(The "view original article" comes from my entering an "associated website", but now I can't get rid of it.) Here's the Washington Freedom 2008 schedule, extracted from the W-League schedule. (Thanks for pointing it out, ButlerBob!) 5/10 (Sat.) - @ Long Island 5/24 (Sat.) - @ Fredericksburg 6/01 (Sun.) - Boston 6/08 (Sun.) - New Jersey 6/14 (Sat.) - New York 6/15 (Sun.) - Northern Virginia 6/18 (Wed.) - @ Jersey 6/28 (Sat.) - Long Island 7/02 (Wed.) - @ Northern Virginia 7/05 (Sat.) - @ New Jersey 7/12 (Sat.) - Jersey 7/13 (Sun.) - Fredericksburg 7/19 (Sat.) - @ Boston 7/20 (Sun.) - @ Connecticut
In addition to the regular schedule, the Freedom will play Penn State on April 12 at 6 pm as part of the Kicks Against Breast Cancer weekend.
12 Players Return to the Freedom for 2008 Season Longtime veterans: Kele Golebiowski - WUSA and Australian NT veteran Emily Janss - WUSA veteran Lori Lindsey - WUSA veteran, sometime WNT player Christie Welsh - WUSA and WNT veteran Casey Zimny - WUSA veteran Players in their second year: Ali Andrzejewski - team's leading scorer in 2007 Sarah Huffman - U21 WNT veteran Rebecca Moros - U21 WNT veteran Kati Jo Spisak - 2007 primary goalkeeper Players brought up from youth teams: Tiffany McCarty - young impact player, scored clinching goal in championship Kerry Philbin - up-and-coming backup midfielder Chante Sandiford - impressive young goalkeeper We'll see you in the championship, Pali Blues!
We did it last year, and I can't see them being as competitive without Charlie Naimo and the players he took with him to Pali.
Sauerbrunn is a heckuva player...maybe the best college defender I've seen in person in four years of watching women's college soccer.
Sounds good - we could use some bolstering in that area. The Freedom gave up some ugly goals last year.
Some 2007 Freedom players are signing with the Majestics instead: Northern Virginia Majestics Pro-Am team adds two forwards Majestics Sign Hammond for 2008 Season Katie was a backup, but Tara and Kelly Hammond were starters, so this is a bit of a blow. On the other hand, if Sarah Huffman and Rebecca Moros are consistently available this year (which they weren't last year) that should more than make up for it.
The Christie and Sarah Show It was the Christie and Sarah Show at the Soccerplex this evening, as each scored while assisted by the other with almost mirror-image positioning and timing. The Freedom ended up winning the Kicks Against Breast Cancer charity match, 2-0. With about seven minutes to go in the first half, Christie Welsh brought the ball down the left flank and in along the baseline before knocking it back out to a comparatively unguarded Sarah Huffman, who authoritatively put the ball in the right-hand side of the net. Then, with seven minutes gone in the second half, Sarah brought the ball down the right flank and in along the baseline, then knocked it back out to Christie, who rocketed the ball into the net. Other than the symmetries, it was an unremarkable game. Neither team was in mid-season form, and there were plenty of errant passes and tripping over the ball. My favorite instance was when a Freedom defender tried to bring the ball forward totally uncontested, got her feet tangled up, fell on the ball so that she hit it with her arm, thus giving the Nittany Lions a free kick deep in Freedom territory. Fortunately, nothing came of it. Familiar names on the preseason roster were: Ali Andrzejewski, Kele Golebiowski, Sarah Huffman, Emily Janss, Anabel Jiminez, Lori Lindsey, Tiffany McCarty, Rebecca Moros, Kati Jo Spisak, and Christie Welsh. Newcomer Becky Sauerbrunn was there as well. The only new name I can remember is that of Jenn Parsons, late of the W-League Richmond Kickers and Virginia Commonwealth before that. However, including the subs, there were at least a half-dozen players I didn't recognize. The only notable absence to my mind was that of Casey Zimny, though she is on the 2008 roster.
Team writeup on the Penn State match: Freedom Defeats Penn State in Charity Match It includes a roster for the match.
Freedom Signs Two Illinois Stars Looks as if the starting back line is set: Karniski - Zimny - Sauerbrunn - Janss A significant upgrade from last year.
At tonight's WNT game, there was an announcement that the Freedom would play the Richmond Kickers as part of a doubleheader with DC United. I'm not absolutely certain of the date, but I believe it's the June 22 match with the San Jose Earthquakes.
I've gotten confirmation that the match will be on June 22. The MLS game is at 3, and the Freedom game is scheduled for 5:15 (which seems awfully tight).
May 16: Washington Freedom 3, Real Colorado Cougars 0. No details from the game available anywhere I looked, just the score.
Jen Parsons hat trick leads Freedom over Gunners, 3-0 Freedom headliners Christie Welsh and Becky Sauerbrunn did not play. Next match for the Freedom is their home opener on Sunday, June 1, against the Boston Renegades. Kickoff is 6 pm at the Maryland Soccerplex in Germantown.
I was thinking the same thing as I read that. She has prominently figured in every single W League season over the past few years, and now with a very legitimate side in Washington.
Freedom fall to Renegades; Spisak injured Freedom matches usually aren’t very exciting unless the opposing team has “Jersey” in its name, but this game proved to be an exception. Despite having to play Jersey Sky Blue the previous day, the Boston Renegades squeaked out a 1-0 win to give the defending W-League champions their first loss of the 2008 season. The lone tally was scored in the 52nd minute by Mary-Theresé McDonnell after she came in unmarked on a centering pass in front of goal. Just before that, the Freedom had gotten several promising bounces inside the Boston box but had come away empty. The worst event of the evening, though, took place during a Boston corner kick. Freedom goalkeeper Kati Jo Spisak cleared the ball, then went down hard and not only didn’t come up again but lay there totally motionless. The game halted for nearly twenty minutes while she was tended to. Eventually, she was taken away in an ambulance with her head held firmly in place on the ambulance cot. The only good news is that the ambulance seemed in no particular hurry to get her to the hospital. The game started in unpromising fashion, with little happening in the first twenty minutes or so and both teams looking disorganized. Lori Lindsey took a shot in the 17th minute only to have it blocked by teammate Rebecca Moros, a characteristic play for that period. Soon after, though, the Freedom started to get organized and to make slashing passes through the Boston defense. One feed to Kele Golebiowski at the top of the box was so good that the defender’s attempt to redirect it nearly resulted in an own goal as she knocked it just wide of the net for a corner kick. The Freedom would go on to have several chances, most from the tiny but deceptive Jen Parsons, who repeatedly got behind the defense but either got stopped just before she could shoot or sent the ball right to the goalkeeper. Still, the Freedom chances came to nothing. The second half resumed along the same lines with Christie Welsh coming on at forward in place of Ali Andrzejewski. The Freedom had two quick chances in the opening minutes, first Jen feeding Kele perfectly in stride to the left-hand corner of the box, but the defense recovered to present a shot. Then Christie got a one-on-one faceoff with the goalkeeper. She tried to toe-tap the ball low and to the left, but Meghann Burke, who had an excellent game to preserve the shutout, managed to dive quickly enough to stop it. The Freedom seemed largely unfazed by the Boston goal, though they did try a bit of a cheap shot, sending a ball over-the-top to Christie behind the defense, which looked good at first, but Meghann managed to corral the ball right before Christie got to it. Shortly after that there was apparently a handball by Boston in the box that was apparent to everyone in the stadium except for the referee and me. (In my defense I was on the opposite side of the field from most everyone else.) Then came Kati Jo’s injury, which seemed to put a pall on the Freedom for a few minutes after play restarted. In the 74th minute, they dodged a bullet when a Boston forward got behind the defense but Chante Sandiford made a leaping save to knock the ball wide. The Freedom eventually regrouped and put on a furious assault, stopped by dubious offsides calls on Christie in the 81st and 90th minutes. Christie almost had a spectacular play as she blocked a short clearance from her spot about twenty yards out, then the ball went up and came right back down to her. She volleyed it again, but the ball went just wide left. The Freedom’s final chance came late in stoppage time as play was getting rather chippy: a Freedom player was hit hard in the box and clearly did not appreciate it, then almost immediately another Freedom player was fouled hard just to the right of the box. Unfortunately for Washington, the resulting kick was cleared easily. Shortly after that, the whistle blew, and the Freedom had lost their first home match. Despite the loss, it was an exciting, hard-fought match. The result was slightly against the run of play, but the Renegades made the most of their few chances, while the Freedom came away empty from their numerous ones. Such is the game of soccer. With this result, Washington is in fourth place in the Northeast Division, behind Long Island, Boston, and New Jersey, though Washington has played only three games to Boston’s four and Long Island’s five. (New Jersey has only played twice, so they’re really in the driver’s seat at this point as the only undefeated team in the division.) Washington Freedom vs. Boston Renegades June 1, 2008 - Maryland Soccerplex, Germantown, MD Washington - (4-4-2 formation) Kati Jo Spisak (Chante Sandiford 66), Christen Karniski (Jillian Gilbeau 61), Becky Sauerbrunn, Alex Singer, Emily Janss, Kele Golebiowski, Sarah Huffman, Lori Lindsey (C), Rebecca Moros (Ella Maser 61), Ali Andrzejewski (Christie Welsh 46), Jen Parsons (Madison Keller 79). Boston - (4-4-2 formation) Meghann Burke, Rachel Lim (Gabriele Demoner 79), Rachel Smith, Danielle Not, Therese Luckner, Allison Martino (Jamie Craft 82), Mary-Theresé McDonnell, Laura Grace Robinson (Kelsey Hood 64), Katie Bethke (Alex Crown 82), Lauren MacIver (C), Ashlee Pistorius (#7 not in program 89). Summary: BOS: McDonnell 52 Cautions: BOS: 2 (?, Crown) WAS: 0 Corner kicks: BOS: 4 WAS: 10