When Women’s Professional Soccer officially announced that the Los Angeles Sol would discontinue operations, it left the league, players, and coaches in shock. It also left several Sol players with no place to play and forced WPS to hold a Dispersal Draft for the rest of the teams in the league to pick players from the Sol’s roster.

“I was pretty shocked and definitely sad,” said former Sol defender Stephanie Cox. “I think we knew that during the season (Sol’s ownership group) AEG (Anschutz Entertainment Group) would only be there for a year, but all along we heard good things prospective (new owners) closing the deal. We were shocked when it wasn’t able to come through.”
The Boston Breakers selected Cox with the number five pick in the Dispersal Draft. Cox was training in California with the U.S. Women’s National Team last Thursday, the day of the Dispersal Draft, and didn’t know where she’d end up. The St. Louis Athletica selected Shannon Boxx with the number one pick in the draft. Keeper Karina LeBlanc went number two to the Philadelphia Independence, FC Gold Pride took Marta at number three, and Casey Nogueira went to the Chicago Red Stars at number four.

“At the National Team training camp, we would hear who was going where. I knew Boston was an option,” Cox said. “We had a team bonding kickball game out on the beach at 10 a.m. After it was done, I had a voicemail from (Breakers General Manager) Andy (Crossley). I was shocked, but after it sunk in I was really excited. I had a good conversation with (Boston Head Coach) Tony (DiCicco). I knew the Breakers were a solid organization.”
With the departure of last year’s starting back Heather Mitts, the Breakers needed to fill that vacant left back slot. Cox will compliment a back line that also includes 2009 WPS All-Star and Defender of the Year and National Team back Amy LePeilbet as well as English international Alex Scott.

“I’m excited about the back line,” Cox said. “They were solid last year. And I got comfortable with Alyssa (Naeher).”
The Penn State keeper Naeher, Boston’s second pick (11th overall) in the 2010 WPS Draft, trained with the U.S. National Team in California last month.

Cox, who turns 24 one week before Boston’s 2010 season-opener against the Washington Freedom, graduated from the University of Portland in 2008. There, she played with Michelle Enyeart, who graduated from Portland in 2009. Boston selected Enyeart in the second round (12th overall) of last week’s Dispersal Draft. Cox is also familiar with two other new Breakers – defender Jordan Angeli and forward Lauren Cheney – two of Boston’s 2010 WPS Draft picks who also played with Cox on the U.S. U-20 Women’s National Team in 2006.

Cox has 54 international caps for the U.S. senior side. She was the youngest member of the 2008 Olympic gold medal team and assisted on Carli Lloyd’s game-winning goal against Japan. Cox will play for the senior side in next month’s Algarve Cup in Portugal, the same place she made her National Team debut four years ago.

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