Freedom Insider

Thought I would kick the week off with some updates, beginning with the WPS All-Star game. After falling behind 2-0 in the first half, the WPS All-Stars scored 4 unanswered goals to beat visiting Umea IK 4-2 in Saint Louis yesterday. Freedom All-Stars Abby Wambach and Cat Whitehill came in to play the entire second half, a half that saw Christine Sinclair score the game’s final two goals in the span two minutes.

It was good WPS won this, especially since Umea IK is Marta’s former team. The three-time FIFA Women’s player of the year did WPS proud with a goal and an assist.

SAUERBRUNN TO NORWAY

I had heard something about this last week and now it is official. According to the Roa IL web site, Freedom defender Becky Sauerbrunn has been loaned to them for the fall. Hopefully this means good things in terms of a relationship between the two clubs as the Freedom are probably still trying to secure the services of discovery player Lene Mykjaland. With Sarah Huffman having played for Roa last year and Sauerbrunn playing this year, hopefully this is the right step to adding more firepower to the Freedom front line.

YEAR-END AWARDS

WPS announced its 2009 award winners Saturday night in St. Louis. It is probably no surprise that the league’s leading scorer, Marta, was named the 2009 Michelle Akers Player of the Year along with the Puma Golden Boot. Up for three awards, mom-to-be and Sky Blue FC player-coach Christie Rampone was named the Hint Water Sportswoman of the Year.

Other award winners were Hope Solo (Goalkeeper), Amy LePeilbet (Defender) and Abner Rogers (Coach), none of which should come as a surprise.

WOMEN’S EURO UPDATE

After falling to Germany 5-1, France advanced to the quarterfinal round of the tournament after tying Norway 1-1 on Sunday. France, Norway and Germany all advanced from Group B with the next round scheduled to run Thursday and Friday. As long as Sonia Bompastor remains in the tournament we will continue to provide updates.

WAMBACH CONVERTING FANS

I’ll finish this post with an All-Star story from the league site. Apparently Abby doesn’t care which team you root for, she just wants you buy tickets. Scroll down to the bottom of the article to read about the encounter.

I will still continue to post here multiple times during the offseason. Just because the players are taking a break it doesn’t mean things stop happening.

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Apparently the Post’s Steven Goff has done it again – this time he has obtained the list of players the Freedom will protect heading into the Sept. 15 expansion draft.

*The Insider has obtained the Washington Freedom’s protected list ahead of WPS’s expansion draft: Abby Wambach, Cat Whitehill, Ali Kreiger, Homare Sawa, Lisa De Vanna, Sonia Bompastor, Erin McLeod, Sarah Huffman, Becky Sauerbrunn and Allie Long.

I had planned on covering this topic (including trying to predict who would be kept) closer to the actual draft but with the release of the list, that plan is out the window so I will make one observation here and find another angle for the draft. The obvious omission to the group is Lori Lindsey, who just earned her first national team callup in years. It is possible she could be added to the list if she is not the first Freedom player taken, but I have a feeling she may be one of the top talents available on the board.

The one question mark on the list would appear to be Allie Long, however, I have heard Jim Gabarra talk about Allie before and he feels she was one of the best player in last year’s draft and were lucky to have fall to them at pick 7. Apparently one slow start/injury-marred season hasn’t deterred Gabarra too much but you have to wonder what the fallout is if Lindsey is taken early and goes on to be a star.

Again, I will have more on this as we get closer to the draft but I wanted to make sure this list was at least a little easier to find.

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FRANCE

With Sonia Bompastor missing Saturday’s All-Star Game to represent her country in the 2009 Women’s Euro Tournament, I thought it might be good to check in on her and other internationals the Freedom have ties too.

On Monday, Sonia and the Sol’s Camile Abily each converted a PK while Freedom draftee Louisa Necib added a goal in the 67′ to lead France to a 3-1 win over Iceland, giving the French a win in their opener. Obviously Sonia has not missed a beat as her season continues and for Freedom fans it gives a glimpse of what could be if Necib joins the squad next season. Necib did receive Player of the Match honors.

The French will be tested in their next match however, as they take on the defending World Cup champs, Germany. The smart money is on the Germans in this match, and with France probably missing two players due to head injuries suffered in the Iceland game, this match becomes that much more difficult.

NORWAY

A lot has been going on in regards to the Norwegian national team, most of it not good and involving Freedom international draftee Lene Mykjaland. While it seemed Lene had interest in coming over for the 2009 season, she told a Norwegian newspaper last November (I can’t find the link anymore) she returned to her Norwegian club, Roa IL, because things were unorganized and negotiations were taking too long. She only resigned for 1 year, so maybe there is hope yet. I also hear one of our players is will spend the rest of 2009 playing for Roa on loan so that is another positive sign.

Back to the national team, apparently Mykjaland and 4 of her Roa teammates apparently have had it with the national team coach and are refusing to play for him. This is a huge loss for Norway and if you look at the team’s results since the end of last year, you can see there is a huge decline in their level of play. The manager has agreed to step down after this tournament and the NFF hopes will get the Roa 5 back with its next manager.

So there’s a Euro update. I will continue the Season in Review stuff as well so keep coming back even though its the offseason.

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Congrats to Lori Lindsey for making it back to camp with the USWNT. The longtime Freedom midfielder will join WPS teammates Abby Wambach and Cat Whitehill at the 12-day camp that runs Sept. 21-Oct. 2.

While this camp will feature many familiar names, it’s nice to see Pia Sundhage expanding the core group.

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First things first, congrats to Sky Blue FC for overcoming all of the coaching drama and doing what the playoff system was stacked against – having the underdog win the whole thing. SBFC went on the road for three straight playoff games and beat the team’s ahead of them in the standings to win the inaugural WPS championship.

Now onto business. I wanted to recap the entire first season for the WPS Washington Freedom from September 2008 to August 2009, but when this article came out last week I decided to start with the 2009 WPS Draft held in January in St. Louis.

Given the state of things between Tony DiCicco and No. 1 overall pick Amy Rodriguez, I find it really interesting that there is the potential for Rodriguez to end up back in Boston. Given how the draft played out and how most of these players made up the core of each squad, I decided to look back at how Jim Gabarra did with his picks.

1. Allie Long (11 games started, 18 games played, 978 minutes, 2 goals) – If you ask this question at the beginning of the season and at the end of the season you get two completely different answers. Allie got off to a rough start and struggled early on but she became an important piece for the Freedom down the stretch. She still seems to hold onto the ball a little long sometimes  but she is making steady progress.

2. Alex Singer (13 GS, 16 GP, 1,143 minutes) – Alex displayed a toughness few on this team were asked to have as she was the recipient of some very crucial knocks during the season. Alex took an elbow from Boston’s Christine Latham that got Latham suspended (although it only drew a yellow card at the time?) and had played every minute of every game until a concussion knocked her out of the lineup. Alex impressed from the get go with her defense but the concussion never seemed to quite go away. With 6 months to heal, hopefully Alex comes back in 2010 ready to lock down the left side once again.

3. Jill Gilbeau (12 GS, 19 GP, 1,144, 3 assists) – Jill was one of the main displays of what Gabarra built this team on, versatility. Gilbeau started and played all over the field and was one of the team’s best weapons in the offensive third with her crossing ability. I think Jill has decent potential but would be aided in her development if some of her versatility was limited next season.

4. Parrissa Eyorokon (0 GS, 4 GP, 43 minutes) – Parrissa was one of two early injuries that really set this team back. The jury is obviously still out on Parrissa, who played on 43 minutes in 2009.

5. Briana Scurry (3 GS, 3 GP, 11 saves, 17 shots, 6 goals allowed, 2.00 GAA, 0-2-1) – This idea was good in theory – bring in the experienced veteran in case your No. 1 keeper doesn’t return to form (or make it into the country) soon enough. Unfortunately, Bri never recaptured any of the form that made her the premier goalkeeper in the U.S. for so many years. I would be surprised if she is back with the team next season.

6. Rebecca Moros (13 GS, 19 GP, 1,162 minutes, 2 goals, 1 assist) – Another player whose versatility kept them on the field, Moros came on as a dangerous attacking option (once she finally got the chance to play). If Moros is left unprotected in the expansion draft, don’t be surprised if she is one of the first players taken off the board. She made a strong statement this year that she needs to be one of the 10 players kept.

7. Sarah Senty (5 GS, 7 GP, 418 minutes) – Not joining the team until after she finished her final year at UVA, Sarah joined the squad and started most of the games she played by supplanting college teammate Singer. Another player who the jury is still out on.

8. Kati Jo Spisak (3 GP, 3 GS, 244 minutes, 10 saves, 16 shots, 6 goals allowed, 2.21 GAA, 2-0-1) – Where Bri failed, KJ succeeded by winning games. KJ joined the team as the developmental goalkeeper but had taken over the starting spot from Bri four games into the season. Erin McLeod joined the team shortly after but KJ did put the team in position to win a couple of games.

9. Claire Zimmeck (1 GS, 3 GP, 55 minutes) – Unfortunately Claire’s claim to fame will probably be the fact that she was the first player ever subbed out of a WPS match. After playing the first three games of the season without providing much spark, Zimmeck was cut on June 10 to make room for Ali Krieger.

10. Christen Karniski (DNP) – Christen was the only player to be on the roster all year but not play a minute. Her status for next season is a guaranteed unsure thing.

Alright, so there is my take on the ’09 draft now that Year 1 is in the books. A look at the rest of the roster building process will appear shortly and the season review will be in full swing. Meanwhile, let me know what you think by leaving a comment.

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