The Hunt's Over

All playoff hopes were dashed this weekend when the Red Stars fell 3-2 against the Washington Freedom. The game started on a good note - Megan Rapinoe scored early in the game on a dominating attack, absolutely leaving her defender in the dust. The Freedom answered with back to back goals from Abby Wambach and eventually, Karen Carney tied the game up at the 69th minute, giving the Red Stars a glimmer of hope that they could put one more in the net to get three points and remain in the hunt for the final playoff spot. However, Allie Long broke the will of the Red Stars by putting a well-placed shot in the net at the 89th minute.

With two games left in the season, the Red Stars face first place LA Sol and Brazilian sensation Marta this Sunday. Hopefully, the team can manifest its disgust and frustration into something productive. The last meeting in LA resulted in a 4-0 loss for the Red Stars. The cliche is that the team is playing for pride - but I don't think it's that. It's about redemption.

However, as a fan, I'm not pessimistic at all. Disappointed, yes, but not pessimistic. The Red Stars/Freedom match drew over 5000 fans, which was nice to see. Megan Rapinoe has started to make her presence known at forward and is worthy of the first round pick in the draft. Natalie Spilger has stepped up her defense, earning a spot in the starting lineup. Brittany Klein has shown serious potential in the midfield, a spot that she'll lord over in years to come. And Caroline Jönsson has shown that she'll be able to make the saves provided she's got support.

There's still games to go, and momentum to build.