By Scott French, Senior Editor
It has been a season of the unexpected this summer in the WUSA.
Who could have imagined that Atlanta would ride a roller-coaster from start to finish? That Carolina would finish on top? That Mia Hamm would be Mia Hamm? That some French striker named Pichon would be the big new thing? That the CyberRays would falter? That Tiffeny Milbrett would not score a goal at home and New York, semifinalist in Year 1, would lose 17 games? That Philadelphia wouldn't merely survive, but prosper after losing the league's best player to an ACL tear?
That the Washington Freedom, unfancied in 2001 and a good deal of 2002, too, would be the team to beat when the playoffs arrived?
Hamm's remarkable return from knee surgery is chief among several elements that have driven the Freedom on four-game winning and nine-game unbeaten streaks heading into Saturday's semifinals. The postseason is quick — this weekend's games, then the Aug. 24 Founders Cup final in Atlanta — and end-of-season form means more than it would in an expanded playoffs.
Washington must get through Philadelphia, the most highly regarded team this season, on Saturday, then overcome the winner of the Carolina-Atlanta semifinal a week later to capture a title nobody thought possible on June 8, when the Freedom was 2-4-3 and in sixth place.
Since then, nearly everything has gone right. Hamm, playing her best soccer in years, has been the catalyst, destroying opponents' defenses after coming on, usually, at halftime. She's got eight goals and six assists, a good number from spectacular sequences, in a little more than 500 minutes of action. Washington is 9-1-2 since her return.
It's not all. Rookie Abby Wambach's presence up top has been immense all season; Bai Jie has been the perfect foil since overcoming lingering injuries. Steffi Jones has been pivotal in midfield, restoring to the team confidence damaged after Lindsay Stoecker's season-ending knee injury. Jen Grubb has quietly been among the league's best defenders, and marking back Carrie Moore has disrupted foes' top forwards the second half of the season. Siri Mullinix has been the WUSA's most heroic netminder.
Of course, an argument can be made for (or against) any of the final four:
Philadelphia is a superb defensive team that reaps much from its role players and has in Marinette Pichon the league's most electric attacker. It also has won just once in its past six and twice in its past eight matches.
Carolina has the most capable attacking team, with Hege Riise pulling the strings for Birgit Prinz and Danielle Fotopoulos, and a sense of destiny after completing a worst-to-first campaign. It has won just two of six games.
Atlanta, the overwhelming preseason favorite, still has the talent, balance and depth that made it the team to beat, plus plenty of motivation stemming from last year's title-game defeat and the fact that this year's final will be played on its home field. Injuries have hurt the Beat this year, and several key players — Nancy Augustyniak, Kylie Bivens, Sun Wen, Liping Wang — are at less than full strength.
''Any of the four teams is capable of winning here,'' says Philadelphia coach Mark Krikorian. ''It's putting together two good games in a row. If you put together two in a row, you'll be Founders Cup champions.''
Washington has given Philadelphia problems this season — the Charge twice needed late goals, by Marinette Pichon and Zhao Lihong, to earn 1-1 ties with the Freedom. A defensive struggle is likely, although both teams are capable of playing delightful attacking soccer.
Carolina has owned Atlanta since the WUSA's birth, winning four of six meetings. The Beat's only victory came in the most recent battle, a 1-0 triumph in Atlanta on one of Charmaine Hooper's league-leading six gamewinning goals. Both sides can be explosive, attacking quickly from anywhere on the field. Defensive mistakes should prove costly.
What will be the difference?
''I think the matchups, taking care of details and good fortune,'' Carolina coach Marcia McDermott says. ''There's all kind of factors.''
WASHINGTON at PHILADELPHIA
Saturday, 1:30 p.m. EDT TV: PAX TV
Probable lineups
Philadelphia (11-4-6, 39 points)
G — Melissa Moore (1.00 GAA, 78.2 save pct.)
D — Heather Mitts (0 G-4 A–4 pts)
D — Jen Tietjen (1-3–5)
D — Erica Iverson (2-0–4)
D — Jenny Benson (0-3–3)
M — Stacey Tullock (2-0–4)
M — Kerry Connors (2-1–5)
M — Lorrie Fair (0-5–5)
M — Rebekah McDowell (0-0–0)
M — Zhao Lihong (2-8–12)
F — Marinette Pichon (14-1–29)
Head coach
Mark Krikorian
The Charge was in first place nearly from start to finish, but a difficult final three weeks of the regular season — seven games in 22 days — has slowed the team's momentum. Philly has won just one of its past and two of its past eight games to fall into second place on the season's final day.
Qualification for the playoffs seemed assured early, and so Krikorian — prodded by injuries, most notably to forward Marinette Pichon and defender Heather Mitts, and the hectic schedule — has spent much of the last month experimenting with lineups and tactics and giving fatigued players games off. The result is that the Charge enter the playoffs with the deepest midfield of the semifinalists. Zhao Lihong, finally at full strength, has been a revelation, and Rebekah McDowell, Kerry Connors and rookie Stacey Tullock have assumed critical roles in Krikorian's 4-5-1 alignment.
Tullock, the Charge's first-round draft choice (who didn't join the club until finishing her studies at Arizona State in May), has been particularly strong as a classy holding midfielder. Behind her, Erica Iverson and Jen Tietjen have been the most capable center-back combo in the league. Iverson is the fearless warrior whose size works to her advantage; Tietjen is the organizer and communicator.
Jenny Benson, among the WUSA's premier attacking backs, and athletic Heather Mitts might be the league's best outside pair, too, and Melissa Moore has been solid in the nets. Philadelphia was the top defensive team in the league, surrendering only 20 goals in 21 games — seven fewer than No. 2 — and allowing more than one goal just four times, three of them in the final six games.
Pichon, who must depart following the game to play in France's World Cup qualifier Aug. 23 against Denmark in Lens (one day before the Founders Cup final), has been the surprise hit of the league this year. The sophistication of her runs, her tenacity at getting to the ball, her instincts in front of the net, and the joyousness evident in her game has impressed everyone in the WUSA.
Pichon stepped up after playmaker Kelly Smith, in the early stages of what looked like an MVP season, sustained a torn anterior cruciate ligament June 1, ending her season. Pichon scored nine goals in the next six games as Philly went through the meat of a 10-game unbeaten streak that separated it from the pack. Midfielder Lorrie Fair also was crucial after Smith went down, taking more offensive responsibility and organizing things in midfield.
Washington (11-5-5, 38 points
G — Siri Mullinix (1.19, 80.8)
D — Skylar Little (1-1–3)
D — Carrie Moore (0-0–0)
D — Jen Grubb (2-0–4)
D — Emmy Barr (2-3–7)
M — Steffi Jones (0-2–2)
M — Sarah Kate Noftsinger (0-1–1)
M — Monica Gerardo (3-1–7)
M — Pu Wei (1-8–10)
F — Abby Wambach (10-9–29)
F — Bai Jie (6-5–17)
Head coach
Jim Gabarra
The Freedom are riding great momentum into the final two weeks of the season. Mia Hamm, the No. 1 goalscorer in international women's soccer, has been the unstoppable weapon off the bench, a player capable (likely?) of winning the title by herself.
Also significant for the Freedom has been forward Abby Wambach, the frontrunner for the WUSA's Rookie of the Year award, whose size (5-foot-11, 170 pounds), skill and effort has quickly made her among the league's most feared attackers.
Jen Grubb has anchored a solid defense, although the Freedom has gone out and outscored foes in critical games late in the season. and Gabarra's bench is deeper than Hamm, especially with Ann Cook's quick recovery from meniscus surgery two weeks ago.
Soccer America prediction
Philadelphia 1 Washington 2
ATLANTA at CAROLINA
Saturday, 3:30 p.m. EDT TV: PAX TV
Probable lineups
Carolina (12-5-4, 40 points)
G — Kristin Luckenbill (1.43, 73.1)
D — Staci Burt (0-4–4)
D — Nel Fettig (0-3–3)
D — Erin Baxter (0-0–0)
D — Danielle Slaton (4-0–8)
M — Tiffany Roberts (1-4–6)
M — Brooke O'Hanley (0-0–0)
M — Hege Riise (6-13–25)
M — Unni Lehn (2-2–6)
F — Danielle Fotopoulos (11-10–32)
F — Birgit Prinz (12-8–32)
Head coach
Marcia McDermott
The Courage went from worst, last year, to first, as regular-season champions, after McDermott rebuilt her squad almost from scratch during the offseason and with a few deft waiver pickups during the campaign. She's got the league's most potent attack, led by a trio of players that may give Carolina the best shot at the title.
The Courage revolves around Norwegian midfielder Hege Riise, the world's top playmaker. She's benefited from longtime teammate Unni Lehn's arrival this season and the size and many strengths of target players Danielle Fotopoulos and German star Birgit Prinz. Each finished with 32 points — Prinz despite playing in only 15 games — to share the No. 2 spot among the league's top scorers.
Prinz was the biggest name among newcomers, but defender Danielle Slaton — the No. 1 pick in February's draft — was perhaps a more critical addition. The Courage was the league's worst defensive club in Year 1, but Slaton's attacking prowess as an outside back and speed and savvy when stationed in the middle added dimensions to the team defensively.
Tiffany Roberts was among the league's best defensive midfielder, rejuvenating her national team career, and the back line got strong play from Nel Fettig, a waiver-wire pickup from New York, and Erin Baxter in the middle and an improved Staci Burt on the right flank.
Kristin Luckenbill has emerged as a top WUSA goalkeeper this season. Stunning early performances, which gave Carolina a quick start when it was still seeking a rhythm, have given way to consistently strong showings in the Courage net.
Atlanta (11-9-1, 34 points)
G — Briana Scurry (1.33, 69.6)
D — Lisa Krzykowski (0-2–2)
D — Nancy Augustyniak (0-3–3)
D — Sharolta Nonen (0-1–1)
D — Julie Augustyniak (0-1–1)
M — Kylie Bivens (1-4–6)
M — Nikki Serlenga (3-6–12)
M — Kelly Cagle (1-1–3)
M — Homare Sawa (7-6–20)
F — Cindy Parlow (5-4–14)
F — Charmaine Hooper (11-3–25)
Head coach
Tom Stone
The Beat, which was just minutes from winning the WUSA's first championship, has endured a rocky season in which its play has ranged from magnificent to quite poor. Injuries have wreaked havoc, limiting Cindy Parlow's and Sun Wen's effectiveness and forcing stop-gap measures on the back line. The team has struggled at times creating chances, but Charmaine Hooper's timely finishing — six gamewinners among her 11 goals — has been the difference between playoffs and elimination.
Atlanta was the nearly consensus choice as championship favorite before the season kicked off, product of its immense talent, depth and balance and of a physically demanding style of play that bothered most of its opponents. Early-season injuries to Parlow and Hooper, whose play up front often set the tone for the Beat, hindered the team's intensity in training, and the season was a month old before four points had been acquired.
Nancy Augustyniak's return from injury enabled Kylie Bivens to return to midfield, where her attacking sense and defensive acuity have been critical for the Beat. Nikki Serlenga has been a superb quarterback from the back of midfield, and Homare Sawa has emerged as the team's — and one of the league's — most dynamic attackers. There have been some problems on the back line, but goalkeeper Briana Scurry has again displayed the fine form to which she returned last season.
Once healthy, the Beat went on the first of two four-game winning streaks that propelled its playoff run. Between them was a three-game losing streak, all on the road, that began when Hooper — in superb form — was suspended by the league over an apparel issue.
Soccer America prediction Carolina 3 Atlanta 2