Bompastor returns to lead comeback for Washington Freedom

By Joe Dougherty, Potomac Soccer Wire Staff Writer

When asked if he is going to start taking a daily aspirin, Washington Freedom Coach Jim Gabarra just laughed it off. Somewhat nervously, though. And why not, after his team gave him yet another heart-stopping finish by scoring two late second-half goals to tie St. Louis Athletica, 3-3 Sunday at the rainy Maryland SoccerPlex.

Midfielder-forward Sonia Bompastor – whose work rate has her in just about every position throughout a game – netted two header goals, including the tying score in the 90th minute, to turn what appeared to be a second straight home loss into a welcomed point for Washington (1-2-2, 5 points).

“You never expect to score three goals from headers and not have Abby [Wambach] score one of them,” said Gabarra.

The result followed last week’s stunning 4-3 win over FC Gold Pride in which Wambach scored in injury time after Washington lost a 3-1 lead.

While former Washington Freedom stars Mia Hamm and Siri Mullinex were honored at halftime yesterday, the game belonged to the diminutive Bompastor, who at 5-4 was among the smallest players on the field. But that didn’t stop the French National Team midfielder from nodding in two headers: the first on a precise cross from outside right back Jill Gilbeau in the 29th minute to tie the game at 1-1, and the second coming from a well-placed looping header over the outstretched arms of Athletica goalkeeper Hope Solo.

The latter came as Washington dominated possession in the closing 10 minutes. Freedom defender Cat Whitehill – whose free kicks seemingly travel a country mile – sent a deep free kick into the St. Louis penalty area. The ball bounced off of an Athletica defender and into the path of Bompastor, who out jumped two taller opponents to earn the game winner.

“Sonia carried us today,” said Wambach, who admitted to barely understanding her French teammate on the field. “She put us on her back and carried us.”

Gabarra, who initially drafted Bompastor as an outside left back, said moving her forward has become a necessity. “I’d like to have three [Sonia’s] to play left back, left midfield and up front,” he said.

St. Louis (0-2-2, 2 points), scoreless in its first three games of the season, scored its first goal in the 10th minute when Daniela fired a low shot into the corner after teammate Melissa Tancredi’s initial shot was blocked. The goal allowed the Brazilian star to showcase a little Samba dancing with her teammates as St. Louis ended its goalless drought.

Both teams continued to attack in a wide-open game that provided plenty of evidence for the 5,149 in attendance – plus the Fox Soccer Channel viewers – that more than one goal would be scored on the night.

The next tally was the result of Gilbeau’s bending service from along the right sideline that found Bompastor right at the penalty spot. Her flicked header slipped past Solo at the left post.

The assist supports Gabarra’s recent decision to start Gilbeau in place of defender Emily Janss, hoping the Texas native would get forward more often and provide the type of service that Wambach and the rest of the front line needed.

“[Jill] has some more maturing to do, but I thought she did well,” Gabarra said. “The way to beat this team was get our outside defenders forward.”

It was one of a number of crosses sent in by Gilbeau that had the St. Louis defense unsettled.

“Especially in the last 30 minutes, they were really flying balls in there,” said Athletica midfielder Lori Chalupny, who was moved to outside right back in the second half to help shut down Bompastor. “It was giving us a lot of trouble. It was the difference tonight.”

In the closing minutes of the first half, St. Louis recaptured the lead on a superb finish from Daniela. After collecting the ball about 30 yards from the Freedom goal, she feinted right, touched it left and ripped a 25-yard blast that beat goalkeeper Katie Jo Spisak inside the far post.

“What can I say,” Spisak said later. “How could she do that with a defender right on her? It was a great goal. Side netting.”

St. Louis appeared to put the game away in the 69th minute when Kerri Hanks served a perfect bending through pass into the path of speedy forward Eniola Aluko. The England native outran the Freedom back line and tucked a low shot into the left corner from 17 yards to give her side a 3-1 lead. The increasingly heavy rain seemed to reflect Freedom’s outlook.

Until the 79th minute, anyway, when Wambach’s cross to the far post was nodded in by forward Lisa De Vanna, closing the gap to 3-2 and set up Bompastor’s dramatic finish.

The Freedom travel to Boston on May 17 before hosting Sky Blue FC (New York/New Jersey) on May 23 (Memorial Day Weekend) and FC Gold Pride (San Francisco Bay Area) on May 31.
 

Freedom Notes

The game was arguably Washington’s most physical of the game. St. Louis defenders Tina Ellertson and Kia Macneill spent much of the night hammering away at Wambach, including two body charges that sent the solid 5-11 Wambach flying to the turf without a foul called.

But the most controversial call of the night involved Wambach’s hard tackle on Daniela immediately after the kickoff following De Vann’s goal. Daniela’s first touch got away from her a bit, and Wambach charged in and tackled the Brazilian hard. Wambach was shown a yellow card as Daniela was removed from the field and later taken to the hospital with an apparent knee injury. Because of the nature of the two-footed tackle by Wambach, a red card could have been justifiable…

The Freedom’s Joanna Lohman, Allie Long and Erin McLeod played with St. Louis’ Sheree Gray at Penn State…

Former UNC and U.S. National Team teammates Whitehill and Chalupny faced off against each other for the first time this season. Both won an NCAA title with the Tar Heels in 2003.

Washington’s Becky Sauerbrunn and Spisak both grew up and played high school soccer in St. Louis…

After going scoreless in her first three games, Wambach has two goals and two assists in her last two. She was honored as WPS Player of the Week for her two-goal, one assist performance in the win over FC Gold Pride…

Perhaps Bompastor can attribute some of her form to her recent action with the French National Team. The French played two games against Switzerland last week as part of UEFA qualifying. France won both games with Bompastor’s stoppage time goal on Saturday in the 1-0 win.