Monkey off the back: Freedom liberated into winning wonderland

By: Adam Stern

Washington Freedom forward Abby Wambach is arguably the best women’s soccer player on the planet, but these past two months have proven even one of the world’s greats can be subjected to the worst of times.

With the Freedom mired in a five-game losing streak in the midst of a 10-match winless rut—both of which having the unsavory distinction as WPS all-time records—some weight had definitely been added to the American superstar’s shoulders, one way or the other.

So when Wambach collapsed onto the field at the final whistle Wednesday night after the team’s 2-0 victory over Philadelphia Independence, a result which allowed the team to wallow in the wonders of winning for the first time since late May, one could be forgiven for thinking a real life monkey jumped off her back, as opposed to merely a metaphorical one.

“Monkeys are interesting because with a long season and a long career you go through a lot of them, whether it’s scoring goals, winning games or getting points,” Wambach told ISN.com after the game. “I think it takes character to get out of those moments and I think our team showed character tonight.”

It also takes goals, and that’s where Wambach came into play. The former University of Florida standout and Olympic gold medalist— who is currently tied for third in the WPS in scoring and leading in assists— had quite the night: A penalty kick saved, two goals in two minutes, and a shot off the post three minutes later that would have made for one of the fastest hat-tricks in any competition of any sex, size or skill level.

The first of which, the penalty kick, came in the 16^th minute after Freedom midfielder Lene Mykjaland had her shirt pulled back in the box after skinning her defender. Wambach, who had successfully converted both her prior spot-kick attempts this season, took a long run up and had her shot saved brilliantly by Independence goalkeeper Val Henderson.

And then, as if having a penalty saved for a struggling team isn’t excruciating enough, Wambach was then left to stew on the save when a 50-minute lightening delay halted the match temporarily in the 30^th minute.

“I should practice PKs after this one; I was very upset with myself for missing that PK,” Wambach said. “Granted Val made obviously made a great save on it but I was a bit indecisive about where I wanted to put it.”

Indecisive was the last way to describe Wambach after the lightening delay was over, however. When play resumed in the 31^st minute, the Freedom picked up right where they left off: pushing a team that, aside from the unstoppable F.C. Gold Pride, appears to be one of the top teams in the WPS.

The persistence finally paid off in the 38^th minute when, on a corner kick, Wambach got a header off that was packed with such punch that it pushed past Henderson’s fingertips and into the back of the net.

It didn’t take long for Wambach to strike again, and it was done in a nearly identical manner. In the 40^th minute, off a free kick from way back in the team defensive half, Freedom defender Cat Whitehill played a long, lofted ball into the Independence half that Wambach was somehow able to glance into the net off her head before an onrushing Henderson was able to make contact.

Amazingly, Wambach almost completed what would have been a ludicrous, hat trick in five minutes when, in the 43^rd minute, the striker lashed a ferocious drive from 25 yards out that had Henderson beaten but glanced off the wrong side of the post and out.

With the win, Washington moves to back within seven points of the 2^nd-placed Independence with six games remaining, though aspirations for first place are long gone with the runaway F.C. Gold Pride.

Standings and seedings seemingly took a backseat Wednesday night, though. Paramount to all was the mere feeling of winning; of getting back to winning ways.

“We’ve gone through a lot of hard times because of losing; nobody wants to lose, nobody likes losing,” Wambach said. “I think the fact that we dusted ourselves off and picked ourselves up tonight made the difference.”