Sunday July 27, 2008
The Atlanta Silverbacks Women’s 2008 season ended much like the 2007 season did, at the hands of the Washington Freedom.
 
The Freedom dominated in possession throughout the Eastern Conference Championship game, but only squeaked by the Silverbacks 2-1 in overtime thanks to a 118th minute goal from Ali Andrzejewski.
 
With the win, the Freedom (13-1-2) move on to defend their W-League title as part of the final four with the Pali Blues and the champions of the Central and Western conferences.
 
Last season, these same two teams met in the W-League finals, with the same result as Washington topped Atlanta 3-1.
 
This time, the Freedom handed the Silverbacks (14-1-1) their first loss of the season at its most critical juncture.
 
Washington had the run of play throughout the first half, keeping up constant pressure on the Atlanta goal from the opening whistle but Phillips made some aggressive plays on the ball to help keep it scoreless.
 
The Freedom outshot the Silverbacks 11-2 in the first half and 28-11 overall, but Atlanta made their chances count, with Christine Latham cashing in on the team’s second shot of the half in the 23rd minute to give the Silverbacks the 1-0 edge at the break.
 
Washington kept up the pressure through the rest of the half, with the best chance coming when Lori Lindsey took a shot from long distance that Phillips just pushed up into the cross bar. Welsh and Masar both followed with chances on the same sequence, but the Atlanta keeper made the save on Welsh’s shot and then collected the loose ball before Masar could get off a shot to keep the Silverbacks’ 1-0 edge.
 
Overall, Phillips made six first half saves and nine overall, including a diving save on a shot from Welsh in the last few minutes of the first half.
 
Atlanta got more pressure on the Washington net early in second half, with Latham taking a point-blank shot off of corner kick, but Chante Sandiford made the save for the Freedom.
 
Phillips got into trouble in the 60th minute when she took down Welsh inside box, drawing a yellow card and giving Washington a spot kick. Rebecca Moros took the penalty kick but shot it right at Phillips who then corralled the rebound to keep it the Freedom scoreless.
 
Washington amped back up the pressure as the second half wore on, with it paying off in the 77th minute when Welsh one-touched a pass from Emily Janss past Phillips to tie the score at 1-1.
 
Atlanta went into a defensive shell late in the second half, allowing lots of chances for the Freedom, particularly through corner kicks, with the Freedom holding a 19-4 edge in that statistic in the match. However, Washington wasn’t able to cash in on any of them, with Silverbacks defender Ronda Brooks saving a shot off the line in extra time to send the game into overtime.
 
The overtime periods continued much like regulation, with Washington having the bulk of the chances and Atlanta sneaking a few chances in including a near miss by Latham on a header off of a feed from Tara Minnax near the end of the first overtime period.
 
The Freedom’s constant attack resulted in the game-winner in the 118th minute when Andrzejewski tucked a pass from Welsh into the back of the net past a diving Phillips for the final 2-1 margin.
 
The W-League Championships will be held starting July 31, hosted by the Hampton Roads Piranhas at the Virginia Beach SportsPlex. The Championship match on August 2 will be aired live on Fox Soccer Channel.
 
Box Score
Atlanta Silverbacks Women:
Ashley Phillips, Ronda Brooks, Rebecca Hall, Carolyn Ford, Melanie Schneider, Monica Buff (Randi-Lynn Bruso, 91), Lyndsey Patterson (Kay Harbrueger 116), Molly Franklin (Tara Minnax, 84), Krista Bobo (Jill Porto 69, Cortni Joyner 108), Christine Latham.
 
Washington Freedom:
Chante Sandiford, Sarah Senty (Jill Gilbeau, 75), Emily Janss, Alex Singer, Becky Saurebraunn, Lori Lindsey, Kele Golebiowski (Jenn Parsons 58, Christen Karniski 102), Sarah Huffman, Madison Keller (Rebecca Moros 58), Ella Masar (Ali Andrzejewski 67), Christine Welsh.

Goals:
ATL – Latham (Ford) 23
WAS – Welsh (Janss) 77
WAS – Andrzejewski (Welsh) 118

Misconduct:
ATL – Bobo (caution) 16
WAS – Golebiowski (caution) 48
ATL – Phillips (caution) 60
WAS – Welsh (caution) 90