Sunday, July 13th
Even 3 hours of weather delays couldn’t stop the Washington Freedom from taking care of business against the Fredericksburg Lady Gunners Sunday night and earning 3 points in one of their final home games of the season. Christie Welsh and Jill Gilbeau scored two goals apiece, and Kele Golebiowski and Sarah Huffman each added a goal to defeat the Lady Gunners 6-1.
In spite of the rain pouring down on the field, the Freedom were able to move the ball around and keep possession for most of the first half. In the 29th minute, the Freedom took the lead off a goal from midfielder Golebiowski. Swinging the ball from side-to-side, Sarah Huffman found Christen Karniski on the left side of the field, who then played the ball out to Golebiowski. Golebiowski swung the ball toward the goal, and a slight deflection by the defender was enough to freeze the keeper and knock the ball over her head and into the goal. Play would continue for only another 2 minutes before lightning was sighted and the game was delayed.
The players headed into the locker room, where they would stay for almost 2 hours before it was deemed safe to resume play. During that time the Freedom mingled with the faithful fans and family members who stuck out the rain to cheer their players on. As both teams took the field once again, the rain continued to come down, and the weather did not appear to have improved. After only 3 minutes of play, lightning was once again spotted and the teams returned to their locker rooms.
It had now been 2 ½ hours since the start of the game, and the Freedom players were getting restless after sitting and waiting for so long without knowing when they would start playing again. A couple players provided locker room entertainment with their dancing and story-telling, while the coaches, in order to keep the players’ energy up, brought in the best food they had on-hand: pizza, French fries, and hot dogs.
It may not have been the ideal situation, but the Freedom were determined not to let the weather get the best of them. When the players finally returned to the field to finish the game, it was 3 hours later than the official kick-off time. Just two minutes after resuming play, Christie Welsh took a corner kick from the left side of the field, and Jill Gilbeau headed the ball into the goal to make the score 2-0. Only two minutes later, Jenn Parsons played a ball through the Lady Gunners’ defense, and Christie Welsh calmly slotted the ball past the goalkeeper. The Freedom weren’t done scoring, as one minute later Welsh sent a pass to Sarah Huffman, who drove the ball through the legs of the Lady Gunners’ keeper to bring the score to 4-0. In the final minutes of the first half, the Lady Gunners managed to score against the Freedom, and the two teams went into the half with a score of 4-1.
Due to the rain delay, the teams took only a couple minutes at halftime to grab some water and switch sides. For most of the second half, the Freedom kept possession and rarely saw the ball in their defensive half of the field. In the 60th minute, Welsh once again sent a corner into the box, and Gilbeau put the ball into the upper right corner for her second goal of the game. Yet the Freedom weren’t done scoring, and in the 72nd minute Danielle Malagari played a bent ball into the path of Welsh, who put the ball into the back of the net to give her three assists and two goals on the night.
“This game wraps up a very important weekend for us. To get 6 points at this time of year and get some goal scoring is crucial to our getting into the playoffs. I credit our players with maintaining a professional focus through a very tedious weather delay,” said Head Coach Jim Gabarra.
The Washington Freedom return to the Maryland SoccerPlex on Wednesday, July 16th at 7 p.m. to take on the Long Island Rough Riders in their final home game of the season.
Game Stats
Freedom 6 - Lady Gunners 1
Shots 20 / 2
Saves 3 / 11
Fouls 4 / 5
Corners 9 / 0
