Washington Freedom 1, Boston Breakers 0
The night belonged to Abby Wambach, who was honored by the Washington Freedom for scoring her 100th international goal two weeks earlier and then responded with the evening’s game-winning strike midway through the second half.
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But the turning point came much earlier in Wednesday’s match at Maryland SoccerPlex, when a harshly judged tackle reduced the Boston Breakers to ten players, allowing the Freedom an evening of relentless possession and few defensive challenges en route to a 1-0 victory in front of 3,123.
Referee Jose Carlos Rivero handed Washington an early advantage in the fifth minute, producing an immediate red card for Boston defender Alex Scott after she slid into a challenge with Freedom midfielder Sonia Bompastor at midfield.
“It was foul,” said Breakers head coach Tony DiCicco. “The cleats might have been up. Bompastor, who has a lot of sophistication, more sophistication than the referee, made it look worse than it was, and the referee made a bad decision.”
Of course, it took the Freedom more than an hour to turn their advantage into a goal. Wambach finally converted a combination at the top of the box with fellow forward Lisa De Vanna in the 73rd minute to give Washington the lead and snap Boston’s streak of 396 minutes without surrendering a goal.
“To go up a man so early in the game, it’s almost one of those things, it’s so expected that you’re going to score goals, that the other team defends the whole time,” said Wambach, who has three goals in her last two games. “It’s almost even harder than it would’ve been if we were even-manned.”
Wambach’s other goal, which she scored for the U.S. national team on July 19, was celebrated both before and during the match. First, a “100” motif was mowed into the SoccerPlex field prior to the game, and at halftime, Wambach was surprised with an on-field presentation to receive an engraved silver plate from the Freedom.
“I actually wasn’t very happy that it was happening because I was upset about not having scored in the first half,” said Wambach.
Freedom goalkeeper Erin McLeod came up huge in second-half stoppage time to clinch the victory, denying Boston striker Kelly Smith from close range.
“[McLeod is] very dependable, and she makes that big save,” said Washington head coach Jim Gabarra. “That’s the most dangerous player in the league sitting on top of the box with her favored foot. If you saw Smith’s reaction, she couldn’t believe that [McLeod] saved it.”
With the franchise’s first win over Boston in four tries, the Freedom (7-6-5) also leapfrogged the Breakers (7-7-4) into third place in the Women’s Pro Soccer standings with two games remaining in the regular season. The top four teams advance to the WPS playoffs, which begin Aug. 15.
