BOYDS, MD. (August 15, 2009) – Despite being just three games into her coaching career, Christie Rampone seems to be catching on fast. The Sky Blue FC Interim Player/Coach, as well as captain and central defender, made some interesting moves against the Washington Freedom in the first round of the WPS Playoffs and they played out perfectly.

Natasha Kai and Francielle both came off the bench to score goals as Sky Blue FC claimed a dramatic 2-1 victory over the Freedom at the Maryland SoccerPlex. Francielle’s game-winning goal came in the 84th minute as Sky Blue FC advanced to face Saint Louis Athletica in the WPS Super Semifinal on Wednesday night.

Among the changes Rampone made to the lineup, the key moves were bringing Kai off the bench and giving the seldom-used Francielle a shot to play. Sky Blue FC's leading scorer, Kai came into the game in the 54th minute and immediately made Rampone look like a genius by hitting the back of the net 45 seconds after checking in to open the scoring.

Francielle – acquired from Saint Louis in a midseason trade – had appeared in just one game with Sky Blue FC since joining the team. Besides scoring the winning goal, the Brazilian midfielder came off the bench against the Freedom and helped change the game by becoming a settling presence in the center of the Sky Blue FC formation.

“Tash has been struggling with her shoulders and I thought a good 45 from her would be better than a soft 90 especially with the heat and the 4 o’clock game,” Rampone said. “Fran has been doing an exceptional job at practice. She defends well and I thought that she could sit in front of us and change the point with simple passes. She was a key player for us tonight.”

With a 4 p.m. kickoff, the game was played in stifling 92-degree heat and that slowed the pace noticeably. Washington scored nine goals in the three regular-season matches with Sky Blue FC but only managed one in the playoff game – a 78th minute finish by Lisa De Vanna off a rebound after Sky Blue FC keeper Jenni Branam had collided with Abby Wambach on a through ball in the box.

Sky Blue FC held the upper hand in the first half with a 14-5 advantage in shots. Rosana had a great chance in the seventh minute but volleyed right at Freedom keeper Erin McLeod. In the 21st minute, McLeod charged out to block a chance by Kerri Hanks, who started in place of Kai up front.

In the second half, Washington started well as Ali Krieger hit a great chance over from close range off a perfect cross from De Vanna less than two minutes in.

Kai’s opening goal in the 55th minute started with a serve into the box from Keeley Dowling to Kacey White, who popped the ball into the air over a defender. Kai snuck in from behind and knocked the ball down before finishing a left-footed shot from inside the six.

The Freedom started to turn things around after Sky Blue FC took the lead. Wambach shot right at Branam in the 61st minute and then Branam made a key save seven minutes later, tipping a blast by Krieger off the crossbar.

The Freedom goal came in the 78th minute off a long ball played forward into the box. Branam charged off her line to box the ball and collided into Wambach in the process. The loose ball went right to De Vanna and the Australian striker nailed a shot just under the crossbar to tie the score at 1-1.

The game-winner was the product of some individual brilliance by Francielle, who received a pass from Yael Averbuch on the left side. She carried toward the center and froze a defender with a move off the dribble before unleashing a low shot from 20 yards that nicked off the fingertips of McLeod and into the lower right corner.

Sky Blue FC will travel directly to St. Louis to prepare for the WPS Super Semifinal at the Anheuser-Busch Soccer Park in Fenton, Mo. The matchup with Athletica will be televised live on Fox Soccer Channel on Wednesday night at 7 p.m. ET. The WPS Championship presented by MedImmune will be hosted by the Los Angeles Sol on Saturday, August 22 at 4 p.m. ET at the Home Depot Center in Carson, Calif.

August 15, 2009 – Maryland SoccerPlex	1	2	-	F
Sky Blue FC	0	2	-	2
Washington Freedom	0	1	-	1

Lineups:
Sky Blue FC: Jenni Branam; Jen Buczkowski, Keeley Dowling, Meghan Schnur, Christie Rampone; Yael Averbuch, Collette McCallum (Francielle 61'), Heather O'Reilly, Kacey White (Kelly Parker 71'); Rosana, Kerri Hanks (Natasha Kai 54').
Washington Freedom: Erin McLeod; Sarah Senty, Cat Whitehill, Becky Sauerbrunn, Ali Krieger; Lori Lindsey (Sarah Huffman 73'), Jill Gilbeau (Alex Singer 46'), Homare Sawa, Rebecca Moros (Allie Long 59'); Lisa De Vanna, Abby Wambach.

Scoring Summary:
SBFC – Kai (White) 55'
WF – De Vanna 78'
SBFC – Francielle 84'

Misconduct Summary:
none

Game Summary:
Referee – Daniel Fitzgerald
Assistant Referees – Colin Arblaster, Melanie Johnson
4th Official – Bryan Roslund
Attendance – 4,217
Weather – Hot, 92 degrees

BOXSCORE (All statistics contained in this boxscore are unofficial.)   

QUOTES

NATASHA KAI

I knew I needed to come in and help the team out and give that extra fire, that spark.

The ball went over and I just saw Kacey with the ball. I don’t know if she was trying to shoot it or if it was more like a half cross. It had a weird spin to it and I knew Cat (Whitehill) had no idea I was behind her. I knew that if I beat her to the ball it was an easy goal for me.

They came back and scored a great goal but then Fran came in and finished an awesome ball. This is what we needed to do – coming into the playoffs we needed to score and play defense as a team. Our three subs that came in played strong and helped the team out.

FRANCIELLE

I’ve been working hard all season and I was very excited to get into the game. I wanted to prove to the coaches that I can be on the field with all these other players.

I got the ball on the left side near the box and my fake made the defender miss the ball and I had an opportunity to shoot. I knew that I had to get rid of the ball so I just hit the shot at the goal and luckily it trickled in.

CHRISTIE RAMPONE

I think the heat is just how you handle it. I was telling the girls that everyone was hot – deal with it and make the ball work. I think it definitely slowed the game for both sides but I think we got the better of it; pinging the ball around, especially late in the game, you could see when we were spraying the ball they didn’t want to make the 20-yard run. The key was keeping the ball and not giving away too many balls in the middle.

After our goal, I really felt like the team settled in and even though they scored, I still felt pretty confident in the team. A couple minutes after the goal they had a little momentum but we got it back. They left Fran wide open and she hit a good shot and we finished out better than we normally do.