Celebration of Women's Soccer Rosters Announced

Washington, D.C.  (August 23, 2012) – Mark Washo, Managing Partner for Playbook Management International (PMI) Sports and Entertainment Company and former President and General Manager of the Washington Freedom, has announced the final rosters for the women’s charity soccer game that will be played at the Maryland Soccer Plex stadium field on Saturday, August 25, 2012. All net proceeds from the game will benefit the Michael Washo “Art from the Heart” Foundation and DC Scores.

“The response from the players and community has been greater than I anticipated,” said Washo. “The event will kick off with a special meet and greet at Not Your Average Joe’s on Friday and we are very excited about the game and some of the elements we have added.  It will be a special night at the Maryland Soccer Plex and the perfect environment in which to pay tribute to many current and past professional women’s soccer players from the WPS (Freedom), WUSA, WPSL and W league.” 

Becky Sauerbrunn and Lori Lindsey will play a special role in this weekend’s activities, which will start off with a special meet and greet at Not Your Average Joe’s on Friday, August 24^th from 5:00 to 6:00 pm. Sauerbrunn will serve as the guest coach for the Celebration of Women’s Soccer All Star’s squad while Lindsey will guide the Maryland Capitols. Each will have final say as they will be provided wireless microphones and will be commentating throughout the game. Sauerbrunn and Lindsey will be available for autographs along with the rest of the players after the game. 

People interested in the post-game festivities will need to follow Sauerbrunn and Lindsey on twitter because they will be sending out the location on Saturday. Sauerbrunn can be found at http://twitter.com/beckysauerbrunn while Lindsey can be followed at https://twitter.com/LoriLindsey6. They will also be sending out updates throughout the weekend.

The Celebration squad will be stocked with many former Freedom players and the first two players to commit back in July were former Freedom and US National team player Cat Whitehill, and former Washington Freedom, Magic Jack and Boston Breakers player Nikki Marshall. Former Freedom players joining Whitehill and Marshall include Allie Long, Katie Jo Spisak, Nikki Marshall, Caitlin Miskel, Joanna Lohman and former Freedom Future standout Tyler Lussi.

• KJ Spisak
• Cat Whitehill
• Diana Weigel
• Leann Champ
• Sula Lansaw
• Caleigh Savageau
• Emily Carroll
• Tiffany Gales
• Caitlin Miskel
• Joanna Lohman
• Nikki Marshall
• Zulia Menjivar
• Tyler Lussi
• Allie Long
• Lianne Sanderson

There will also be two special guest players playing for the Freedom and they are Melissa Penny and Danielle Olsen, both members of the Montgomery County Police Department. Fellow Officer Rob Grims will serve as an assistant coach for the Celebration team helping out James Galanis and Becky Sauerbrunn.

• Jacqui Desjardin
• Amanda Lebo
• Bekah Munnikhuysen
• Danielle Malagari
• Jess Hnatiuk
• Erica Suter
• Rachel Lindenfeld
• Brittany Hadaway
• Jen Devarcis
• Laura Kane
• Anabel Jimenez
• Ali Andrzejewski
• Diana Barrera
• Allie Wilkerson
• Claudia Barrera

The Beer Garden will once again be back and will feature Yuengling, Miller, Coors while for the younger people Smoothie King and Dominion Root Beer will be just some of the offerings.

The primary benefitting charity is Michael Washo’s “Art from the Heart” Foundation. Michael Washo’s “Art from the Heart” Foundation was founded in April 2012 in memory of Mark Washo’s father; its mission is to educate people on the dangers to the HEART from chemotherapy and radiation treatments for patients battling cancer. DC Scores is an after school poetry and soccer program serving underprivileged “at risk” DC Youth

The match will occur Saturday night during the Damascus and Seneca Youth Soccer August Cup Tournament www.augustcup.com.  Tickets for the Celebration of Women’s Soccer Charity match are on sale now online at www.pmi.ticketsocket.com. For more information; please visit the official website at Facebook; Celebration of Women’s Soccer page (is http://www.facebook.com/#!/pages/Celebration-of-Womens-Soccer/258264650951521). Tickets are for sale for $20 (includes post- game “meet-greet” pass), $15 and $10.  Advance discounts also available for youth soccer players and coaches, please contact cfrakespmiglobalsales@gmail.com or klangepmiglobalsales@gmail.com or by calling (201) 669-9013.
Tyler Lussi

Former Washington Freedom Star, Abby Wambach Previews Gold Medal Game against Japan

In two seasons with the Washington Freedom (2002-2003/WUSA & 2009-2010/WPS) Abby Wambach not only played along side the most famous U.S. Soccer player ever - Mia Hamm, she also won a league championship and was named MVP. Wambach scored 44 goals and added 30 assists while playing for the Freedom franchise and was by far a fan favorite at the Maryland SoccerPlex.

Now Wambach is looking to lead the U.S. Women's Soccer team to Olympic Gold in London against Japan, a team that beat the Americans only a year ago to win the 2011 Women's World Cup. On the other side of the pitch will be a former Washington Freedom teammate of Wambach's, Homare Sawa.
Another former Washington Freedom player on the U.S. roster for the 2012 Olympic squad going for gold include is Becky Sauerbrunn (2008-2010). 

Abby Wambach

On going up against her friend and former club teammate Homare Sawa against Japan:
"I think that Homare Sawa has proven herself to be one of the best players in the world. She led her team to a world championship. I have the greatest respect for her. She came to play in the United States a couple of times and took what she learned back to her country and they've done an extraordinary job over the last couple of years putting it together. I do think that we also have a great team. We're at a place that I think is solid. I think the fact that we lost the World Cup and the way that we did gives us even more passion and desire to go out and perform tomorrow. We saw each other in the Village. We told each other that we're both glad that the other had won because we believe that we're the top two teams in the world and our fans deserve to see a great final. This gold medal match is going to be nothing short of that."

Former UVA, Washington Freedom player Becky Sauerbrunn signs with Sky Blue FC

Becky Sauerbrunn, the former Washington Freedom player and University of Virginia product is teaming up with her former Freedom coach Jim Gabarra. According to a report by Sentinal, Sauerbrunn has been signed by Sky Blue FC of the WPS.




You can also follow Becky Sauerbrunn on Twitter: @beckysauerbrunn.

Jenna Pel of All White Kit: An Interview With Becky Sauerbrunn

This interview is courtesy of Jenna Pel.
Jenna covers Women's soccer & WPS and runs the site http://www.allwhitekit.com/

The Washington Freedom defender will help hold down the back line of Marta’s XI in tonight’s All-Star Game. She discusses what makes Marta’s XI unique, why the Freedom concede late sometimes and why she looks forward to playing alongside Marta.

AWK: Do you know if Albertin’s playing with a 3 back system?

BS: It was picked so that teams could play in a 3-5-2 but our team somehow has more defenders than the other team.
AWK: I saw a lot of defenders making over-lapping runs and helping out in the attack.

BS: Yeah, I think some of are going to be midfielders too which would be really interesting.
AWK: What’s the main difference between Montoya’s style to [Freedom Coach] Jim Gabarra’s?

BS: It’s hard right now because this was kind of a fun, ‘get to know you’ practice but we actually did a lot of similar things. Small-sided possession, small-sided games, crossing, finishing, that kind of stuff. Technical stuff with just a little variation from what Jim does but not a huge difference at all.
AWK: So how has your team gelled so far?

BS: We definitely have more international players on our team so that’s going to make it a little more fun because everyone’s a little different and has their own style of soccer so it should be very entertaining.

AWK: Ok, so please don’t be offended by this question, but what the hell happened this past weekend against Philadelphia?

BS: As was seen in the Chicago game a week before, we get a lead in the first half and then we just can’t protect it. So there’s need be a mentality change or just some kind of shift in how we’re playing or what we’re thinking in the second half.
AWK: Is it fitness-related because I know the goals from Philadelphia came pretty late in the game?

BS: I don’t think it’s a fitness thing because our team is quite fit right now but I think we kind of wore ourselves thin in the first so we were kind of struggling in the second. But we’re definitely fit enough to play the full 90 plus some time. I just think it needs to be a mentality shift right now.
AWK: Your back four has improved dramatically from last year. You guys have been pretty rock solid up to this point. So what’s been the biggest catalyst for that change?

BS: I think we did a lot of work in the off-season watching European games and I think we studied a lot as a back line. And I think we learned a lot from what happened in the back line. We’re a little quicker to react to things that we didn’t react to last year.
AWK: And [Freedom goalkeeper] Erin McLeod has also seemed to improve a lot too.

BS: Yeah, Erin makes game saving saves all the time.
AWK: I think one of the biggest reasons for Washington’s success so far is having two holding midfielders Allie Long and Sarah Huffman. Do you think that tactical difference from last year has helped you? Especially because Huffman is practically a new player.

BS: I absolutely think so. When Allie gets stuck in she usually comes out with the ball. And then Huffy is always busy, always running, she’s got a great engine so she’s always closing down spaces. And that helps unbelievably with our back line because they’re always putting pressure on the ball so we don’t have to worry as much about them chipping balls over the backline. I think that’s been one of the major differences in not conceding as many goals as we did last year.
AWK: They really gives you six defenders, plus McLeod and I think that makes a huge difference.

BS: And even with [Homare] Sawa and Sonia [Bompastor] and Bev [Goebel] who was really come through a lot. They’re all very good at tackling and pressuring the ball so I think it’s just been a whole mentality shift that we just need to continue into the second half of games.
AWK: What do you look forward to the most from this whole experience?

BS: I’m just having fun playing with players I’ve never gotten to play with before. I’ve never gotten to play with Marta. I’m just looking forward to playing with her and not chasing after her.