By StarCityFan
[Note from Jim: My apologies once again to StarCityFan, who submitted this to me before the Boston match but because I have been traveling didn't get around to posting until today.]
To those of us who have been Freedom fans since 2001, there’s something special about the original players from the WUSA era. Mystique, aura, frisson, whatever you want to call it, what hangs about them is that these were the first female professional soccer players in American history. They’re pioneers, even if the pioneers were eventually let down by the organizers and management of the league that made them pioneers to start with.
What I’m trying to get at is why I and a bunch of other old-school Freedom fans would take a day off work, travel to the SoccerPlex, and hang outside to watch a meaningless soccer match on a day ridiculously hot and miserable even by the standards of this benighted summer filled with hot and miserable days.
Anyhow, the Freedom announced early in the week that on Friday, July 23, at 4:30 p.m., Washington Freedom Alumni from the WUSA era would take on members of the Montgomery County Police Department in a charity match to raise money for a fund memorializing the family of one of their police officers (Details here for those wanting to know the particulars).
As soon as it was announced, I knew I had to be there. Friend and fellow Freedom Fighter Syed – whom I regularly deliver to the SoccerPlex for WPS matches – felt the same way. We actually arrived almost two hours early, in the hopes of getting a chance to hobnob with our heroines before the match. We made our way first to the site of the match, Field 12, which is immediately behind the Discovery Sports Center, that large building next to the stadium field. I noted that they’d be playing on a short field, the goals lined up across the width of the full field. Staff and interns were still working on setting up. We helped them and chatted with them a little bit, but then retreated to the air conditioned building, eventually finding seating just outside the dressing rooms while we waited for some old familiar faces to show up (That probably sounds kind of stalkerish, but it’s not as if we were lurking in some side corridor – the dressing rooms are right next to the main hallway of the facility).
Cat Whitehill and Abby Wambach were the first to show, I think, and we waved to them. Coaches Jim Gabarra and Nicci Wright went back and forth a couple of times. Eventually a small group of “classic” players wandered by with uniforms in hand: Carrie Moore, Casey Zimny, and Jacqui and Skylar Little, at least (I’ll refer to the players by their maiden names for now to ease confusion). One of the twins pointed at us and said, “And that’s who we’re here for!” They said hello briefly and went into the women’s dressing room.
Sarah Kate Noftsinger showed up down the hall, but then took a call on her cellphone and headed back in the other direction. Jennifer Grubb came through and had to be pointed to the correct room. Mia Hamm wandered by with her little girls in tow, then dropped them off in a small group of people talking with each other before heading back out front. It took me until that moment to realize that the good-looking guy talking with Jim and Cat had to be Mia’s husband, Nomar Garciaparra (What can I say? I’m not much of a baseball fan).
Most of them came out of the dressing room after a bit. They were all wearing WPS-style uniforms but with their classic numbers, except Skate, who for some reason was No. 1 instead of her traditional No. 12. We applauded as they headed down to the field, then followed them, watching as they warmed up. The magic of the afternoon might have been summarized by a short video clip that unfortunately I accidentally deleted: I was taping the players getting some water after warming up when I heard some familiar voices behind me. I turned the camera around to focus on Abby Wambach and Sarah Huffman chatting with diehard fans Stuart and Charlotte (who sit in the first two on-field seats). Some seconds on, Mia Hamm comes down the hill behind them with one daughter holding each hand. She proceeds to the field, leaving the girls with Nomar at the bottom of the hill, and heads out to warm up herself.
I think the starting lineup consisted of Mia Hamm, Sarah Kate Noftsinger, Jennifer Grubb, Carrie Moore, and Skylar Little, with Nicci Wright in goal. But it was pretty much open substitution, even during the run of play, so it was hard to keep track. Mia and Jacqui Little traded off on a regular basis, as did Emmy Barr, Carrie, and Skylar among the defenders.
The Freedom earned a corner kick pretty much off the opening kickoff, but nothing came of it. The MoCo team seemed determined to test Nicci from long-range and kept trying to send shots her way, most of which went way, way over the goal. They eventually settled down and sent a low cross right in front of goal that looked dangerous until a Freedom defender got there first and cleared it.
Jen Grubb looked rusty in the sixth minute when she kicked a ball then went up to about her head level and out about three yards, then had so much backspin on it that it rolled right back to her. Her second attempt at a feed was much more successful. Mia took a shot shortly thereafter that slipped just wide left, then they attempted a cross that the cops defended well and got out of danger.
The police struck the first blow in the eighth minute as one of them sent in a long low shot from about 20 yards out from the left post that slipped by in front of Nicci, bounced off the inside of the right post, and went into the left side netting. That just seemed to make the WUSAers more determined, and they gradually stepped up their level of play until they were dominating possession.
In the 11th minute, Jacqui Little sent in a beautiful cross from the left flank, but the shot went just barely wide right. A minute later, Mia had some space in front of goal and was fed the ball from the right end line. This time she carefully slipped it inside the right post, then turned around and feigned a hamstring injury.
In the 15th minute, Casey Zimny fired a ball in that the opposing goalkeeper had to make a quick reaction save on. A minute later, a Freedom shot went off the right post, then after a good buildup another shot went wide left.
Nicci Wright had a big save of her own as the MoCo team put on some pressure, first another dangerous cross that was cleared but the County got possession back and got off a shot that Nicci had to grab.
In the 17th minute, Mia scored again after a succession of right-left-right crosses, finally getting a good feed from Skate that she put away. Nicci made another big save shortly thereafter, prompting the fans in attendance to burst into a spontaneous (and really bad) rendition of “Oh, Canada.” With time running out in the 20-minute first half, the cops knocked another shot off the left post.
The players gathered the water cooler and then around Jim Gabarra, who told them, “You’ve still got it – maybe not as fast, but you’ve still got it.” Amanda Cromwell, another veteran, also joined them – judging by the bench conversation, she’d misunderstood the start time.
After a few minutes, I made my way over to the “celebrity” tent, where the WPS players in attendance were hanging out. I said hello to Huffy, Becky Sauerbrunn, Erin McLeod and Christie Welsh. After a couple of minutes, General Manager Mark Washo came over to bring out one of the celebrities in attendance, and as he walked back to the field with her I realized to my chagrin that I had walked right past Marta without realizing it. He introduced her, and then she went to the sidelines to make herself available for photographs. There was a tennis-ball toss and a few other halftime events, then the game resumed with Cat Whitehill taking over the announcer’s microphone.
The Freedom continued putting on the pressure, with multiple shots in the first few minutes, but no goals. Most notably, Carrie Moore stole the ball from a MoCo defender and came in on goal with only the keeper to beat but shot it way high. I shouted, “No wonder you’re a defender!” Cat responded – over the loudspeaker – “I heard that!”
Carrie was fouled in the 25th minute for the only disciplinary whistle of the match. We fans shouted for a card just to be obnoxious. The MoCo goalkeeper made another big save shortly thereafter, then the scoring resumed in the 27th as Skate managed to knock a long shot from the left past him and in.
In the 28th minute, Mia looked in good position to send in a nice cross but completely botched it. I reflexively shouted, “What was that?” She turned to me and said something slightly rueful along the lines about she would have done a lot better 10 years ago. I concurred.
Carrie redeemed herself in the 29th minute by scoring from slightly closer in than her previous attempt. Jacqui had an easy putaway a minute later after Mia smoked her defender to get a nice, clean, low cross off. Carrie’s fellow defender Skylar had her moment of ignominy as a cop cross from the right bounced off of her and went in for an own goal.
Play stopped briefly in the 32nd minute as a MoCo player slipped and fell, but was quickly restarted with a dropped ball after it was clear he was okay.
Skylar redeemed herself in the 33rd minute, slipping a ball just barely inside the left post and out of the goalkeeper’s reach, belying my insinuation that defenders can’t aim. Jennifer Grubb closed out the scoring in the 38th minute with a shot from about the top of the box and directly out from goal.
As we entered stoppage time, goalkeeper Nicci Wright claimed a County ball coming in from the left, dropped it at her feet, and took off at high speed for the opposing team’s goal. Much to both her and our disappointment, though, the whistle blew before she even reached midfield. The final score, by my reckoning, was 7-2 (I know it’s generally been reported as 8-2, but I watched the replay of my own video and only counted seven). For those who want to see all or part of the game, I’ve put the first half online at Vimeo. I haven’t had the chance to upload the high-scoring second-half yet, but once I do, I’ll add a comment pointing to it below.
The celebration of the Freedom veterans continued the following evening as they were all invited to watch the WPS match that evening and were introduced to the crowd at halftime. And, just for the record, here are their new last names:
Emmy Barr – Giannoni
Jacqui Little – Rimando (married to the former DC United goalkeeper)
Skylar Little – Meinhardt
Carrie Moore – O’Keeffe
Lindsay Stoecker – Gerardo (showed up for the WPS match but did not participate Friday)
Meredith Beard (née Florance, but she was already Beard when she played for the Freedom) was also at the WPS match only. Amy Gray’s name was announced, but she was not in attendance.
The capper on it all though, was the long-awaited announcement that the next member of the Hall of Freedom was WUSA captain and ironwoman Jennifer Grubb. Our host here on this blog can assure you that when he worked for the Freedom I gave him no end of grief on what I considered an egregious snubbing of Captain Grubb. So I was delighted when that was finally remedied.
And to close I will just note that on a 100-degree day with miserable humidity one player and one player only stayed on the field the whole time: Jennifer Grubb, ironwoman to the end.
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