Independence Bolsters Defense With Trade for Allison Falk and Val Henderson

The Philadelphia Independence has further strengthened its solid defensive unit with the addition of LA defender Allison Falk and goalkeeper Val Henderson who will both fill important spots in the Independence lineup next season. The Independence completed a favorable trade with the Sol early this week, trading the #5 and #22 picks in the college draft to bring LA players with proven WPS experience to Philadelphia’s defensive line.

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Valerie Henderson, a standout goalkeeper from Orinda, California is a crucial pickup for the Independence. Val was the backup goalkeeper for the LA Sol in the league’s inaugural season, playing behind WPS All-Star Karina LeBlanc while gaining experience with a top team. Valerie is the all-time leader in career goalkeeping victories at UCLA and led the Bruins to become Pac-10 Champions each of her four years playing. She earned Soccer America Freshman All-American honors in 2004, and NSCAA/adidas Scholar All-American honors in both 2006 and 2007. Competing with the USA at the 2006 FIFA World Youth Championships, Val earned Woman of the Match in the final game after registering nine saves and earning a shutout against France. As a member of the U-23 National Team at the 2008 Nordic Cup, Val did not allow a goal over the entire course of the tournament. Valerie has established an outstanding goalkeeping record with every team she has been a part of, and she is an important addition to the Independence defensive line.

General Manager Terry Foley believes that the trade to bring Henderson to the Independence is hugely beneficial for Philadelphia. “Although we’ve built an extraordinary team to this point, the goalkeeping position was an obvious hole that needed to be filled. We didn’t feel that any of the college players would be ready to start in goal for us next season, and I think we can all breathe a little easier knowing we have a dominant keeper with league experience starting position in net.”

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Allison Falk, a 6’0” center back from Danville, California, had a great rookie season with the Sol in 2009. Selected with the 10th overall draft pick, Allison started in 16 matches for Los Angeles and goes down in history as scoring the first ever WPS goal in the inaugural game. Her presence in the back line was an important component to the Sol’s success this year as arguably the best defense in the league. Allison also made a huge impact during her tenure at Stanford University, starting every game as a freshman and earning All Pac-10 Freshman team honors. As a sophomore, Allison led the Cardinals to 15 shutouts and a 0.55 goals against average while earning All Pac-10 2nd Team Honors. She anchored a defense that had the nation’s third best regular season goals-against average during her junior season, and was named to the All-Pac-10 2nd Team again as a senior. Terry Foley is confident that Allison will make an impact for Philadelphia. “We needed another central defender to give us depth in the back line, and Allison has already demonstrated her value as a center back in the WPS. We are excited to have her as a part of the Independence roster in 2010.”

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