Martina Franko was starting in the center of the L.A. Sol's backline last season until she learned she was pregnant. She made a quick return after giving birth in January to a son, and some of the thanks for that goes to U.S. national team captain Christie Rampone.

Rampone, who as captain/coach led Sky Blue FC, while pregnant, to the Women's Professional Soccer title last year, had experience returning to the field from pregnancy, and Franko tracked down her email address for advice.

“She gave the recommendation: 'Don't do anything for six weeks. Trust me, because if you come back too fast, you'll put yourself back months,' ” Franko said. “So I took that advice and just took it slowly getting back.”

Franko joined the Vancouver Whitecaps in April, and if she's not yet atop her game -- “I could definitely be a little sharper,” she said -- she's still better than nearly everyone else in the W-League. She's the anchor of a backline that has been pivotal in the Whitecaps' unbeaten run to Saturday's W-League final against the Buffalo Flash at Canyon High School in Canyon Country.

“We're organized as a team, our defense and our midfield, and it's hard to get through an organized defense,” said Franko, who is among 11 Canadian national-teamers on the Whitecaps roster. “And we have experience playing against really good attackers and being patient and not letting teams break you down.”

Franko is from Northern California but is married to a Canadian -- that's how she qualifies for Canada -- and she was a defensive leader for the Sol during her time with team in the inaugural WPS season.

“Martina was with me in L.A. last year,” says Whitecaps coach Hubert Busby Jr., an assistant coach for the Sol last season, “and every day in training she had to go against Marta. (Going against W-League forward) doesn't faze her.”

She'll be going against two outstanding forwards in the final: fellow Canadian national-teamer Kelly Parker, the W-League's MVP, and Spanish star Veronica Boquete. The Whitecaps don't figure to do anything special against them.

“Just play our game,” said Franko, cradling 6-month-old Micah following Vancouver's semifinal win Thursday over top-seeded Hudson Valley Quickstrike Lady Blues. “We play against Kelly every day in practice in national team camp, so we know what to expect. It looks like they have a couple of quick forwards, but it's not like we haven't played against quick forward all season, so we'll just play our game.”