2002 Redux! Same Cities, New League: PHL v. WSH Playoff (9/19) Thread

Amy Rodriguez 1, Washington 0. Enough said.


Actually, it was a marvelous team effort, from staunch defense to dominating midfield, to relentless forwards. The fact that Amy got the game winner was just the icing on the cake. It was emblematic of the season--even though Amy missed on several attempts, Riley kept her in the game, showed confidence in her, and she came through. Props to Washington's Ashlyn Harris for practically standing on her head in goal to keep the game scoreless for so long. What a battle! Let's see how the next matchup with Boston goes...

what is with the horrible attendance? 2700 for a playoff game! sorry if I have not followed this closely, but will Philly find a new stadium next year? Or, will they find a new PR person?

ps - can cachundo et al take the personal attack mini threads elsewhere & just comment about the game? I'm just trying to get soccer news and opinions here and do so quickly in between work, it's annoying to have to read through the detours of forum-member-hate.

2378 was the attendance reported in the boxscore.

I do think starting Sanderson was a good move by Riley. She hasn't started that many games but I thought she did pretty well.

She acquitted herself admirably after the four-bagger she let in at FCGP. Much, much better, as was the D. As for less than 2,500; it's location, location, location. West Chester is almost 35 miles outside of Philly. The choice of venue was not good to begin with. Hopefully, either PPL Park or Villanova is in the cards for next year. Can't blame the ticket prices, either; they were CUT for this game.

I think you mis-read. Sanderson, not Henderson was the player I was talking about. The striker not the keeper.

AAAAaaah, my bad. Apologies. :|

no worries. it's all good. easy to misread. Washington didn't throw the sort of numbers forward that FCGP did and the defense held strong (mostly). And it seems that Gabbara's adjustments ended up making WAS weaker or perhaps it is more correct to say that his adjustments went against the good 1st half plan he had to neutralize Philly's strengths. It was odd.

Think all the moves Paul Riley made yesterday were smart and reinforced why he was selected Coach of the Year. Starting Sanderson at forward, then bringing on Adams later who created some chances.....likewise with starting Val Henderson in net who had a good game.

Overall, good game by Philly in all area's of the field and glad to see them regain their mid season form.

Would have been a heart breaker to lose this game.

In this game, I thought both did credible job. To me, they actually looked better than ARod.
ARod had her speed and occasional good touches such as the one she brought down for the goal but she also wasted many chances.
Sanderson and Adam were both quick, strong and dangerous at times.

Adams was an injection of energy to the Independence offense. Really good substitution by Riley.

Very compelling ending to an intriguing match where the Independence largely had the run of play and Freedom's GK was superb. I thought both teams were gassed in extra time and A-Rod was resourceful to find a gap in Washington's defensive bunker.

As for the attendance, outside of MLB, NFL, NBA and NHL, playoff matches are difficult to promote. Because they are not listed on the schedule from the beginning of the year, they are hard for even committed fans to plan for. That is especially true for WPS, where so much of its marketing is focused on families, who aren't as able to make snap changes in plans. I would have had interns on the WCU campus every day last week, offering every WCU student a free ticket for the opposite-site bleachers.

Having said that I agree that it was a poor decision for the Indpendence ownership to choose to put its games at the western fringe of the metro area. You'd think they have to do something about this next year.

Getting people to drive an hour (that's a very low estimate) to go to a game that was announced the week before is not an easy thing to do.

I sort of disagree, especially after seeing Sanderson feed A-Rod that long pass for a semi breakaway, I think they have more connection with each other where as an A-Rod Adams tandem is basically the same player. I think Sanderson is more able to feed A-Rod, by the way does Sanderson have the most goals of any new internationals? I'm too lazy to look it up. Riley really needs to be commended for his signings, solid internationals who are capable of playing on the big stage all the way around outside of Maruyama.

AT 2:30 on SUnday, especially in Sept once shcool and all the clubs start up - -PLAYERS ARE PLAYING IN THE AFTERNOON... Otherwise attendence would have been in the 3500+..

I did not get to the game until the 70+minute because I was coaching my youngest's team..and my tickets were not counted

I think one of the more underrated aspects of the game-winning goal was the service by DiMartino, who again was our best player as she has been for much of the past month or so. She made good runs down the sideline all day and provided excellent service. A Rod found that seem but it was a nice touch on the pass as well.
As for Sanderson v Adams, I am not a huge fan of either but I prefer Danesha. They don't need another forward to set up A Rod; they need the other forward to be a scoring threat to give A Rod more room to roam. The service from the likes of DiMartino, Lindsay, Seger etc.. has been solid. I just don't think Amy has been able to shake loose of the tight D on her in recent games (prior to last night when she had numerous chances and didn't cash in until the end of the game) because opponents don't respect Sanderson as a finisher. She has scored five goals but so has Lohman and she's not exactly Mia Hamm. Riley has put his players in positions to succeed, the mark of a good coach. But Danesha at least brings speed now that her conditioning is better.
Anyone have an idea why Mitts did not start or even enter the game until the 117th minute? Health/injury issue or coaches decision? Estelle Johnson played well but doesn't offer much moving forward where Mitts does.
Hope the Independence can recover physically in time for Boston.

PKs, most likely. Given the goal she cowered on eight years ago at Villanova (when she could have blocked Monica Gerardo's shot if she had faced up), that's the only logic ...

Good game, eh? Y'all brought it loud.

I think it was strategy, Estelle has put together some really strong games.
She is dependable on the back line, Mitts going forward is not a bad thing, but sometimes the coverage breaks when she makes a long run.. Changes the shape of the defence if the ball comes back too quickly

Yes, TOTC, I'm sure Riley benched a veteran member of the USWNT because of something that happened eight years ago. You seem to forget she broke her leg in 2003 aggressively challenging arguably the toughest player in WUSA at the time, Birgit Printz. Never mind that she was the starting RB on the Olympic and WC teams.
I would actually think considering Riley's attacking style and the fact that Estelle has been shaky on the ball in the games I've seen, that he would go with the more experienced, skilled player. But she certainly will be fresh for Boston.

completely agree with this post. DiMartino surpised the hell out of me with her dribbling AND not losing focus once she got into the box. Some of her cutback moves were impressive. Bringing Adams in was a game changer. Washington had to respect her speed and ability. I would add...the center back (whose name I can't remember at the moment) did a fine job of not letting Wambach out muscle her.

I'm hoping not starting Mitts was just a calculated gamble to get her some rest.