D2 SOCCER
Minute byminute, Freedom’s ‘IronWoman’ prolongs streak
Defender Sauerbrunn has yet to come out of aWPSmatch
BY STEVEN GOFF What would it take forWash-
ington Freedom Coach Jim Gabarra to remove defender Becky Sauerbrunn from aWom- en’s Professional Soccer match? “I don’t know if I would ever
do that,” Gabarra said, laughing nervously and shaking his head. “I don’t have a reason to take her out — and I don’t want to break the streak.” Sauerbrunn will start Sunday
afternoon against the Philadel- phia Independence in the first round of the playoffs, and unless she suffers a substantial injury, she will remain on the artificial turf at Farrell Stadium in West Chester, Pa., until the final whis- tle.
She has played all 4,050 min-
utes (45 matches) in the Free- dom’s twoseasons inWPSand is the only player in the league to never miss a moment. At the University of Virginia between 2003 and ’07, she set the pro- gram record for career minutes played and starts. Her only ab- sence in 91matcheswerethe last nine minutes of the 2007 opener against Delaware. Overall, in those six pro and
college seasons, she has played 99.93 percent of a possible 12,582 minutes. Even last fall, when she joined a Norwegian club for a few months, Sauerb- runn said she played every min- ute.
“Idon’t think about it, but the
girls call me ‘IronWoman’ every day and tease me,” she said. “It’s a combination of luck and prep- aration.” Aside from an occasional
muscle strain or leg abrasion, Sauerbrunn’s endurance has not been tested. No severe sprains, tears, ruptures or breaks, not even bed-confining flu. “There is a reason that she
never comes out of a game: She is extremely consistent and ver- satile,” said Freedom co-captain Cat Whitehill, who last year partnered with Sauerbrunn in central defense, a position that the St. Louis native played throughout her college career. This season Sauerbrunn
played defensive midfield, cen- tral defense, left back and right back before becoming a fixture on that left corner. Last week- end, her long ball over the top of the Atlanta Beat’s back line set up AbbyWambach’s late goal in a 1-0, playoff-clinching victory. Sauerbrunn, 25, has been in-
strumental inWashington’s late- season resurgence. Since a 10- game winless streak, the Free- dom (8-9-7) has conceded just four goals during a 4-1-2 surge. After shifting her around the
formation, Gabarra settled on Sauerbrunn at left back because of her ability to not only defend but to influence the attack with confident runs and piercing ser- vice.
Sauerbrunn doesn’t fatigue
often, but when the demands of a busy stretch catch up with her, she is granted a break from
TONY QUINN/ISIPHOTOS.COM
Becky Sauerbrunn hasn’t missed a moment in the Freedom’s two seasons. “It’s a combination of luck and preparation,” she said.
vigorous training drills and ex- ercises — something Gabarra offers to all worn players. Sauerbrunn and teammate
Homare Sawa were among five WPS players to play every min- ute in the 2009 regular season. This year Sauerbrunn and Free- dom rookie Nikki Marshall are among a group of five that in- cludes Brazilian star Marta, the league’s player of the year for two seasons. In college, after starting all 21
matches in her freshman sea- son, Sauerbrunn redshirted in 2004 in order to prepare for, and play in, the FIFA under-19Wom- en’sWorld Cup in Thailand. She played every minute of six matches as the Americans fin- ished third. Her nonstop contributions in
Charlottesville continued in 2005 and '06, but in the first match the following year, with the Cavaliers rolling to an easy victory, Coach Steve Swanson replaced her with a young play- er.
“He still gives me a hard time
about it because I was pretty angry and I had no reason to be
angry,” she said. “I didn’t say anything but he could tell I was bummed out. Defenders don’t get a lot of stats — we’re not scoring or assisting on a lot of goals — so it was something to be proud of. I got over it.” In 2008, Sauerbrunn played
for the Freedom’s development team before being drafted by Washington ahead of the WPS’s launch in 2009. “She is dependable and con-
sistent,” Gabarra said. “And we never have to worry about her needing to come out of the game.”
goffs@washpost.com
Freedom at Independence
What: WPS playoffs, first round. Where: Farrell Stadium, West Chester, Pa. When: 2:30 p.m. TV: Fox Sports Net. Records:Washington 8-9-7, 31 points; Philadelphia 10-10-4, 34. At stake:Winner will play at second-seeded Boston in Thursday’s semifinal.
Gloria BlairandDesiree Garcia
have different motivations for running Sunday’s Woodrow Wil- son Bridge Half Marathon. Blair is doing it for the experience. Garcia is using it as part of her training programfor amarathon. Though they seemingly have
nothing in common, Blair and Garcia represent two growing trends in road racing: More run- ners are competing in half-mara- thons than ever before and more of those runners are women. According to a report by Run-
ning USA, since 2003, the half- marathon has been the fastest growing road race distance in the United States. The number of half-marathon finishers has gone from 482,000 in2000to 1,113,000 in 2009. Twenty of the 30 largest U.S. half-marathons began or were re-branded less than 10 years ago. Beginning in 2005, thenumber
of women in these races has overtaken men. Half-marathons have the largest percentage of female runners (57 percent) of any road race. “I think it’s pretty clearwhy it’s
so attractive,” said Mary Witten- berg, a 1987 Marine Corps Mara- thon winner who is president of New York Road Runners, which puts on eight half-marathons. “It’s sized just right; it’s not too short and its not too long, it’s right in the middle; it’s some- thing that is aspirational in na- ture for the newer runner, it’s a big deal to run 13.1 [miles]; and it’s a great training race and distance for marathoners. It’s
DIGEST SOCCER
Three late goals lift Tottenham to victory American goalkeeper Marcus
Hahnemann conceded three goals in the last 15 minutes and Wolverhampton squandered a lead in a 3-1 loss at Tottenham in the English Premier League on Saturday. Wolves went ahead just before halftime on Steven Fletcher’s
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goal, but Rafael van der Vaart equalized in the 75thminuteafter beating Hahnemann from the penalty spot. Roman Pavlyuchenko put
Spurs in front in the 87th minute with a simple close-range finish and a mix-up between defender Richard Stearman and Hahne- mann allowed Alan Hutton to score in stoppage time. Tottenham’s north London ri-
val Arsenal was on the receiving end of an even later comeback,
with Sunderland clinching a 1-1 draw after Darren Bent scored in the fifth minute of stoppage time in a goal-mouth scramble. Arsenal is a point behind lead-
erChelsea, which hosts Blackpool on Sunday, when Manchester United hosts Liverpool. It was a better day for Friedel’s
U.S. compatriot Clint Dempsey, who rescued a 1-1 draw for Ful- ham at Blackburn to keep his team unbeaten this season. . . . In MLS, Real Salt Lake set a
Baltimore at Cincinnati » WUSA (Channel 9),WJZ (Channel 13), WZAA (1050 AM),WBAL (1090 AM)
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N.Y.Giants at Indianapolis »WRC (Channel 4)WBAL (Channel 11),WTNT (570 AM)
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NewYork Yankees at Baltimore » MASN
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AUTO RACING 1 p.m.
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scandal that rocked one of the country’s most prominent Olym- pic sports, USA Swimming ex- panded background checks, ap- proved new athlete protection measures and made it mandatory for members to report any credi- ble allegations. The measures were approved
only from Comcast.
by wide margins at the group’s annual convention in Dallas. “We have been committed throughout this process, to doing the right thing, and taking ac-
leaguehomeunbeatenmarkat 23 games with a 1-0 won over the Chicago Fire. Alvaro Saborio’s penalty kick late in the first half was the difference. Blaise Nkufo scored the first
three goals of his MLS career to help the visiting Seattle Sounders beat the Columbus Crew, 4-0.
tions that, first and foremost, will foster a safe and positive environ- ment for our athletes,” said Jim Wood, the outgoing president of USA Swimming. “Our member- ship really stepped up today to provide their overwhelming sup- port to this important issue.” All non-athlete members of the
USA Swimming must now pass a criminal background check, a move that will cover between 30,000 and 40,000 additional members. Also, anyone who in- teracts directly with swimmers, including local club owners and chaperones, must join USA Swimming.
TENNIS A year after staving off relega-
tion, France wrapped up its home match with Argentina to charge into the Davis Cup final for the first time since 2002. Michael Llodra and Arnaud Clement, survivors from the 2002 team, beat EduardoSchwank and Horacio Zeballos, 6-4, 7-5, 6-3, to give France an unassailable 3-0 lead in Lyon. “We have such a talented team,
and we can’t be satisfied with a runner-up place,” France captain Guy Forget said. All four teammates — includ-
ing Gael Monfils and Gilles Si- mon — plus bystanders Richard Gasquet, Jo-Wilfried Tsonga and Julien Benneteau celebrated on
EZ SU
KLMNO HOCKEY Caps are unsettled at center position
Competition open for spots on second and third lines
BY KATIE CARRERA There are several positional
battles taking place at theWash- ington Capitals’ training camp, as players vie for ice time. But there is one bona fide competi- tion, too: the team is trying to determine which center can be relied upon for the second- and third-line pivot position. Aside from franchise corner-
stone Nicklas Backstrom playing on the first line, little is decided among the Capitals’ other op- tions,which include Tomas Fleis- chmann,Marcus Johansson,Ma- thieu Perreault, David Steckel and Boyd Gordon. This is not a new debate for the Capitals. For much of last season, Coach Bruce Boudreau experimentedwith nu- merous combinations, trying out different candidates, particularly on the second line, in order to find the perfectmix. On Saturday, the first day of
training camp at Kettler Capitals Iceplex, however, one player al- ready appeared to have the upper hand. Fleischmann skated be- tween last year’s usual second- line wings Brooks Laich and Alexander Semin in the practice session and Boudreau added that he was giving the 26-year-old the
“inside corner” on the competi- tion. “It’s a great opportunity to try
to play second-line center be- tween Sasha and Brooksie,” Fleis- chmann said. “It’s the first prac- tice and tough to say anything about it, but we used to play together last year so it’s nothing new for me. It’s something we’re thinking we’re going to do.” Fleischmann served that role
during the Capitals’ 14-game winning streak last season and tallied 51 points in 69 regular season games, primarily playing wing on the third line. The challenge for Fleischmann, who has said he prefers center and relishes the opportunity to dic- tate much of what occurs on the ice, is to remain consistent. In the Capitals’ first-round playoff se- ries against Montreal last year, Fleischmann failed to score a goal and was a healthy scratch for Game 7. If Fleischmann can prove he’s
the best choice for that second- line position, the focus shifts to Johansson and Perreault, two prospects who are likely battling for one spot on the third line. Johansson, a 2009 draft pick,
has impressed and continued to evolve throughout rookie camp according to Capitals and Her- shey coaches, but it’s hard to see how ready the smooth-skating Swede truly is until camp scrim- mages and preseason games be- gin.
Meanwhile, the 22-year-old RUNNING Half-marathon gaining ground with runners BY KATHY ORTON
perfectly suited for a wider vari- ety of people than just a mara- thon.” For many runners, the 13.1
miles is also a much safer dis- tance, according to Dave Watt, executive director of the Ameri- can Running Association. “A lot of us in the industry on
the medical side have been saying ever since thenew-agemarathon- er came in, which were new peo- ple who were not committed longtime runners . . . we’ve been saying all along, try a half or something like that,” he said. From a race director’s stand-
point, the half-marathon is an easier race to stage. It can also offer sponsors just as much bang for the buck. The inaugural Woodrow Wilson Bridge Half Marathon, which sold out its 4,000 spots, is the second half- marathonin theWashington area this month. The fifth annual Parks Half Marathon took place inMontgomery County last week. For Blair, a 36-year-old from
Oxon Hill, the impetus for run- ning theWoodrow Wilson Bridge HalfMarathon came after she got off her treadmill and took her running outside last year. Be- cause she lives near the bridge, she often runs across it on week- ends. “When I realized I was already
doing eight to nine miles on the weekend, what’s a couple more miles?” she said. “I like challeng- ingmyself, I really do. . . . I call it my bucket list.” The half-marathon will be only
her second competitive race. Two weeks ago, she ran a 5K in Arling- ton. “It’s an unspeakable joy
when you accomplish something like that,” she said. But her newfound joy hasn’t
led her to consider running a full marathon. “Idon’tknow, 26 miles is a lot,” she said. “I think I’m happy with 13.” Garcia also took up running
recently.Prompted by the birth of her second son, the 29-year-old from Haymarket made a new year’s resolution to run a mara- thon in a year. “It was something I wanted to
do,” she said. “Something to show my kids that you always push yourself and give yourself new challenges.” Garcia found a training pro-
gram online and used her friends as resources to prepare for the race. She also discovered addi- tional motivation from the book “Run Like aMother.” “It’s been very helpful to me,”
she said. “Before a long run, I always read a couple chapters, even though I’ve read the book cover to cover. I read a few chap- ters just to get me geared up for a long run, encourage me.” Like Blair, Garcia’s only road
race experience was a 5K. “I’ve never been a runner,” she
said. “I didn’t even know when I could consider myself a runner, or if I can even now. . . . Once I cross that finish line [Sunday], I’ll really feel like a runner, and I think it’s going to be pretty emo- tional, too. I’mexcited.” Indications are she isn’t the
only one. Blair, Garcia and other women like them are writing what appears to be another chap- ter of the running boom.
ortonk@washpost.com
Perreault, a regular with the Hershey Bears who is in the final year of his entry-level contract, is determined to make his move in pursuit of an NHL roster spot. “This is a big year for me and
there’s no doubt inmymind that that spot in the middle is mine and I’ll do everything to stay up here,” Perreault said. “I’ve changed how I worked out. . . . I’ve put on around 10-15 pounds. This is what they’ve asked me to do, to put on some weight at the end of the season and this iswhat I’ve focused on this summer.” Perreault tallied 16 goals and
50 points in 56 regular season games for Hershey last year and added seven more goals and 19 points in theAHL playoffs, usual- ly as the Bears’ second-line cen- ter. Perreault hadwavering levels of success in 21 games with the Capitals last season as he adjust- ed to the NHL, and understands his future may depend on dem- onstrating his reliability. Steckel and Gordon create
even more possibilities, should neither Johansson nor Perreault prove capable of making the jump to theNHL.They could also be part of a rotating platoon of players on the fourth line along withMatt Bradley and D.J. King. “There’s a lot of competition
and I think we’ve got good centermen and good depth,”Bou- dreau said. “We just don’t know who’s
going to be there.”
carrerak@washpost.com
SUNDAY, SEPTEMBER 19, 2010
IAN KINGTON/AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE VIA GETTY IMAGES
Tottenham’s Roman Pavlyuchenko, center, and teammate Peter Crouch celebrate Pavlyuchenko’s goal againstMarcusHahnemann.
court in front of a lively Palais des Sports crowd with one eye on Belgrade, where the Czech Re- public led Serbia 2-1 in the other semifinal, which will be decided Sunday. . . . Mardy Fish and John Isner
defeated host Colombia’s Robert Farah and Carlos Salamanca, 6-4, 6-4, 6-7 (7-5), 6-3, to give the United States a 2-1 lead in their Davis CupWorld Group playoff in Bogota.
MISC. Helio Castroneves took the
pole position for the Indy Japan 300, turning a lap at 201.992mph to lead a Team Penske sweep of the top three starting spots Sun-
day in Motegi. Ryan Briscoe was second, followed by series points leader Will Power and Dario Franchitti. . . . Englishmen David Lynn and
Danny Willett tied for the lead at theAustrianOpenin Atzenbrugg, two strokes ahead of threesome that included European Ryder CupplayerGraemeMcDowell. . . . Diana Taurasi had 14 points on
6-of-7 shooting and five assists in 15 minutes of action to help the U.S. women’s national team beat Senegal, 93-51, on Saturday night in Salamanca, Spain, in its final exhibition game before the world championship begins next week in the Czech Republic. —From news services
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