The 2009 season is Washington Freedom's first season competing in the Women's Professional Soccer league, the top division of women's soccer in the United States, and seventh competitive season. The team was coached by Jim Gabarra who has led the team since its founding in 2001.
Review In January 2008, Washington was selected as one of the seven cities to launch Women’s Professional Soccer in spring 2009. The WPS would be the next iteration of a women’s professional league since the WUSA folded in 2003.
The Washington Freedom had been competing in the W-League since 2006, would begin the Washington franchise to field a WSP team. Still led by head coach Jim Gabarra, the coaching staff stayed intact transitioning to the new league. The initial player allocation aimed to keep players in preferred locations and best marketing potential, with the Freedom getting Abby Wambach, Cat Whitehill, and Ali Krieger (on loan from FFC Frankfurt).
The Freedom played in the league’s inaugural match on March 29, 2009, against Los Angeles Sol before a crowd of 14,382. They lost the match, 2–0, and struggled for the first three weeks. The Freedom picked up their first win of the WPS era back in California, beating FC Gold Pride, 3–4, thanks to a 90th-minute goal from Abby Wambach.
The season continued to be an up and down one with a strong run through June (going undefeated through 8 matches) followed by three consecutive losses. Winning four of their last five, the Freedom finished their first WPS regular season in 3rd place, earning their first playoff appearance.
The first round playoff match was a rematch of the last week of the season, where the Freedom defeated Sky Blue FC at home 3–1. Sky Blue would get revenge winning 2–1 at the Maryland SoccerPlex, thanks to an 85th-minute goal from Francielle.
Club
Roster The first-team roster of Washington Freedom.
Team management 2009 coaching staff Position Name Nationality Head coach Jim Gabarra Assistant coach Clyde Watson Goalkeeper coach Nicci Wright
Competition
Regular season
Regular-season standings
WPS playoffs The Freedom finished 3rd in the table earning a place in the WPS Playoffs in a First Round match up versus 4th place Sky Blue FC. Despite having defeated Sky Blue on the final day of the regular season, the Freedom dropped the First Round match at home after conceding a late goal to Francielle.
Statistics
|colspan="10"|Defenders:
|colspan="10"|Midfielders:
|colspan="10"|Forwards:
Goalkeepers
PlayerWomen's Professional Soccer1 Briana Scurry 3 3 270 0 2 1 6 1.97 0 18 Erin McLeod 14 14 1260 6 5 3 20 1.41 3 23 Nicci Wright 1 0 26 1 0 0 0 0.00 1 61 Kati Jo Spisak 3 3 244 1 0 1 6 2.18 1
Honors and awards
Player of the Week
WeekPlayer of the WeekWeek's StatlineWeek 5 Abby Wambach2 G (18', 90') GWG, 1 A (51')Week 6 Sonia Bompastor2 G (29', 90')Week 13 Erin McLeod7 SVS, SHOWeek 18 Abby Wambach2 G (35', 56')Week 20 Abby Wambach1 A (58'), 2 G (20', 49')
Player of the Month
MonthPlayer of the MonthMonth's StatlineMay Sonia Bompastor2 G, 3 A in 4 games; Freedom 2–0–2 in MayJuly Abby Wambach4 G, 1 A in 5 games; Freedom 3–2–1 in July
Transfers As part of the inaugural season, each of the league’s seven teams went through several mechanisms for player acquisitions to fill out their rosters. These included: WPS Player Allocation – allocation of existing US national team players across the league International Draft – draft of international players across the league General Draft – draft of existing professional players not active with their respective national teams Draft – inaugural college draft
In DatePlayerNumberPositionPrevious clubFee/notesSeptember 16, 2008 Cat Whitehill 4 DF New Jersey Wildcats WPS Player Allocation Abby Wambach 20 FW Washington Freedom (W-League) WPS Player Allocation Ali Krieger DF 1. FFC Frankfurt WPS Player Allocation; loan from JuneSeptember 24, 2008 Sonia Bompastor 8 MF Lyon WPS International Draft Homare Sawa 10 MF Nippon TV Beleza WPS International Draft Lisa De Vanna 17 FW AIK WPS International Draft Louisa Necib MF Lyon WPS International DraftOctober 6, 2008 Lori Lindsey 6 MF Washington Freedom (W-League) WPS General Draft Emily Janss 11 DF Fortuna Hjørring WPS General Draft Sarah Huffman 14 MF Røa IL WPS General Draft Becky Sauerbrunn 22 DF Washington Freedom (W-League) WPS General DraftJanuary 16, 2009 Briana Scurry 1 GK Atlanta Beat WPS Draft Jill Gilbeau 3 MF Washington Freedom (W-League) WPS Draft Parrissa Eyorokon 7 MF Purdue University WPS Draft Allie Long 9 MF University of North Carolina WPS Draft Rebecca Moros 19 MF Washington Freedom (W-League) WPS Draft Alex Singer 21 DF Washington Freedom (W-League) WPS Draft Christen Karniski 24 DF Bälinge IF WPS Draft Clair Zimmeck 25 FW Richmond Strikers WPS Draft Kati Jo Spisak 61 GK Washington Freedom (W-League) WPS Draft Sarah Senty DF Washington Freedom (W-League) WPS DraftMarch 26, 2009 Madison Keller 26 MF Washington Freedom (W-League) Free AgentApril 16, 2009 Erin McLeod 18 GK Vancouver Whitecaps Post International Draft Kristin DeDycker 15 MF Atlanta Beat Free Agent
Out
References