The Washington Freedom has now lost four straight games as part of a bigger nine-game winless streak after Wednesday's 3-2 loss on the road to the Atlanta Beat.

Captain and center back Cat Whitehill watched Wednesday's match from the bench as Freedom Head Coach Jim Gabarra searched for answers, but those answers were not found.  Many are calling for changes that send much more of a message than just benching players, and it seems those could be coming.  Obviously, many are asking the question of whether or not it is time for a coaching change at the Maryland SoccerPlex and while that is a legitimate question to ask, there is something to be said for patience.

As recently as a month ago, fans of respective teams put Atlanta Beat Head Coach Gareth O'Sullivan and Boston Breakers Head Coach Tony DiCicco under fire.  Now, Atlanta and Boston are two of the hottest teams in the league.  Boston has won four of its last five games and Atlanta is now on a three-game winning streak.  

While Washington is winless in its last nine and has not tasted victory since May 30, the Breakers went through their own nine game winless streak and one that lasted almost three months.  But Boston management stuck with the respected DiCicco and are currently thriving.  It is a lesson that continues to be taught in Women's Professional Soccer: There is something to be said for patience.  Five teams are now separated by just three points in the standings, meaning Washington is still completely in the thick of things.  

Gabarra has been at the helm of the Freedom since 2000 and through three different leagues.  He led the Freedom to the 2003 WUSA Championship and the 2007 W-League Championship and has ten years of experience in the organization.  That alone demands some patience with Gabarra, but the question revolves around exactly how long patience will last.  Saturday's match between the Freedom and the Breakers in Boston could be decisive.

Here is what Washington General Manager Mark Washo had to say:

"The mission of the Washington Freedom is: 'We are leaders in women’s professional sports.  We win championships and awards.  We strive to serve our community, while furthering the growth and development of women’s soccer.'

"Therefore it is fair to say that changes need to be made in order for us to achieve our stated mission this season.  The entire team, players and coaching staff is currently under evaluation in order for us to draw appropriate conclusions as to what specifically must be changed to right the ship.  The goal is still to make sure we are in the  best possible position to make it into the post season and win a championship.  Cleary time is of the essence at this critical juncture in the season.  However with a win this weekend, we are right back in 3rd place and would clearly improve our overall situation."
 

By Philadelphia Independence Head Coach Paul Riley's own admission, "there's no catching Gold Pride."  Philadelphia has set a second place finish as its goal and clearly, FC Gold Pride can start planning to host the championship Sept. 26.  Even a monumental meltdown would only see Philadelphia close the gap on the Pride, but there is no catching Albertin Montoya's team.  Much like WPS power rankings have looked since week one, it seems that FC Gold Pride will continue to sit atop the rankings until season's end.

Then again, this is Women's Professional Soccer, a league where anything can happen.

1) FC Gold Pride (12-3-1, 37 pts.) - The league-leaders continue to roll with two road victories last week: A 2-1 victory over the streaking Boston Breakers Wednesday and a dominating 4-1 win Saturday over the struggling Washington Freedom.  That extended FC Gold Pride's winning-streak to five games, tying a WPS record the Pride set earlier this year.  This team is world-class and to be honest, I think everyone is running out of things to say about how good it is.

2) Philadelphia Independence (7-5-3, 34 pts.) - If a 4-1 beat-down of Sky Blue FC is not convincing enough, the victory also helped maintain a five point lead in second place for Philly.  Amy Rodriguez continues to score and her nine goals is second only to Marta, while Caroline Seger's three assist performance Saturday was worthy of her Player of the Week honor.

3) Boston Breakers (5-6-4, 19 pts.) - Could this be the Sky Blue FC of 2010?  There are a lot of people talking about that, but it is not quite a fair or accurate comparison.  It is accurate to say that Boston has won four of its last five games, with the only loss coming to FC Gold Pride last Wednesday.  Kelly Smith is in form and Boston is now clicking on all cylinders.  If you believe in difference makers, Boston's streak started with the return of Leslie Osborne and the emergence of role-players Liz Bogus and Jordan Angeli.  If you believe in coincidence, the great month of July also began when Foxwoods went across the Breakers jersey as a presenting jersey sponsor.

4) Atlanta Beat (3-7-4, 13 pts.) - The bottom of the power rankings is really a case of asking, 'Who is struggling more?'  I am shocked to say this, but the Atlanta Beat are now on a two game winning-streak, which stands in stark contrast to the struggles of Washington, Chicago and Sky Blue FC.  The Beat's two wins also came over Sky Blue FC and Chicago, boosting Atlanta to its highest position of the year.  Though still bottom of the table, the Beat are actually on a mini-hot streak.  We'll see what Wednesday night brings, though.

5) Chicago Red Stars (4-7-5, 17 pts.) - A two game slide for Chicago (losses to Atlanta and Boston) could get worse Wednesday night with a road trip to Philadelphia.  The Red Stars were on a four game unbeaten-streak until the two game losing-streak.

6) Sky Blue FC (5-7-3, 18 pts.) - Being in West Chester, Penn. Saturday, I can tell you this: Things were ugly.  Really ugly.  Philadelphia was up 3-0 on Sky Blue FC by the 21st minute and the visitors did not know what hit them.  Sky Blue FC is 0-3-1 since the All-Star Game and has lost three-straight.  Pauliina Miettinen is out  and this team still is not fully healthy, but there is enough talent on the field to be performing better.  Mentally, Sunday's match against Chicago is a must-win.

7) Washington Freedom (4-6-5, 17 pts.) - The Freedom are on the skid to end all skids right now being winless in eight-straight.  Wednesday night's match in Atlanta is certainly a must-win.  Freedom players keep saying that things can't get worse, but they seem to be doing so every week.
 

On Deck Wednesday:

Chicago @ Philadelphia, 7 p.m. Eastern
Washington @ Atlanta, 7:30 p.m. Eastern

It is clear the rest of the world of women's soccer is catching up with the United States Women's National Team.  Maybe that is a few years away from being evident at the senior national team level (although the 2011 Women's World Cup might show signs of it), but it is already clear at the youth level. 

Tom Dunmore points out in this Big Soccer column Sunday: click here, women's soccer is on the rise globally and the argument that it has less to do with the decrease of U.S. talent and more to do with the increase of global development is spot on.  "The established powers don't have the field to themselves anymore," Dunmore writes.  Clearly, as Brazil did not advance out of the group stage of the 2010 U-20 Women's World Cup and Sweden and the United States were upset in the quarterfinals.

Shockingly, either Columbia or Nigeria will find itself in the final Sunday.  If South Korea can upset Germany in the other semifinal, it could make for the most unlikely World Cup final ever.  Yes, ever.  It would have been like Uraguay's run in South Africa going all the way to the final, where they would meet, say, Ghana - clearly a talented team but far from one that would be expected to win the World Cup.  Those two teams actually did meet in the quarterfinals, but you get the point.

The emergence of some women's teams globally does have something to do with the United States, though.  "But the days when the U.S. simply crushed its opposition are long gone," writes Dunmore.  At the World Cup, yes.  But the problem is still present in CONCACAF, where the United States has little to no competition. 

Just like the U.S. Men's National Team, the women struggle to find competition within one of the weakest regions in the world.  Both the men's and women's games have progressed in Central American and Caribbean countries, but not enough to provide the United States with competition that will better the team for showdowns with the world's best.

September's U-17 Women's World Cup will take place in Trinidad & Tobago and the CONCACAF representatives will be Canada and Mexico.  That's right, no United States.

That may actually show an increase in CONCACAF talent in the women's game, but it also has a lot to do with poor preparation for the United States.

In CONCACAF U-17 Women's World Cup Qualifying, the United States rolled through the group stage with three wins, 32 goals for and zero against.  Don't check your eyes.  The Americans averaged over 10 goals per game while beating Haiti 9-0, the Cayman Islands 13-0 and Costa Rica 10-0. 

From there, the U.S. went to the semifinals and played Canada in a 'win and in' game since the top two teams from CONCACAF go to the U-17 Women's World Cup.  The two teams played to a 0-0 draw and Canada won 5-3 on penalty kicks to send the U.S. home with a +32 goal differential over four games but without a spot in September's U-17 Women's World Cup.  After 32 goals in three games, the U.S. simply could not break down Canada, a much more respectable opponent.

That, I believe, is due to the fact that with Canada and Mexico being the only main legitimate competition for the U.S. women within the region, the laughable games against the rest of the regional competition does a disservice to the development of the squad.

How do you learn anything from winning 13-0?  After going up four goals or so in a half hour, as a player you know the result of the match will only go one way.

And the problem is not just in that one specific case either.  The United States is 18-0-0 all-time in Women's World Cup Qualifying at the senior level.  In those 18 all-time qualifiers, the U.S. has outscored its opponents 113-4.  Exactly how does that prepare anyone for better competition like Germany, Sweden or Brazil?

With the rest of the women's soccer world lagging, the United States got away with not having any other CONCACAF competition in the 90's.  And that is not say that the Americans should not have won anyhow with world-class stars like Mia Hamm, Michelle Akers, Kristine Lilly, Julie Foudy, Joy Fawcett and even more forgotten heroes like Carla Overbeck and Shannon MacMillan.  No disrespect to them or those teams by any means.

But it is clear that such easy competition is no longer good enough for the United States.  Mexico and Canada now propose more legitimate threats to the U.S., which is certainly a good thing, and the lesser-known countries around the world are beginning to make a name for themselves (surely justification for expanding the Women's World Cup to 24 teams in 2015).  

Women's Professional Soccer also provides a channel for players to better themselves year-round, but the key is to see the region's lesser countries better their games and that requires an investment from each national federation.  Until that happens, the U.S. will continue to have to seek out friendly matches against the tough competition of Germany and Sweden, although the games lack meaning and a trophy to play for.

Finally, the offensive explosion has come.  Week 15 in Women's Professional Soccer was a wild one and the weekend fixtures in particular produced three highly entertaining matches.

However, first were the Wednesday matches, where FC Gold Pride made its way to Harvard Stadium for the second time this season and came away with the same result.  FC Gold Pride topped the Boston Breakers 2-1 for the second time this year in Boston.  The win was the third of the season over Boston, which entered that match riding a three game winning streak.  Meanwhile, the Chicago Red Stars had a four game unbeaten streak snapped with a 1-0 loss Wednesday to the Atlanta Beat at Kennesaw State University Soccer Stadium.

The true excitement went down on the weekend, though.  

The          Philadelphia Independence scored three goals in the first 21 minutes en route to a 4-1 win Saturday over Sky Blue FC and the Boston Breakers  would not be outdone.  Boston scored three goals in a five minute span to go up 3-0 on the Chicago Red Stars by the 14th minute Sunday at Toyota Park on its way to a 3-1 win.  Not to be forgotten is FC Gold Pride, which continued to roll in a 4-1 win Saturday over the Washington Freedom at the Maryland SoccerPlex.

At the Maryland SoccerPlex, league-leading FC Gold Pride was led by braces from Marta and Tiffeny Milbrett, but the true story was Erin McLeod's injury in the 84th minute.  Marta scored the Pride's third goal of the match and as she did, McLeod went down hard and her right knee seemed to be in serious pain.  No word yet on the extent of the injury, but you can see how bad it looks in this video (at minute 2:40):

In Philadelphia, Caroline Seger was pure class.  She tied a WPS record with three assists and all three were completely legitimate.  Her passing was inch perfect and I challenge anyone to find a more perfect through ball than the one she played to Amy Rodriguez for Philadelphia's second goal in the eighth minute.  Check that out below:



Holmfridur Magnosdottir looked great at left back and had a beautiful goal to put Philadelphia up 3-0 in the 21st minute.  She has been much more effective at left back than at forward this year, something Philadelphia Head Coach Paul Riley has taken notice to.

"I think she's better at left back," Riley said.  "She's more productive for us as an attacking force from left back.  We played her up front last week and the last 20 minutes, nothing out of her.  We couldn't get the ball to her.  She's always got her back to the play, she's never in good position, but when she starts running, let's be fair, you can see Heather O'Reilly going 'oh shit, I've got to try to catch this one.'  And then you've got the fullback coming over trying to chase her.  Brittany Taylor is going to have nightmares I think about her because she is just so strong and so quick.  She's so difficult to mark and she is so unorthodox.  You have no idea what she is going to do.  I have no idea what she is going to do.  I think she has no idea what she is going to do, and I think it is just really hard to mark her.  What a great weapon coming down the flank, I must admit."

Speaking of O'Reilly, after I chatted with her after the game she walked away ringing out her jersey and shorts.  It was so hot and humid in Philadelphia Saturday that players from both teams could literally squeeze so much liquid out of their uniforms that it looked as if they had just been thrown in a pool.  There is no doubt that has affected games this season.

"You know, this season has been brutal with the heat," O'Reilly said.  "This wasn't our first game in 90-plus temperatures.  So, we're sort of used to it, but it really is pretty brutal out here and all of us lose a lot of weight every game.  If we were looking for a miracle diet, this season has been it."

Sky Blue FC's 4-1 loss was one extremely rough way for new Head Coach Rick Stainton to debut.

"We can't become negative," Stainton said.  "What I told them out there too is we can't dwell on things.  We've got to take it as it is, learn from it and move forward."

Philadelphia (7-5-3, 24 pts.) continues to establish itself as the second best team in the league, but FC Gold Pride 12-3-1, 37 pts.) continues to win.  At this point, it is obvious that no other team will catch the Pride, and Riley admits that.

"Our goal, honestly, we've set our goal in second place to play home.  If you've only got to go one away game to win a championship then that's great."

Sara Larsson and Heather Mitts should be back by Philadelphia's August 4 trip to the SoccerPlex to take on the Freedom.  Meanwhile, Jenni Branam was on the bench Saturday for Sky Blue FC and should play Sunday against Chicago.  Kristin Luckenbill has retired to go to graduate school and Stainton is actively searching for another goalkeeper with Karen Bardsley out for the season and Shannon Myers the only 100-percent healthy goalkeeper in New Jersey.

Finally, not to be overshadowed by Seger's Player of the Week performance is Breakers striker Kelly Smith, who had two goals and an assist in a five minute stretch for Boston.  Sunday was the second time this year that Boston exploded for three goals in five minutes and with four wins in their last five matches, the Breakers are in prime form after a miserable start to the season.  Suddenly, they are in third place.
 

The Maryland Stadium Authority is set to release the results of a feasibility study by the end of July that will tell Crystal Palace Baltimore if a downtown Baltimore stadium is possible to build, and the Washington Freedom could be a part of the plan.  The stadium would be to the left of M&T Bank Stadium and within seeing distance of Camden Yards and the facility would seat approximately 8,000 fans for soccer and expand to 15,000 for concerts.

Whether or not a larger stadium for Major League Soccer's DC United would work in Baltimore is also part of the study, although Crystal Palace Baltimore President Pete Medd feels the smaller stadium for the USSF D-2 team is a more realistic option for the city and he expects the Maryland Stadium Authority to give the green light.

"Our feeling is that an 8,000 seat stadium in Baltimore that that's a lot cheaper than a Major League Soccer stadium is appropriate and is what will work here, but you know, we'll see," Medd said.  "But we do expect a positive report."

The feasibility study takes a look at whether or not the 8,000 seat stadium could work in the downtown location for a price tag of about $25 million, although Medd feels the club could get it built for somewhere between $15 million and $25 million.  The 8,000 seat Kennesaw State University Soccer Stadium recently opened and cost about $17 million to give the Atlanta Beat a world-class home.

Funding for the stadium could potentially be split equally three ways between state money, local money and private money from investors.  Another option is for the state to pay for half of the stadium while the other half of it gets covered privately, Medd said.  He also added that the private capital raised to fund the stadium would come from Crystal Palace Baltimore and any other club that joins the cause.  

One of those clubs could be the Washington Freedom, who have expressed interest in becoming stadium tenants if the project moves forward.

"First of all, Crystal Palace is playing a bunch of games this year at our stadium," Freedom General Manager Mark Washo said.  "They have told us that they are very interested in pursuing a new stadium deal.  As we were talking about cross-marketing and promoting each other it led to discussions and if we were interested in playing in a new arena or new venue."

Washo said Washington is in fact interested in the prospect of playing in a brand new soccer-specific stadium.  The Freedom already play in the gorgeous soccer-specific Maryland SoccerPlex, but the club does face several challenges.  There are limits where alcohol can be consumed (only in the beer garden behind one goal) as well branding issues with beer companies and the fact that the SoccerPlex is located in Boyds, Md., about 45 minutes northwest of D.C. proper.

"We're content with where we are playing right now, but still there is a perception that Maryland SoccerPlex is far away," Washo said.  "On one end it's a great venue; long term we have to question geographically if it is the best place to grow our fan base."

Palace is playing four games at the Maryland SoccerPlex this year, the first of which came July 14 in a 0-0 draw with the Rochester Rhinos.  Saturday will mark a day when both Palace and the Freedom play at the SoccerPlex on the same day.  Crystal Palace Baltimore hosts AC Saint Louis at 3 p.m. and the Freedom host league-leading FC Gold Pride at 7 p.m.

Crystal Palace Baltimore and the Washington Freedom could also look into joining forces more if the stadium is approved.  Both Washo and Medd sited the success of the the Washington Capitals (NHL), Washington Wizards (NBA) and Washington Mystics (WNBA) in joining sales forces.  That is a particular point of interest after Washo said the Freedom is looking for investors to join owner John Hendricks, who is "committed to the Freedom through 2011 and beyond, but the timing is right to open it up more and bring in people," Washo said.  There is also the thought that joining forces might bring Hendricks to invest in Crystal Palace Baltimore, although Medd said that would be an overstatement.

"Well, I wouldn't go that far to say that John Hendricks is looking to get involved," Medd said.  "I would say that there is certainly discussions about the economies of scale.  You notice that the Capitals and the Wizards have recently combined sales forces.  So, you have less overhead.  You have two revenue streams driven by one central office that has a set of expenses versus two separate groups going out and doing it.  Now, does something along those lines make sense?  Possibly."

Both Medd and Washo acknowledged that WPS budgets and attendance line up closer to those of USSF D2, not MLS.

Should the Maryland Stadium Authority deem the downtown Baltimore stadium feasible and the project moves forward, the site would create a campus of professional stadiums next to Camden Yards and M&T Bank Stadium.  The prospect of the stadium could also appeal to the Freedom because it would be downtown in the 20th largest market in the country as opposed to the suburbs of Montgomery County.  Washington is currently averaging 4,254 fans per game through seven home dates, although that includes a crowd of 8,261 fans May 1 in at RFK Stadium in a doubleheader with DC United.  Not counting that date, average attendance at the SoccerPlex is just 3,586.

If DC United somehow made its way to Baltimore, Medd said Crystal Palace Baltimore would not be able to compete with the MLS team in Baltimore and wold seek other facility options.  The feasibility study began early in 2010 and is due out in the next seven days. 
 

For more information, check out page 28 of this PDF: http://www.mdstad.com/pdf/budget2010.pdf