Jeff DiVeronica

@RocDevo

The Western New York Flash say the Buffalo-Rochester area is no longer the "the right fit," for them to operate their franchise in the NWSL. Details about the team's exit first emerged Friday and the club finally released a statement Monday shortly after it was made official that it's selling the rights to its team, which will relocate and be called the North Carolina Courage.

"Unfortunately, it has become apparent that the Western New York market is not the right fit for the NWSL and the future direction of the league," the Flash statement said. "We know that the North Carolina market will provide what the players deserve and we are excited to see the team continue to compete at the highest level."

Stephen Malik, who owns North Carolina FC, a men's pro team in the 6-year-old North American Soccer League (NASL), is buying the Flash. He said Monday he has "entered into an agreement," to purchase the club that played for eight seasons, the last six in Rochester. The Flash won championships in four different leagues from 2009-2016, including the National Women's Soccer League title in October.

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North Carolina Gov. Roy Cooper, was on hand for the announcement in Cary, North Carolina, where Malik's teams are based.

The Flash are owned by Joe Sahlen of Buffalo-based Sahlen's Packing Co., and his daughter, former player Alexandra Sahlen, the team president. The club, which runs the WNY Flash Soccer Academy for youth players, is based in Elma, Erie County. Pro players practiced and lived in the Buffalo area and only played matches in Rochester from 2011-16.

"We’re excited to go to North Carolina. The history of soccer is amazing there, too, but it’s really sad to leave western New York," said forward Lynn Williams, the reigning MVP of the NWSL set to begin her third pro season. "It's kind of bittersweet. We built a community there."

The 23-year-old mentioned "The Flashers” and "Flash Mob" fan clubs by name, and that "many amazing fans supported us through the highs and the lows."

After a massive roster turnover from its NWSL runner-up team in 2013, the Flash missed the playoffs in 2014 and 2015. Last year's title with such a young group almost arrived a year ahead of schedule, a notion coach Paul Riley said repeatedly last fall. He replaced Aaran Lines, the head coach and general manager from 2009-15. Lines is married to Alex Sahlen. They have two young children. Their growing family was one reason Lines cited while resigning in December of 2015.

Local fans won't be able to celebrate the 2016 Flash title. They'll have to watch from afar as some former WNY players, the young nucleus that helped the club return to prominence on the field last fall, try to become stars elsewhere. "Kind of a bummer," Williams said softly.

Williams, midfielders Samantha Mewis and Taylor Smith, forward Jess McDonald and defenders Abby Dahlkemper and Jaelene Hinkle, are all getting serious looks from U.S. national team coach Jill Ellis. Dahlkemper, Mewis, Williams and Hinkle were largely anonymous rookies as first-round draft picks in 2015.

The Buffalo Flash won the semi-pro W-League in 2010, then jumped to the pro ranks in 2011, helping save Women's Professional Soccer for one season before it folded. A star-studded WNY team led by then five-time reigning FIFA World Player of the Year Marta won the last WPS crown. WPS average attendance was just 3,518, but an 85 percent spike after the World Cup — the one when Abby Wambach's header in the quarterfinals helped spark a women's soccer renaissance in America — gave hope that a third women's league could work.

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The Women's United Soccer Association (2001-03), which included the Carolina Courage, and WPS (2009-11) each failed. The NWSL, which is partly subsidized and run by the U.S. Soccer Federation, is headed into its fifth season.

“The NWSL has been an incredible platform for the top women’s soccer players to perform in and we are proud to have been a founding member. We wish the NWSL and our other fellow ownership groups — as well as U.S. Soccer — the best of luck," the Flash statement said.

The organization hoped to identify another owner in the area but could not. Look for the Sahlen's brand of meats, as part of the deal, to show up in Cary in some form. As recently as 2013, WNY was the envy of many other organizations. It was praised in 2011-13 for making the dual-city operation work, a setup that also led to its demise.

The Flash pushed through instability in the women's game to capture titles in the W-League (2010), WPS (2011), WPSL Elite (2012) and hosted the inaugural NWSL championship match in 2013, which Portland won, 2-0. WNY was near the top of WPS and the NWSL in attendance in 2011 and 2013, big crowds showed up for championship matches in Rochester those seasons, too, and no one forgot the WPS-record crowd of 15,404 for a match three days after the 2011 World Cup final between the Flash and magicJack, which included Pittsford native Wambach, Hope Solo, Christie Rampone and Megan Rapinoe.

But after being hailed as a top GM/coach, Lines fell out of favor with many players. Veterans and youngsters wanted out. A huge roster turnover, including losing Wambach and trading Carli Lloyd, led to missing the playoffs in 2014 and 2015. The Flash rebuilt through the 2015 NWSL Draft, but the dual-city setup always hindered the club's ability to gain more of a following.

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Flash players weren't in Rochester much, if at all, other than to play in matches, and the club operated with a belief that as long as the team won fans would show up. The Sahlens did pump millions into running the Flash, but advertising and marketing budgets were always limited.

"I don’t think that helped us in the long run. I think it was hard to do marketing for games," Williams said about the dual-city setup. "I think it’s hard to ask families that have little kids to drive an hour and a half to go to Rochester. I think that was a downfall in the whole marketing aspect."

The club looked more recently into a venue in the Buffalo area that the NWSL would approve, but couldn't find one. The statement Monday did say all Flash employees were offered "opportunities within our entities and we hope they continue to work with us for many years to come." Player contracts will be transferred to the Courage, said Malik, who bought the Carolina RailHawks in the fall of 2015 and just recently renamed them North Carolina FC.

"This is a stacked and loaded team with talent," the North Carolina owner said.

Malik said in December he would take an aggressive approach to attracting an NWSL franchise. The Sahlens were listening.

Despite having a star-laden roster in 2011 and in 2013 with Wambach and Lloyd, the Flash never averaged more than 4,900 fans. Meanwhile, Houston (5,696) and Orlando (8,785), expansion teams in 2014 and 2016, respectively, ranked third and second in attendance last season. The Portland (Oregon) Thorns, who averaged 16,945, remain the standard.

Did the NWSL out grow small-market WNY?

"The Flash will always play an important role in the history of NWSL, and for that we are grateful to everyone in Western New York who were part of it,” said NWSL commissioner Jeff Plush, whose league averaged 5,558 fans in 2016.

WNY averaged 2,860 fans in 2014, second worst in the NWSL, but increased that to 3,868 last year, which ranked fifth. With a championship squad and potential stars emerging, could the Flash have boosted that? That'll remain a mystery. "It has been an incredible journey and we will cherish these memories for a lifetime," the organization said.

JDIVERON@Gannett.com