Sky Blue 2, Washington 1
The Athletica will face Sky Blue FC of New York/New Jersey on Wednesday after the No. 4 seed in the WPS playoffs beat Washington 2-1.
The Sky Blue took a 1-0 lead in the 55th minute on a goal by Natasha Kai, who had come in as a sub just moments before. Washington tied the game in the 78th minute when Lisa De Vanna slammed in a rebound after Sky Blue goalie Jenni Branam and Washington forward Abby Wambach collided going for a long ball. Branam looked to have hurt her left knee on the play, but Sky Blue was out of subs so she stayed in. She didn’t take a goal kick the rest of the game. In the 84th minute, Francielle, who the team acquired from St. Louis in the Kerri Hanks-Sarah Walsh trade, nimbly moved the ball at the top of the box before hitting a low shot from about 25 yards that went in off diving goalie Erin McLeod. It was the first goal of the season for Francielle.
In three meetings this season, the Athletica won all of them, 1-0 in Fenton on a goal by Amanda Cinalli, 2-1 in Piscataway on goals by Eniola Aluko and Elise Weber and 1-0 in Fenton on a goal by Aluko.
It was a hot day in Maryland, with temperatures about 90 degrees, so the game certainly took a physical toll on the players.
Congratulations to Francielle! Still only 19 years old. She’d played only 28 minutes in one game since we traded her, but this had to be a thrill for her. Hanks starts to conserve Kai until later in the game. Rampone looks like a genius. She subs in Kai and she scores a minute later and she subs in Francielle and she scored late in the game. Sky Blue has a lot of speed and could give us problems. We need to follow the pattern of the other 3 games and score early to get on top.
YEAH SKY BLUE! Well deserved win. Play as a team, win as a team! Great job Branam, coming out 35 yards to shut down De Vanna…twice! And staying in when your team needed you most! Get better for Wednesday, if not, go Cori!!!
Brilliant game SBFC! Was Bompastor that much of the Freedom’s security blanket? Go Athletica!