2009 Washington Freedom season
# 2009 Washington Freedom season

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.

Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.

| No. | Pos. | Nation | Player |
| - | - | - | - |
| 1 | GK | USA | Briana Scurry |
| 3 | MF | USA | Jill Gilbeau |
| 4 | DF | USA | Cat Whitehill |
| 5 | MF | USA | Joanna Lohman |
| 6 | MF | USA | Lori Lindsey |
| 7 | MF | USA | Parrissa Eyorokon |
| 8 | MF | FRA | Sonia Bompastor |
| 9 | MF | USA | Allie Long |
| 10 | MF | JPN | Homare Sawa |
| 11 | DF | USA | Emily Janss |
| 14 | MF | USA | Sarah Huffman |
| No. | Pos. | Nation | Player |
| 15 | MF | USA | Kristin DeDycker |
| 17 | FW | AUS | Lisa De Vanna |
| 18 | GK | CAN | Erin McLeod |
| 19 | MF | USA | Rebecca Moros |
| 20 | FW | USA | Abby Wambach |
| 21 | DF | USA | Alex Singer |
| 22 | DF | USA | Becky Sauerbrunn |
| 24 | DF | USA | Christen Karniski |
| 25 | FW | USA | Claire Zimmeck |
| 26 | MF | USA | Madison Keller |
| 61 | GK | USA | Kati Jo Spisak |

### Team management

    2009 coaching staff

| Position | Name | Nationality |
| - | - | - |
| Head coach | Jim Gabarra | American |
| Assistant coach | Clyde Watson | Guyanese |
| Goalkeeper coach | Nicci Wright | Canadian |

## Competition

### Regular season

**Regular-season standings**

| Pos | Teamvte | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification |
| - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - |
| 1 | Los Angeles Sol | 20 | 12 | 5 | 3 | 27 | 10 | +17 | 41 | Advance to Championship |
| 2 | Saint Louis Athletica | 20 | 10 | 4 | 6 | 19 | 15 | +4 | 34 | Advance to Super Semifinal |
| 3 | Washington Freedom | 20 | 8 | 5 | 7 | 32 | 32 | 0 | 29 | Advance to First Round |
| 4 | Sky Blue FC | 20 | 7 | 5 | 8 | 19 | 20 | −1 | 26 | Advance to First Round |
| 5 | Boston Breakers | 20 | 7 | 4 | 9 | 18 | 20 | −2 | 25 | |

### 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

    As of January 6, 2019

| No. | Pos | Nat | Player | Total | Total | WPS | WPS | Playoffs | Playoffs |
| - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - |
| No. | Pos | Nat | Player | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals |
| Defenders: ||||||||||
| 2 | DF | USA | Sarah Senty | 8 | 0 | 5+2 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| 4 | DF | USA | Cat Whitehill | 20 | 3 | 19 | 3 | 1 | 0 |
| 11 | DF | USA | Emily Janss | 5 | 0 | 3+2 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 21 | DF | USA | Alex Singer | 17 | 0 | 13+3 | 0 | 0+1 | 0 |
| 22 | DF | USA | Becky Sauerbrunn | 21 | 1 | 20 | 1 | 1 | 0 |
| 24 | DF | USA | Christen Karniski | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 27 | DF | USA | Ali Krieger | 11 | 0 | 9+1 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| Midfielders: ||||||||||
| 3 | MF | USA | Jill Gilbeau | 20 | 0 | 12+7 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| 5 | MF | USA | Joanna Lohman | 7 | 0 | 2+5 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 6 | MF | USA | Lori Lindsey | 20 | 2 | 18+1 | 2 | 1 | 0 |
| 7 | MF | USA | Parrissa Eyorokon | 4 | 0 | 0+4 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 8 | MF | FRA | Sonia Bompastor | 19 | 4 | 19 | 4 | 0 | 0 |
| 9 | MF | USA | Allie Long | 19 | 2 | 11+7 | 2 | 0+1 | 0 |
| 10 | MF | JPN | Homare Sawa | 21 | 3 | 20 | 3 | 1 | 0 |
| 14 | MF | USA | Sarah Huffman | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0+1 | 0 |
| 15 | MF | USA | Kristin DeDycker | 7 | 0 | 3+4 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 19 | MF | USA | Rebecca Moros | 20 | 2 | 13+6 | 2 | 1 | 0 |
| 26 | MF | USA | Madison Keller | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Forwards: ||||||||||
| 17 | FW | AUS | Lisa De Vanna | 21 | 7 | 16+4 | 6 | 1 | 1 |
| 20 | FW | USA | Abby Wambach | 18 | 8 | 16+1 | 8 | 1 | 0 |
| 25 | FW | USA | Clair Zimmeck | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |

### Goalkeepers

| No. | Nat | Player | Women's Professional Soccer | Women's Professional Soccer | Women's Professional Soccer | Women's Professional Soccer | Women's Professional Soccer | Women's Professional Soccer | Women's Professional Soccer | Women's Professional Soccer | Women's Professional Soccer |
| - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - |
| No. | Nat | Player | GP | GS | MIN | W | L | D | GA | GAA | CS |
| 1 | | 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

| Week | Player of the Week | Week's Statline |
| - | - | - |
| Week 5 | Abby Wambach | 2 G (18', 90') GWG, 1 A (51') |
| Week 6 | Sonia Bompastor | 2 G (29', 90') |
| Week 13 | Erin McLeod | 7 SVS, SHO |
| Week 18 | Abby Wambach | 2 G (35', 56') |
| Week 20 | Abby Wambach | 1 A (58'), 2 G (20', 49') |

### Player of the Month

| Month | Player of the Month | Month's Statline |
| - | - | - |
| May | Sonia Bompastor | 2 G, 3 A in 4 games; Freedom 2–0–2 in May |
| July | Abby Wambach | 4 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

| Date | Player | Number | Position | Previous club | Fee/notes |
| - | - | - | - | - | - |
| September 16, 2008 | Cat Whitehill | 4 | DF | New Jersey Wildcats | WPS Player Allocation |
| September 16, 2008 | Abby Wambach | 20 | FW | Washington Freedom (W-League) | WPS Player Allocation |
| September 16, 2008 | Ali Krieger | | DF | 1. FFC Frankfurt | WPS Player Allocation; loan from June |
| September 24, 2008 | Sonia Bompastor | 8 | MF | Lyon | WPS International Draft |
| September 24, 2008 | Homare Sawa | 10 | MF | Nippon TV Beleza | WPS International Draft |
| September 24, 2008 | Lisa De Vanna | 17 | FW | AIK | WPS International Draft |
| September 24, 2008 | Louisa Necib | | MF | Lyon | WPS International Draft |
| October 6, 2008 | Lori Lindsey | 6 | MF | Washington Freedom (W-League) | WPS General Draft |
| October 6, 2008 | Emily Janss | 11 | DF | Fortuna Hjørring | WPS General Draft |
| October 6, 2008 | Sarah Huffman | 14 | MF | Røa IL | WPS General Draft |
| October 6, 2008 | Becky Sauerbrunn | 22 | DF | Washington Freedom (W-League) | WPS General Draft |
| January 16, 2009 | Briana Scurry | 1 | GK | Atlanta Beat | WPS Draft |
| January 16, 2009 | Jill Gilbeau | 3 | MF | Washington Freedom (W-League) | WPS Draft |
| January 16, 2009 | Parrissa Eyorokon | 7 | MF | Purdue University | WPS Draft |
| January 16, 2009 | Allie Long | 9 | MF | University of North Carolina | WPS Draft |
| January 16, 2009 | Rebecca Moros | 19 | MF | Washington Freedom (W-League) | WPS Draft |
| January 16, 2009 | Alex Singer | 21 | DF | Washington Freedom (W-League) | WPS Draft |
| January 16, 2009 | Christen Karniski | 24 | DF | Bälinge IF | WPS Draft |
| January 16, 2009 | Clair Zimmeck | 25 | FW | Richmond Strikers | WPS Draft |
| January 16, 2009 | Kati Jo Spisak | 61 | GK | Washington Freedom (W-League) | WPS Draft |
| January 16, 2009 | Sarah Senty | | DF | Washington Freedom (W-League) | WPS Draft |
| March 26, 2009 | Madison Keller | 26 | MF | Washington Freedom (W-League) | Free Agent |
| April 16, 2009 | Erin McLeod | 18 | GK | Vancouver Whitecaps | Post International Draft |
| | Kristin DeDycker | 15 | MF | Atlanta Beat | Free Agent |
