Boxscore (all statistics contained in this boxscore are unofficial)

WASHINGTON D.C. (May 23, 2009) – The Washington Freedom claimed a 2-1 victory over Sky Blue FC at RFK Stadium in Washington D.C. 

Cat Whitehill and Lisa De Vanna both scored as the Freedom connected twice in the final 10 minutes of the opening half.  Sky Blue FC's Rosana scored her first goal of the season for Sky Blue midway through the second half.

Sky Blue FC played the game without four starters with Christie Rampone and Heather O'Reilly (United States) and Kelly Parker (Canada) away for national team duty. In addition, Sarah Walsh was out with a hamstring injury. The Freedom were without striker Abby Wambach, who was also with the US Women's National Team.

Sky Blue FC had the better chances in the early going, but the Freedom took over as the opening half came to a close. In the eighth minute, Rosana made a nice move along the left sideline before crossing the ball to Kacey White in the box. White brought the ball down before striking a left-footed shot that was saved by Freedom keeper Erin McLeod.

Washington broke through in the 35th minute after earning a corner kick on the right side. Sonia Bompastor whipped the ball into the box and Whitehill met the ball at the near post and flicked the ball into the goal.

Washington continued to attack and in the 40th minute as De Vanna tried to sneak one in at the near post but missed wide. One minute later, Rebecca Moros had a goal disallowed after she received the final pass in an offside position.

The Freedom doubled the lead in the 43rd minute on a nice individual effort by De Vanna, who took advantage of a Sky Blue FC misplay and carried into the box from 40 yards out. After fending off the challenge of defender Keeley Dowling, the Australian striker rolled a shot inside the right post from 12 yards out.

Sky Blue FC came out strong in the second half and could’ve struck early on if not for a few great interventions from McLeod.

In the 47th minute, a nice combination between Kacey White and Natasha Kai left White behind in the left corner. White’s cross was deflected to the near post and McLeod had to tip the ball over the left post. On the following corner kick, Rosana snapped a header off the Collette McCallum serve but McLeod made a top-class diving save near the right post to parry the chance away.

Sky Blue FC finally broke through in the 66th minute on a play started by Jen Buczkowski on the right side of the midfield. She played a pass forward to the feet of Kai, who controlled the ball before slipping a perfect splitting ball behind for Rosana. The Brazilian midfielder was in alone and she slotted an easy finish into the lower right corner from 12 yards out.

Sky Blue FC announced prior to the start of today's match that Ian Sawyers has been indefinitely suspended from his duties as General Manager and Head Coach. Lindsey, formerly the top assistant, served as interim head coach in his place.

With the win, Washington improves to 2-2-3 while Sky Blue FC drops to 1-4-2. 

Washington Freedom's next match will be on Sunday, May 31st against FC Gold Pride at Maryland SoccerPlex in Germantown, MD at 4pm ET.  Sky Blue FC will meet the Boston Breakers on Sunday, May 31st, as they return home to Yurcak Field in Piscataway, NJ for a WPS Sunday on FSC televised match 6pm ET / 3pm PT. 

Boxscore (all statistics contained in this boxscore are unofficial)

POST-GAME QUOTES

Sky Blue FC Interim Head Coach Kelly Lindsey

ON THE FINAL MINUTES OF THE GAME

It felt good - our team did well, our bench was up, the fans were into it. I thought there were a lot of goal scoring opportunities and there were some dangerous moments and I think everyone enjoyed the last 15-20 minutes of the game.

ON ERIN MCLEOD

McLeod and her defense stopped maybe two shots off the line. I thought she had a great game but it was something we were looking at to try and take advantage of with only two games under her belt. I really thought she came out like a true professional.

ON PLAYING HOME NEXT WEEK

We are so excited to be home and play in front of our New Jersey fans. It will be great for the girls to sleep in their own beds at night before a game and it’ll be great to get started at Rutgers and have some home games.

Noelle Keselica

ON MAKING HER WPS DEBUT CLOSE TO HOME

It’s incredible having my family and friends here being able to watch me.

ON TODAY’S MATCH

I think our team fought well in the second half and I think we were battling so hard at the end that we thought we would have pulled a win or a tie. 

Washington Freedom Head Coach Jim Gabarra 

On the first goal
 
“We’ve probably had a lot of corners; we hadn’t scored on any corner kicks so eventually the numbers game plays into that. I think Cat made a great run and Sonia’s been great with her serve.”
 
On the second goal
 
“They were a little tired and beat in the back and they were losing the ball, they weren’t having good touches. I actually yelled to Lisa, ‘come on, you’ve got to work’ and she stepped and pressed [the Sky Blue defense] and stole the ball and went on a breakaway and finished it nicely.”