Injuries, new schedule offer challenges for Washington Freedom

By Joe Dougherty

The Washington Freedom got a tough break – literally and figuratively – with the loss of Australian forward Lisa De Vanna, who broke her leg late last month competing for her country is the Asia Cup.

But the club has some good news to go with the bad, in the form of goalkeeper Ashlyn Harris, who joins the Freedom after playing for the now-defunct Saint Louis Athletica.

“She is a really good young goalkeeper,” Freedom Coach Jim Gabarra told the Potomac Soccer Wire just before the team boarded its plane for San Francisco to take on the FC Gold Pride Saturday. “She knows how to win championships. It made sense to pursue a player like this immediately.”

The 2009 University of North Carolina graduate started 25 of 27 games for the Tarheels in her senior season, posting a record of 23-3-1 on the year while playing 2,163 minutes.  She made 45 saves and had the second-best shutout percentage in the nation (0.704) and was the third best in the nation in goals against average (0.416) as the Tar Heels captured the national championship.

Harris was the number 19 overall pick in the 2010 WPS draft by Athletica.

To make room for Harris, Washington waived goalkeeper Mary Casey. The club now boasts former U.S. National Team goalkeeper Briana Scurry, Canadian National Team goalkeeper Erin McCleod, and Harris. The latter is scheduled to arrive in Washington D.C. Saturday and will remain at home to train with goalkeeper coach Nicci Wright.

“Ashley now gives us three very good goalkeepers. They’ll battle it out and we’ll see who the best one is,” Gabarra said.

Meanwhile, De Vanna has been placed on injured reserve.

Injuries and a new face aren’t the only changes for Washington. With the loss of the financially strapped St. Louis franchise, WPS officials were forced to overhaul the rest of the league schedule for 2010. The new schedule makes it somewhat more difficult for the Freedom, which will play three games over a one-week period twice before the end of the season.

July is particularly difficult for Washington. After hosting Chicago Red Star on July 4, the Freedom travel to New Jersey to play Sky Blue FC on July 7, then head west to face FC Gold Pride on July 11. The club then heads to Boston to face the Breakers on July 18 before hosting FC Gold Pride on July 24.

Washington is back on the road July 28, when they play the Atlanta Beat, then back to Boston to face the Breakers July 31 before hosting Philadelphia August 4 at the Maryland SoccerPlex.

“July is going to be really tough,” Gabarra said.

According to the league, the revised schedule took into account the six previously completed games that included Saint Louis, which will continue to count in the standings for those six WPS teams. Sky Blue FC were the only team to lose one home game as a result of the revised schedule, and will now play 11 home games throughout the course of the 2010 season.

Athletica have been officially removed from the league standings and the national television game on June 20 that was to be hosted in St. Louis has been canceled. The four-team WPS Playoffs will remain during the regularly-scheduled week of September 19-26.

While the Freedom strengthened their goalkeeper position, FC Gold dramatically improved its central midfield with the arrival of U.S. National Team player Shannon Boxx from Athletica.

"We\'re very excited to have Shannon join the Pride," said FC Gold Pride Head Coach Albertin Montoya. "She is one of the best midfielders in the world.  Her experience, leadership and skills are invaluable. She has all of the qualities we\'re looking for in a player, I know she\'ll fit in very well with the Pride."

The California native, who is expected to arrive in the Bay Area in time for the match against the Freedom, will join former Los Angeles Sol teammates Camille Abily,  Marta, and Brittany Cameron. Boxx, a 2009 WPS All-Star, appeared in 19 matches, scoring three goals and making three assists for regular season champion Los Angeles Sol.

Washington enters the match on a five-game unbeaten streak, including wins over Athletica (3-1), Atlanta Beat (2-0) and Philadelphia Independence (2-1) and ties against the Boston Breakers (0-0) and the Canadian National Team (3-3).

“I think we’re doing a good job of adjusting to the challenges of the injuries and missing players due to World Cup qualifying,” Gabarra said. “The players have done well to maintain their focus and standards.

“It’s great whenever you string together a bunch of undefeated games,” he said. “We feel good about the way we’re playing.”