Mar 9, 2010
Looking at the initial 28
The Washington Freedom announced its 28-woman preseason roster yesterday along with the preseason schedule, so while the team is getting ready for 2010 down in Dodgertown, I figured it was a good time to look at who is on the roster. If you want a complete list of rosters, WPS web guru Amanda Vandervort has a full list of links on her personal blog.
Also, I want to apologize for the state of the Roster Tracker but the Sol disbanding really screwed things up. I am trying to find a way to display all of the rosters, along with the way each player was acquired by its current team without making it look like a fourth grader took a highlighter to my spreadsheet, highlighting everything but the conjunctions like “and” and “but.”
Ok, here’s the roster (from the Freedom’s site, most of which we already knew):
2010 28-Player Preseason Roster(Players with numbers listed after their name are in attendance at the Florida Preseason Camp)1. Marisa Abegg – 272. Brittany Bock – 53. Sonia Bompastor – 84. Mary Casey5. Kristi Eveland – 236. Jill Gilbeau – 37. Beverly Goebel – 68. Sarah Huffman – 149. Christen Karniski10. Madison Keller – 2611. Allie Long – 912. Nikki Marshall – 1713. Meagan McCray – 014. Erin McLeod – 1815. Caitlin Miskel – 1216. Rebeca Moros – 1917. Mara Osher – 2418. Lauren Robertson19. Becky Sauerbrunn – 2220. Homare Sawa21. Briana Scurry – 122. Alex Singer – 2123. Brittany Tegeler24. Lisa De Vanna – 1125. Abby Wambach – 2026. Christie Welsh – 1327. Cat Whitehill – 428. Jaimel Johnson – 2
I can’t say I’m terribly surprised by any of the names on the list and it’s good to see that some of our homegrown players such as Christen Karniski, Brittany Tegeler and Madison Keller are getting another chance to stick with the team. Karniski and Keller were both developmental players last year while Tegeler was among the final roster cuts from preseason last year.
Looking at some of the other rosters I can’t helped but feel that the Freedom failed to improve as much as every other team this offseason. The unexpected addition of Bock certainly offsets what was a quiet offseason for the Freedom but with teams FC Gold Pride adding Marta and Camille Abily, Saint Louis adding Aya Miyama, Shannon Boxx and Lindsey Tarpley and the Independence acquiring Karina LeBlanc, Heather Mitts, Lori Lindsey and Amy Rodriguez, I can’t help but think how much tougher the league will be this year and I am already questioning if this roster will be strong enough to hang with these revamped squads.
New faces popping up on the roster this preseason include Marisa Abegg (drafted by FC Gold Pride in 2009) and goalkeepers Mary Casey (former GK for Maryland who was drafted by LA one week before the team disbanded), Meagan McCray (another FC Gold Pride castoff) and Jamiel Johnson (formerly of the Breakers and Red Stars). I have no idea what the team needs so many goalkeepers for in camp but I bet at least one of this group makes the team as the developmental keeper unless 5th round pick Lauren Robertson can outplay them all.
Names that are noticeably absent? Freedom Futures GM Joanna Lohman (in camp with Philly, don’t know what that’s about), goalkeeper KJ Spisak (in camp in her hometown of St. Louis) and midfielder Kristin DeDycker.
One final roster note of interest for former WUSA Washington Freedom fans – midfielder Jen Grubb is in camp with Sky Blue FC.
To keep up with the Freedom while the players are away, make sure you are checking out the team’s official blog. Here is a quick recap of Day 1. And for those of you looking for WPS Fantasy Soccer, apparently that is on the way as well.
Now that you’ve heard what I think about the preseason roster, tell me your thoughts. Is there anyone your surprised to see isn’t back? Do you have any concerns about having six goalkeepers in camp? Let me know in the comments section below.
Related posts:
The Freedom’s Day 1 blog entry may have been renamed since it’s now at http://fancorner.womensprosoccer.com/profiles/blogs/washington-freedom-and-it .
I am a little worried at how the Freedom sat tight while the other teams wheeled and dealed. But perhaps Mykjåland, Bock, and our draft picks will step up.
Meanwhile, any idea what happened to our second pick, Carly Dobratz?
Figures they would change the link right after I hit publish – thanks for pointing out the dead link, I have updated it.
I agree with you on sitting tight. While they led the league in goals last year, I don’t think the Freedom were so much better than everyone else that they could maintain the status quo and hold their edge. Maybe the few moves they made will be enough but they just don’t seem to measure up when you look at what everyone else did.
I had actually forgotten about Dobratz and didn’t notice she failed to make the preseason roster. I have no idea why she isn’t hear but as soon as I hear something I will make sure to post something about it.
Gabarra responded to my question about Dobratz – she decided to finish school and therefore won’t be available until May 10 (which was what I was hoping was the reason, rather than an injury or other problem).
Thanks for finding that out – interesting that she has decided to follow the Sarah Senty path to WPS playing time. Given how crazy things were last year by May, she may have a better shot at making the full roster then than she does now.
No love for Welsh? Wow — harsh.
I wouldn’t say no love for Welsh but when you already have Wambach and Lisa De Vanna and add a young, talented forward in Lene Myjkaland, you have to wonder how much of an impact, and how much playing time, Welsh will really have.
But then again, one injury changes the entire situation…
Jen Grubb’s been cut by Sky Blue, something I have mixed feelings about. (It would be great to have her playing again, but only for the Freedom – the alternative would be akin to Cal Ripken in Yankee pinstripes.)