2007 Washington Freedom W-League Thread [R]

Discussion in 'US Women's Lower Divisions' started by StarCityFan, May 16, 2007.

  1. StarCityFan

    StarCityFan BigSoccer Supporter

    Aug 2, 2001
    Greenbelt, MD
    Club:
    Washington Freedom
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    Tara Kidwell has been named to the W-League's team of the week for her goal and assist against Long Island.
     
  2. StarCityFan

    StarCityFan BigSoccer Supporter

    Aug 2, 2001
    Greenbelt, MD
    Club:
    Washington Freedom
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    Freedom 1, Magic 0. From the Freedom website:

    I hope they work on their finishing between now and then....
     
  3. StarCityFan

    StarCityFan BigSoccer Supporter

    Aug 2, 2001
    Greenbelt, MD
    Club:
    Washington Freedom
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    Nice writeup on the Freedom in the Washington Post this morning (registration required but free):

    Back Yard Is Where the Heart Is

    (The Maryland Soccerplex, where the Freedom play their home games, is located in Boyds.)

    And a feature on new goalkeeper Kati Jo Spisak in a local paper:

    New goalie giving Washington freedom at back

     
  4. Brian Cohen

    Brian Cohen New Member

    Jul 6, 2007
    If anyone is interested you can listen to an audio webcast of Saturday's game against Jersey Sky Blue. You can get the webcast by going to http://www.skybluesoccer.com
     
  5. SCCL

    SCCL Member

    Oct 31, 2001

    Thanks for the heads up Brian! The audiocast was one of the best I've heard, and the result of the game was even better!!
     
  6. StarCityFan

    StarCityFan BigSoccer Supporter

    Aug 2, 2001
    Greenbelt, MD
    Club:
    Washington Freedom
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    Justice in Jersey

    The Freedom evened the score against Jersey Sky Blue, defeating them 3-2 in another hard-fought match. This time, at least, the score fairly reflected the game itself.

    Before the game, the Freedom players were gathered in front of their bench, and one tall blond head stood well above the other field players. The post-WUSA Freedom are a petite bunch, a far cry from the days when we had a lineup with Emmy Barr, Steffi Jones, Lindsay Stoecker, and of course Abby Wambach. It took me a minute to remember that Christie Welsh was now with us, and it was she who was towering over the other players (except, of course, for six-foot goalkeeper Kati Jo Spisak). It turned out she did about the same on the field as off.

    However, it’s only fair to note that, though the Freedom were at full strength, Sky Blue was not, missing two of their most dangerous strikers, Formiga and Casey Nogueira. They did still have W-League leading scorer Lara Dickenmann, a very fast, scary player who almost kept the game within reach all by herself.

    It took about five minutes for the Freedom to get their act together on the artificial turf of the small (sized for American football) field behind Ridge High School, Sky Blue’s home turf, but once that happened they were in charge. In the seventh minute, Jersey turned to ball over in the middle of the field. Lori Lindsey got control and slid a ball through the defense to Christie Welsh, who knocked it just wide right. A minute later, Emily Janss keyed a beautiful takeaway by knocking the ball through her mark’s legs and out the other side. But Kele Golebiowski’s resulting centering pass went high and over the end line with no one able to get to it.

    Christie started the next good attack with a beautiful trap of a Kati Jo kick. This time Kele’s centering pass came right to Lori at the right corner of the box, but she had her back to goal and couldn’t make the turn. She knocked the ball back in the hopes someone could run onto it, but it was cleared before anyone could.

    Christie had another great chance off a Lori setup but again rolled it wide right. At this point it was looking like another “great offense, can’t finish” game from the Freedom.

    Another Washington centering pass rolled clear across the goalmouth without anyone from either team being able to touch it.

    The first goal was scored in the 17th minute and may well go down in Freedom annals as the ugliest goal scored against them in competitive play. The aforementioned Lara Dickenmann got a ball over the top and came storming in. However, Ali Krieger was step-for-step with her and managed to poke the ball away and toward Kati Jo. Our goalkeeper tried to clear it, but didn’t get much on the ball and sent it right to Lara. Lara easily settled the ball, took a quick step to the right, and slid the ball into the open net.

    Control was a little more even after that, though still favoring the Freedom. Not much came of it, though, until in the 27th minute Sarah Huffman drove the ball hard forward toward the right post, drawing defensive attention before dishing off to Christie Welsh to her left. Christie Welsh slid the ball farther over and back to Ali Andrejewski, who knocked it home from about fifteen yards out.

    In minutes 30 and 33, Rebecca Moros and Lori took long shots that Jersey keeper Jillian Loyden was able to stop. The next goal came in minute 37, off a perfect centering pass from right flank defender Emily Janss, who sent a ball right to Christie Welsh’s feet in front of goal. Christie had her back to the goal but managed to deftly turn 180 degrees to her right while maintaining possession and knocked the ball in with her left foot to give the Freedom a comeback lead.

    However, in the 43rd minute, Lara Dickenmann got another long ball over the defense from Bonnie Young and this time came in unmarked from the right flank and had no trouble getting the ball behind an unsupported Kati Jo and into the net. Halftime came with the score knotted at 2-2.

    Coach Gabarra took the Freedom players down to the far corner of the stadium and gave them a long talk. I heard him say that the Jersey defenders don’t like to dribble, and they needed to make them dribble.

    There were some problems with getting the lights to come on, so halftime ended up being about fifty minutes long. The long delay seemed to affect Sky Blue more than the Freedom, as the latter came out on fire, forcing the Jersey keeper to make three saves in the first few minutes, including a hard shot from Ali A. and a header from Christie. Things settled down a bit after that, with another potentially ugly moment in the 53rd minute, as a Sky Blue cross came down on a Freedom head and went toward goal but was fortunately cleared before it went in.

    Three minutes later, Christie came up with the winner as right flank midfielder Rebecca Moros brought the ball down on her side, then slid it over to Ali A., who lined it to a relatively unmarked Christie, who had time and space to knock a hard shot from just inside the box into the upper left corner of the net.

    The Freedom seemed to get a little complacent after that, which was unsettling. There were few attacks from the Freedom the rest of the game, while Sky Blue was doing its best to equalize, though without great success. My note for minute 66 says “First organized Sky attack of the second half.” Still, some of that was thanks to the Freedom defense. Sky Blue had a 2-on-2 a few minutes earlier, but Freedom central defender Casey Zimny stayed right with her mark and got the ball away from her just inside the box, foiling the attack.

    The one yellow card of the match is issued in the 61st minute to the Sky Blue goalkeeper when she picked up the ball from just outside the box (her feet were in the box, but the ball wasn’t) as Freedom attackers rushed on.

    In minute 70, a new player for the Freedom (not previously on any roster I’ve got), Tiffany McCarty, came in for forward Ali Andrzejewski, but with the Freedom attack in disarray, she didn’t show me much, even though my Google researches indicate that she was a stellar performer for last year’s U-16 national team.

    Meanwhile, Kati Jo redeemed herself in the 80th minute as Lara came up with the ball off a Freedom turnover and got it to Stacy Bishop on the left side of the box. Stacy took a shot but Kati made a tremendous horizontal leap to keep it from going in.

    Shortly after that, Kele Golebiowski was hammered while going up for a header and crumpled to the ground, not moving for a couple of minutes. Gabarra wanted a yellow card, but none was forthcoming. (It’s fun to hear Gabarra yell at the refs - not something that often happened in the WUSA days.) She recovered enough to play for another few minutes but was quickly replaced by defender Alex Singer.

    By this time, the Freedom defense was in pure punt mode. Any ball that came to a Freedom defender with room to work quickly found itself hurtling to the far end of the field, apparently with the theory that at least Jersey can’t score if the ball is that far away, a philosophy that seems commendable in stoppage time but not with ten or fifteen minutes to play. But this is indicative of the Freedom approach at this point.

    In the 86th minute, a Sky Blue player is knocked off the ball by a Freedom defender just inside the box, but the referee makes no call.

    Come stoppage time, and another Freedom player, Sarah Huffman, goes down hard, while Sky Blue classlessly play on for at least a minute as Freedom players yell at them to stop play. They finally knock the ball out-of-bounds to allow Sarah to be seen to. She comes out under her own power, replaced with Mallory Mahar to further bolster the Freedom defense.

    Stoppage time seemed to go on for quite a long time, but with no real chances for Jersey except for a quickly cleared corner kick. But the final whistle blew at last, and the Freedom came away with a win, remarkably scoring three goals on a Sky Blue team that had only given up one all season up until this match. With the win, the Freedom take over first place in the Eastern Division with four games to play. They have two home matches (New Jersey Wildcats and New York Magic) next weekend, followed by two road matches (Boston Renegades and Western Massachusetts Lady Pioneers) the following weekend.

    Match statistics from the Jersey Sky Blue website:

    7/7/2007 - Ridge H.S. 1 2 - FINAL
    Washington Freedom (8-1-1) 2 1 - 3
    Jersey Sky Blue (8-2) 2 0 - 2

    LINEUPS
    WASHINGTON FREEDOM: Kati Jo Spisak, Sarah Senty, Emily Janss, Casey Zimny, Ali Krieger, Lori Lindsey, Kele Golebiowski (Alex Singer 85), Sarah Huffman (Mallory Mahar 89), Rebecca Moros (Tara Kidwell 63), Ali Andzejewski (Tiffany McCarty 69), Christie Welsh.
    JERSEY SKY BLUE: Jillian Loyden, Steph Logterman, Kim Brandão, Bonnie Young, Fanta Cooper, Nikki Krzysik, Katie Griffin, Susanna Lehtinen (Gina DeMaio 45), Erla Arnardóttir (Stacy Bishop 57), Lara Dickenmann, Tricia DiPaolo.

    GOALS
    JSB: Dickenmann 17th minute
    WF: Andrzejeski (Welsh) 27th minute
    WF: Welsh (Janss) 37th minute
    JSB: Dickenmann (Young) 43rd minute
    WF: Welsh (Andrzejeski) 56th minute

    SAVES
    WF: Spisak 4; JSB: Loyden 4

    SHOTS
    WF: 11; JSB: 7

    CAUTIONS/EJECTIONS
    JSB: Loyden (caution) 61st minute

    GAME NOTES
    ATTENDANCE: n/a
    REFEREE: Hossam Saad
    ASSISTANT: Matt Jagusak
    ASSISTANT: David Bahamonde
     
  7. StarCityFan

    StarCityFan BigSoccer Supporter

    Aug 2, 2001
    Greenbelt, MD
    Club:
    Washington Freedom
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    I tried to listen to one of the earlier ones but it never started.
     
  8. Beau Dure

    Beau Dure Member+

    May 31, 2000
    Vienna, VA
    They said they had one road game in which they simply couldn't find a suitable location.
     
  9. StarCityFan

    StarCityFan BigSoccer Supporter

    Aug 2, 2001
    Greenbelt, MD
    Club:
    Washington Freedom
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    L-squared scores a deuce as Freedom make the playoffs

    The Wildcats, once the team to beat in the W-League, aren’t quite what they were and are in fact in real danger of missing the playoffs for the first time since 2003. Still, they’re one of the better W-League teams, and this promised to be one of the better matches of the season. However, they didn’t bring their A-team (in particular, they didn’t bring former Freedom captain and ironwoman Jennifer Grubb, a great disappointment to me and, I’m sure, to many other Freedom fans). The result, a 2-0 victory off two goals from team captain Lori Lindsey, understates the Freedom dominance of the match as Washington had their usual problems with finishing.

    The Freedom didn’t quite have their A-team, either, as central defender Ali Krieger and midfielder Sarah Huffman had been called up to the U-21 national team. However, they did have Christie Welsh, fresh off her two goals and an assist against archrival Jersey Sky Blue, starting her first home match, as well as solid replacements for Ali and Sarah in Alex Singer and Rebecca Moros.

    The Freedom were clearly the better team on the day, but it took them a while to prove it. In particular, there was an agonizing series of near-misses around the 25th minute that had the home crowd gasping and tearing its collective hair out. In the 24th minute, Kele Golebiowski, from her usual left flank midfielder position, hit a centering pass straight to forward Ali Andrzejewski, who from a spot a little to the right of the right post tried to one-touch it back to the left and into the goal but instead knocked it wide right. In the next minute, forward Christie Welsh had a clear but shallow shot from the left that she tried to send to the far post. The goalkeeper blocked it, but it went right to Ali, whose similarly shallow shot was again blocked. The rebound went up the middle to Kele, whose hard shot was knocked over the back line for a corner kick. A minute later, I didn’t catch the players, but one had a shot blocked, the rebound went to another player, whose shot caromed off the right post. Two minutes later, the Freedom almost scored on an own goal as they had a free kick from about forty yards out that caromed off a defender and went high in the air toward the goal. The Wildcats goalkeeper had to leap up from the endline and catch it to keep it from going in. In the next minute, right flank midfielder Tara Kidwell fed Christie from the right, but the shot went high. Two minutes later, Tara fed Ali who slid it out to Kele on the left, who sent it wide right. In the 33rd minute, center midfielder Rebecca Moros fed Christie near the top of the box. Christie deked out her defender but her shot went wide left.

    The frustration finally ended in the 38th minute, as Kele got the ball near the left side of midfield and brought it in on goal, successfully dodging several defenders as she did so. Having gained the defense’s attention she slid the ball out to the left to Ali, who centered it toward the right post to Christie, who laid the ball back for Lori Lindsey about ten yards in front of the goal. Lori buried the ball in the bottom left corner for the long-awaited score.

    The early part of the second half brought a return to frustration: in the 50th minute, Kele centered the ball to Christie, who bounced it off the left post. A minute later, Christie tried to set up Lori again, but this time from outside the box, and Lori knocked it over the goal. A minute after that, Christie got the ball at the right corner of the box and tried to get a shot off as she moved across the front of the goal, but the tenacious Wildcat defense never gave her the chance. In the 56th minute, Emily Janss, the right flank defender, send a long ball over the top to Christie, a play New Jersey wanted an offsides call on, but Christie knocked it wide right. In the 62nd minute, Ali looked to have been fouled in the penalty area, but the foul was called on her. There was a scramble in front of the New Jersey goalmouth in the 63rd minute that beggars description.

    However, finally, in the 65rd minute substitute flank midfielder Jill Porto, who always seems to make things happen when she comes in, sent a ball in along the ground from the right paralleling the end line with about a yard of margin. Christie Welsh was at the right post but dummied it over to Lori Lindsey near the left post, who put it away for her second goal of the evening.

    New Jersey seemed to step up a bit after that with a lot of possession, though the Freedom very determinedly kept much of interest from happening, as they went to an increasingly defensive lineup, finishing the match with their starting flank defenders in the midfield while fresh substitutes Kerry Philbin and Melissa Whitley came in to bolster the back line.

    With the win, the Freedom have clinched a playoff spot and are assured of finishing no worse than second in the Northeast Division. To finish first, they need to stay ahead of Jersey Sky Blue, who are only one point behind in the standings and would win a tiebreaker based on goal differential.

    Washington Freedom vs. Jersey Sky Blue
    July 14, 2007 -- Maryland Soccerplex

    Washington - (4-4-2 formation) Kati Jo Spisak, Sarah Senty Alex Singer, Casey Zimny, Emily Janss, Kele Golebiowski (Kerry Philbin 81), Rebecca Moros, Lori Lindsey (Kelly Hammond 61), Tara Kidwell (Jill Porto 61) , Ali Andrzejewski (Katie Watson 77), Christie Welsh (Melissa Whitley 85) .

    (You’ll have to look elsewhere for the New Jersey roster as more than half the starting lineup either wasn’t in the program book or had different numbers from those listed.)

    Shots - Washington 18, New Jersey 4.
    Shots on goal - Washington 9, New Jersey 1.
    Corners - Washington 7, New Jersey 2.
     
  10. StarCityFan

    StarCityFan BigSoccer Supporter

    Aug 2, 2001
    Greenbelt, MD
    Club:
    Washington Freedom
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    Freedom have strong finish at Soccerplex

    The Freedom’s final home game was one of the mismatches that is a reminder that the W-League is not the WUSA, as the Freedom beat the New York Magic, 6-0, off a hat trick from Christie Welsh and two goals from Ali Andrzejewski.

    The Freedom were far and away the better team, and for once they made it count early. Only five minutes in, and Christie brought the ball to the right corner of the box, then centered it across the line of the box to Ali, who freed herself from her mark enough to knock the ball into the left corner of the goal. In the next minute, Kele Golebiowski made a long run from the right side to the top of the box a little to that side, then slid the ball over and forword to Lori Lindsey toward the other corner, who slid a similar ball off the keeper’s hands and into the left side netting.

    The third goal came in the 22nd minute, when Lori Lindsey poked a ball through the defense to Ali, who from about fifteen yards out knocked a ball off the left post and in - the first time this season, I think, that a Freedom shot has hit wood and gone in.

    With a comfortable lead, the Freedom substituted liberally at halftime, Katie Watson replacing Ali at forward, Jill Porto coming in for Tara Kidwell on the right side of midfield, and Kelly Hammond taking over in the center from Lori. Even so, the second half ended up being the Christie Welsh show, as she scored three goals in eleven minutes to turn the match into a rout.

    The first goal, in the 60th minute, was the most spectacular, as Katie escaped her defender to bring the ball down the right flank, then centered a ball to Christie that came to her about three feet off the ground. From about fifteen yards out, Christie swung her right foot out and up and hammered a laser beam of a shot that seared past the goalkeeper and into the net.

    Her second goal, seven minutes later, was practically a solo effort as she got the ball level with the defense just past midfield and came in at high speed toward the left back corner of the box. From a nearly impossible angle, she touched the ball past the goalkeeper. It looked as if she’d knocked it wide right (the crowd started to groan), but the ball trickled just inside the right post.

    The hat trick goal, in the 70th minute, was off another Katie assist, though I’m not sure why an assist is credited because Christie’s first shot bounced off the goalkeeper, though straight back to her, and the second time she put it away.

    Christie was substituted out a minute later to an enthusiastic ovation from the home crowd.

    Next weekend, the Freedom go up to Massachusetts for their final two games of the season, which they need to win in order to stay ahead of Jersey Sky Blue in the race for the Northeast Division crown.

    Summary of the playoff situation in the Northeast Division (winner gets a bye into the Eastern Conference championship, second place team hosts the third place team in a match to decide which one of those two goes to the championship):

    Washington Freedom - Can finish no worse than second, need to stay ahead of Jersey Sky Blue to win division.
    Jersey Sky Blue - Can finish no worse than second, need to at least tie Freedom in order to win division.
    Northern Virginia Majestics - Can clinch third playoff spot with a win in their final game. Unfortunately for them, they’re playing Sky Blue.
    New Jersey Wildcats - Despite being in fourth place, they’re out of the playoffs because the best they can do is tie the Majestics, and the Majestics won the head-to-head competition with a win and a draw. (The Wildcats website says otherwise, but my reading of the USL tiebreaker rules indicates that the website is wrong.)
    Boston Renegades - Can claim the third playoff spot if they win their last two games and the Majestics don’t beat Sky Blue. Unfortunately for them, one of their games is against the Freedom.
    Long Island Rough Riders - Can claim the third playoff spot if they win their last three games, the Renegades don’t win both of their games, and either the Majestics lose or the Majestics tie and the Rough Riders end up with a better goal differential by scoring at least five more goals than their opponents in those last three games. Unfortunately for them, they play Sky Blue twice and the Wildcats once.

    Washington Freedom vs. New York Magic
    July 15, 2007 -- Maryland Soccerplex

    Washington - (4-4-2 formation) Kati Jo Spisak, Sarah Senty Alex Singer, Casey Zimny, Emily Janss, Kele Golebiowski (Anabel Jimenez 65), Rebecca Moros (Mallary Mahar 59), Lori Lindsey (Kelly Hammond 46), Tara Kidwell (Jill Porto 46) , Ali Andrzejewski (Katie Watson 46), Christie Welsh (Morgan Church 71) .

    New York (4-5-1 formation) Staci Self, Kanae Haneishi, Eleri Earnshaw, Laura St. John, Maria Romano, Callie A. Lanphier, Robin McCullough, Katherine Galanek, Stephane Sabaliauskas, Noel Meeke, Leslie-Anne James. (New York had just a couple of substitutions, but I didn’t keep track of them.)

    Statistics from the USL website:

    Weather: Cloudy, hot

    Summary:
    WAS: Andrzejeski (Welsh) 5
    WAS: Lindsey (Golebiowski) 6
    WAS: Andrzejeski (Lindsey) 22
    WAS: Welsh (Watson) 60
    WAS: Welsh 67
    WAS: Welsh (Watson) 70

    Cautions
    None

    Referees: Bryan Roslund, Matthew Boren, Mark Roeder

    Shots - Washington 25, New York 3.
    Saves - Washington 4, New York 11.
    Corners - Washington 1, New York 5.
     
  11. Beau Dure

    Beau Dure Member+

    May 31, 2000
    Vienna, VA
    What was interesting in that game was Welsh's frustration through the first 60 minutes as she failed to put away chance after chance. One rebounded back to her off the back post supporting the goal, and she took a big swing and booted it off the scoreboard. Surprised she didn't get yellow for that.

    But the chances kept coming, and she finally put away three of them.

    Of Washington's 25 shots, it wouldn't surprise me if she had at least 10.
     
  12. StarCityFan

    StarCityFan BigSoccer Supporter

    Aug 2, 2001
    Greenbelt, MD
    Club:
    Washington Freedom
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    I think you're right: looking at my game notes, I count six unsuccessful shots (off-target or to the goalkeeper) before her first goal, plus her third goal was off her own rebound. So that's at least ten shots altogether.
     
  13. StarCityFan

    StarCityFan BigSoccer Supporter

    Aug 2, 2001
    Greenbelt, MD
    Club:
    Washington Freedom
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    Comeback win keeps Freedom on track for playoffs

    The Washington Freedom spotted the Boston Renegades a two-goal lead but then roared back with four goals in fifteen minutes to claim the win and to keep their precarious hold on first place in the Northeast Division.

    The Freedom maintained most of the possession in the first half but didn’t have a sufficiently composed attack to be dangerous. Meanwhile, the Boston goals looked about like every other goal scored against the Freedom this season: great passes through or over the back line spring a fast forward in on the goalkeeper one-on-one. The first one came about when a beautiful through pass was sent right to Adriane Radtke’s feet. All she had to do was to bring it to the left front of the box and knock it past Kati Jo Spisak (unfortunately neither the official scorekeeper nor I caught the assist on this one, which is a shame because that’s where most of the credit should go). For the second, Jamie Craft took a long shot as the defense raced to catch up. Kati managed to get her fingertips on it and deflect it, whereupon a defender came on the ball and tried to get it under control. Unfortunately, she left it behind in prime position about a yard in front of a defenseless goalmouth. Jamie, continuing her run forward, had a very easy putaway.

    Washington came out looking much better in the second half but took a while to make it count. Ali Andrzejewski had a hard shot in the 52nd minute that Boston goalkeeper Jasmine Phillips deflected for a corner kick. Four minutes later, Lori Lindsey tried to feed Ali through the back line but led her a little too far, and the ball went harmlessly across the end line.

    In the 62nd minute, the Freedom had two key substitutions, with Tiffany McCarty coming in for Ali in the forward position, and Jill Porto replacing Tara Kidwell on the midfield flank. Jill always seems to make things happen when she comes in. Tiffany was a bit of a wild-card: she’d only gotten minutes once before, and that was when the Freedom were in prevent mode trying to hold a one-goal lead over Jersey Sky Blue and had no interest in trying to muster an attack. Anyhow, Jill lived up to her reputation, and Tiffany started to build one.

    The first goal, though, came off a Freedom corner kick in the 64th minute, as Alex Singer, a tall target player who normally plays the central defense, headed in a centering pass from (I think) Lori Lindsey, who collected the initial clearance of her corner kick and sent it back in. (Again, both the scorekeeper and I have fallen down on the job.)

    Jill did her thing in the 69th minute, singlehandedly knocking a long shot (outside the right corner of the penalty area) into the net. And Tiffany made her contribution three minutes later by bringing the ball in down the right side and through some tough defensive opposition before sliding a centering pass over to Christie Welsh in front of goal, who managed to get enough on an awkwardly placed ball to knock it into the left corner netting.

    Rebecca Moros finished the scoring in the 79th minute by giving the Renegades a taste of their own medicine, collecting a long pass behind the defense and having the leisure to bring the ball inside the top of the box and across before knocking it in past the goalkeeper.

    Jasmine Phillips kept the game from getting out-of-hand with some late saves, but the damage was done.

    Washington Freedom vs. Boston Renegades
    July 21, 2007 -- Bowditch Stadium, Framingham, MA

    Washington - (4-4-2 formation) Kati Jo Spisak, Sarah Senty Alex Singer, Casey Zimny, Emily Janss, Kele-Maree Golebiowski (Kelly Hammond 66), Rebecca Moros, Lori Lindsey (Mallary Mahar 86), Tara Kidwell (Jill Porto 62) , Ali Andrzejewski (Tiffany McCarty 62), Christie Welsh (Katie Watson 84) .

    Boston - (4-4-2 formation) Jasmine Phillips, Greer Barnes, Sara Sedgwick (Karen Ray 76), Becky Westbury, Brianna Wilson, Kelsey Hood (Ciara Crinion 73), Victoria Huster, Shay Powell, Adriane Radtke (Brianna Gray 65), Jamie Craft, Lauren MacIver.

    Summary from W-League website:

    Weather: Clear Attendance: 300

    Summary:
    BOS: Radke 23
    BOS: Craft (McIver) 27
    WAS: Singer 64
    WAS: Porto 67
    WAS: Welsh (McCarty) 72
    WAS: Moros 79

    Cautions
    None

    Referees: Rachel Woo, Sharon Wheeler, Victor Matheson

    Washington Freedom coverage

    USL coverage
     
  14. StarCityFan

    StarCityFan BigSoccer Supporter

    Aug 2, 2001
    Greenbelt, MD
    Club:
    Washington Freedom
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    The Freedom defeated the Western Massachusetts Lady Pioneers, 4-0, to claim the Northeast Division crown and a bye directly into the Eastern Conference playoffs round of four, to be held in Ottawa next weekend.

    Washington Freedom coverage

    USL coverage
     
  15. StarCityFan

    StarCityFan BigSoccer Supporter

    Aug 2, 2001
    Greenbelt, MD
    Club:
    Washington Freedom
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    The Washington Freedom overwhelmed the Toronto Lady Lynx, 6-1, to earn a berth in the Eastern Conference championship match against the Ottawa Fury, who defeated Jersey Sky Blue 4-0. That match will be held tomorrow.

    In other news, Lori Lindsey and Ali Andrzejewski were named to the W-League's all-Eastern Conference team. Ali was both the #2 goals- and points-scorer in the league, while Lori finished with a tie for second in assists and eighteenth in total points.
     
  16. Beau Dure

    Beau Dure Member+

    May 31, 2000
    Vienna, VA
    Wow -- Sky Blue lost 4-0?? Charlie said they were expecting to be at full strength for this one (including the league's #1 scorer, Lara Dickenmann).

    Ottawa must be something else.
     
  17. StarCityFan

    StarCityFan BigSoccer Supporter

    Aug 2, 2001
    Greenbelt, MD
    Club:
    Washington Freedom
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    Yes, that was startling. I think Ottawa's on a mission after coming in second in the W-League the last two seasons.

    On the other hand, the same Toronto team that the Freedom just defeated 6-1 tied Ottawa 3-3 on the same field.
     
  18. StarCityFan

    StarCityFan BigSoccer Supporter

    Aug 2, 2001
    Greenbelt, MD
    Club:
    Washington Freedom
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    Washington Freedom writeup here. Good news is that the Freedom got out to a commanding 3-0 lead in the first half hour on two goals from Lori Lindsey and one from Christie Welsh, which allowed them to rest a lot of their key players for the entire second half. We'll find out just how fit Ottawa is by comparison tomorrow. (I can tell you that the Freedom are very fit, capable of playing games on consecutive days with no visible letup in speed or intensity.

    USL game summary here.
     
  19. StarCityFan

    StarCityFan BigSoccer Supporter

    Aug 2, 2001
    Greenbelt, MD
    Club:
    Washington Freedom
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    According to the USL website list of results, the Freedom defeated the Ottawa Fury, 1-0. There is no other information given at this time.
     
  20. StarCityFan

    StarCityFan BigSoccer Supporter

    Aug 2, 2001
    Greenbelt, MD
    Club:
    Washington Freedom
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    Coverage of conference championship match:

    Ottawa Fury article

    Washington Freedom article

    Unfortunately for the Fury, their leading scorer and co-captain, Kelly Parker, was only able to play for 45 minutes due to a groin injury. By both accounts, it was quite a different game when she was in there.
     
  21. Beau Dure

    Beau Dure Member+

    May 31, 2000
    Vienna, VA
    OTOH, the Fury supplemented their roster with Faye White. That's an impressive short-term signing.
     
  22. Chargefan

    Chargefan New Member

    Oct 9, 2003
    KOP
    Actually, the U-20 or 21 team is playing so they were with several players and Formiga is training with Brazil for the WWC

    easy to see how you lose this one, without the NT junior team members, Sky Blue has constantly struggled to find the back of the net...
     
  23. Beau Dure

    Beau Dure Member+

    May 31, 2000
    Vienna, VA
    The Nordic Cup finished on the 24th, and the Pan Am Games wrapped on the 26th. I guess when I spoke to Charlie, he was under the impression they'd make it back sooner -- in hindsight, that looks like a tough travel schedule.

    Curiously, Formiga didn't play in that Pan Am final, which pitted the full Brazilian team against Nogueira, Heath and the U.S. U-20s.

    Here it is -- the Sky Blue preview: "Sky Blue will be hampered by a shortage of important personnel this weekend with a number of key players unavailable. Tobin Heath, Casey Nogueira, Becky Edwards, and Formiga all competed in the Pan Am Games and won’t return in time to make the trip to Canada. Formiga’s Brazil team knocked off the United States Under-20 National Team that included the other three players by a 5-0 score in the Pan Am final. In addition, starting defender Bonnie Young is also unavailable this weekend."

    http://www.skybluesoccer.com/ottawapreview.htm

    Young's absence surely hurt as well.

    That's a shame -- they were a tremendous team to watch with the full lineup available.
     
  24. StarCityFan

    StarCityFan BigSoccer Supporter

    Aug 2, 2001
    Greenbelt, MD
    Club:
    Washington Freedom
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    Well, they'd had her for a while. She played four regular-season games for them.

    And is it chauvinistic of me to gloat a little bit that the Freedom might well win the W-League championship while being one of the few top teams without a couple of international ringers? Every Freedom player I can think of has some sort of local or regional tie. Even Kele Golebiowski was playing W-League with Hampton Roads long before she was picked up by Washington.
     
  25. Beau Dure

    Beau Dure Member+

    May 31, 2000
    Vienna, VA
    Does Christie Welsh count as a ringer? She's the only one I can think of. I guess I'm not sure of Rebecca Moros' tie to the area, but everyone else I can think of off the top of my head either played high school, club or college soccer in the area.
     

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