday against Washington after receiving a straight red card for going in on a tackle on Washington’s Sonia Bompastor. She’s ready more than anyone to get back on the pitch.

“Missing the last two games, I’ve got that hunger knowing that it’s going to be my last game before I go back,” she said. “So I want to go out and make a bang, make a statement, and hopefully the team will be in the playoffs.”

The Los Angeles Sol (11-3-5, 38 points) come into Sunday’s in a bit of a slump. They’re 0-2-1 in their last three, having scored just once in that span. The one loss and one tie came against two teams FC Gold Pride and Chicago Red Stars, respectively. Those teams were eliminated from playoff contention almost two weeks ago. The Sol, by virtue of finishing first in the WPS standings, earned an automatic spot in the first-ever WPS Finals. They will face the winner of the Super SemiFinal (the winner of second-place St. Louis Athletica vs. either Boston, Washington, or Sky Blue) on Aug. 22 at 4 p.m. (EST) at The Home Depot Center. The SuperSemi Final takes place Wednesday, Aug. 19, at Anheuser-Busch Soccer Park in Fenton, Mo., at 7 p.m. (EST). All playoff games will be televised on Fox Soccer Channel.

In other WPS news this week, three Boston Breakers were named to the starting 11 of the WPS All-Star Team – Smith, Scott, and LePeilbett. Smith and Scott won’t be able to play in the Aug. 30 game against Umea IK. They’ll still be competing in the Euros. LePeilbet, meanwhile, not only made the starting 11, she was among the leading vote-getters, finishing first overall in the player vote and tied for first with Marta in the coaches voting.

“It’s pretty crazy,” LePeilbet said about finishing first in two voting categories. “I try and work my hardest every single day and every game, just put it out there, but I kind of can’t believe it. It’s very exciting, and it’s really kind of mind-blowing when it actually happened. I honestly couldn’t believe that it was my name on the website. I’m super excited. It’s an amazing opportunity. I guess all the hard work paid off, and I don’t think it would’ve been possible without my teammates.”

About her all-star nod, Scott said, “I think for me, it’s a great personal achievement because coming into the league I was kind of an unknown quantity, and to come in and be picked in the first year with only three defenders being picked as well, for me it’s a major honor. I think it’s an even bigger achievement being picked for an all-star team over here. We don’t have it back home, but just to be named amongst so many great players in the league, to be recognized and honored for your achievements throughout the year, it’s a major thing to be picked.”

Said Smith: “It’s a big honor. Obviously coming into the league we both had personal individual goals that we were coming with, so we’re delighted to be recognized by the fans, from the coaches, from our own peers. It’s an honor. I feel quite proud.”

The starting 11 for the WPS All-Stars: Karina LeBlanc GK Los Angeles Sol, Tina Ellertson D Saint Louis Athletica, Amy LePeilbet D Boston Breakers, Alex Scott D Boston Breakers, Camille Abily M Los Angeles Sol, Sonia Bompastor M Washington Freedom, Shannon Boxx M Los Angeles Sol, Lori Chalupny M Saint Louis Athletica, Kelly Smith M Boston Breakers, Eniola Aluko F Saint Louis Athletica, and Marta F Los Angeles Sol. The players were selected based on votes by fans (25%), media (25%), coaches (25%) and players (25%). Here are the top three vote-getters per category. Coaches: 1) Marta & Amy LePeilbet (tie); 3) Eniola Aluko and Lori Chalupny (tie); Media: 1) Marta; 2) Camille Abily; 3) Sonia Bompastor; Players: 1) Amy LePeilbet; 2) Marta; 3) Sonia Bompastor; and Fans: 1) Hope Solo; 2) Lori Chalupny; 3) Shannon Boxx. More than 25,000 votes were cast online by fans. The players selected Sol Head Coach, Abner Rogers, as the coach of the all-star team.

Seeing that Smith, Scott, Aluko, Bompastor, and Abily will be off on international duty, Rogers and WPS Commissioner Tonya Antonucci will decide on the five replacements.

PLAYOFF SCENARIOS (as of Wednesday, Aug. 5, 2009)