Second half effort keeps playoff hopes alive for Washington Freedom

By Joe Dougherty

In a 24-game season, it’s obvious to say every game matters. Yet sometimes, some games matter more than others.

Such was the case on a beautiful late summer evening at the Maryland SoccerPlex Thursday, where the Washington Freedom beat the Chicago Red Stars, 2-0, in a game that truly mattered. And for a number of reasons.

First, Washington won a game it needed to win. Behind second half goals from Abby Wambach and Cat Whitehill, Washington earned a crucial three points to move the team into sole possession of the fourth and final playoff spot for WPS post-season play. With three of its last four regular season games at home, including last night’s win, Washington needs every point it can muster to extend its season.

Second, it extended the Freedom’s unbeaten streak to four games, a run that has kept the club in the playoff hunt after it lost five straight. It’s also the team’s third shutout in four games.

Third, the win will take some pressure off of Freedom Coach Jim Gabarra, whose position was in jeopardy following the five-game losing streak. With his side playing better and winning games, Gabarra is less likely to suffer the fate of former Atlanta Beat Coach Gareth O’Sullivan, who was fired by the first-year club earlier this month.

“Tonight was a huge win for us,” said Wambach, whose left-footed shot from 18 yards in the 48th minute proved to be the game-winner. “You always want to be peaking towards the end of the season, but you have to make the playoffs in order to make the actual peak worth it.”

The match was similarly critical for Chicago, which entered the game just a point behind Washington for the last playoff spot. And for the first 45 minutes, Chicago was the better team.

Behind outstanding midfield play from Megan Rapinoe, Formiga and Christiane, Chicago maintained much of the possession in the first half, and tested Freedom goalkeeper Ashlyn Harris on numerous occasions.

After an impressive build-up, Christiane swerved a low shot toward the right post that Harris saved with a last-moment dive. Six minutes later, Rapinoe’s shot on frame from 25 yards was saved by Harris. And in perhaps the best attack of the night for the Red Stars, Casey Nogueira found Ella Masar with a perfectly timed through pass, but Harris came off her line to snuff Masar before she could shoot.

To add insult to injury, as Masar was getting up after nearly sliding into the net herself, Harris gave the Chicago forward a frown as if to say, “This is my box, thank you very much.”

"Every time I step on the field, it\'s business," said Harris, who faced eight shots and made five saves.

"We feel very secure with her in there," said Gabarra, who lost starter Erin McLeod last month in a 4-1 loss to FC Gold Pride. "She\'s very quick off her line and she\'s caught everything that\'s been in her six, and even under pressure, she\'s made saves when she\'s had to. You can’t ask anything more from a goalkeeper than to make the one important save in a game that will help you win.”

Given the importance of the game to Washington, Chicago’s possession in the first half was not the gameplan for Gabarra.

“Chicago was clearly the better team in the first half,” he said. “We managed to survive the first half. We asked [our players] to battle harder and string some passes together [in the second half]. The first half was pretty ugly, but we held strong and didn\'t bend.”

Wambach credited Gabarra with sparking the second half rally, "We were asleep in the first half. Jim came into the locker room and he provided us with a little bit of energy. He was great. He sparked us. I think at the end of the day, we can\'t have performances like our first half, but I credit him.”

Washington opened the second half with a change in the midfield, with holding midfielder Brittany Bock replacing Homare Sawa.

But it was midfielder Sarah Huffman who made the difference early, chasing down a number of Chicago midfielders and showing defensive pressure that missing in the Freedom midfield throughout the first half.

It was just another night’s work for Huffman, whose pressure and slide tackling disrupted Chicago’s attacking flow.

"We weren\'t setting the tone, and we needed to set the tone. I think that all of us were willing to step up. If I\'m the one who has to make the first tackle, that\'s what I\'m going to do,” Huffman said.

It was Huffman’s offensive prowess, however, that may have made the difference.

Just a few minutes into the second half, Huffman played the ball into the feet of Wambach, who checked back into space to receive the ball. Doing what a good midfielder is taught to do, she made her pass then made a run, this time a diagonal charge into the penalty area that drew a Chicago defender. Wambach faked to her right, went left into the space vacated by Huffman, then fired a low, hard shot that deflected off Chicago defender Whitney Engen and slipped inside the left post for a 1-0 Freedom lead.

Red Stars goalkeeper Jillian Loyden had starting to her left when the ball deflected to her right, leaving her helpless to stop the shot.

“I just put my head down, and I was in complete shooting mode,” Wambach said.

Gabarra said he considered making more changes in the midfield, and planned to give Huffman, Allie Long or Anita Asante 10 minutes in the second half to show they “had the legs” to make it through the the rest of the match.

“[Huffman] always finds a reserve,” Gabarra said. “She has a huge engine and a huge heart.”

Six minutes after the first, it was central defender Cat Whitehill who gave Washington a two-goal cushion, courtesy of a Huffman corner kick delivered to the national team defender 10 yards from the near post. Whitehill’s header deflected off the post and into the net, leaving Christiane – who had nearly started a Greco-Roman wrestling match with Whitehill to win position in the box – shaking her head wondering what happened.

Whitehill, who usually makes the near-post run to draw defenders away from Wambach, said she had extra incentive after Emma Hayes said the near-post run may pay dividends against Chicago. Whitehill said Hayes, the former Red Stars coach who was brought in earlier this month as a consultant to Gabarra, was spot on.

“Usually I\'m a dummy run for Abby, because you know, Abby\'s the best in the world [at heading] so I want to clear out some space,” Whitehill said. “If it comes my way I\'ll be ready and this time I was ready.”

Washington nearly extended the lead to three goals later in the half. In the 63rd minute, Whitehill’s looping header dinked off the post and out, and Huffman’s breakaway after a clever dummy run by Wambach resulted in a sliding shot that just missed wide in the 68th minute.

Washington’s defense gave up few chances to Chicago, which seemed deflated after the second goal.

After playing four games in the last 15 days, the Freedom get a week-long break before hosting Sky Blue FC at the Maryland SoccerPlex Aug. 28.