Soccer notes: 3 coaches later, New Jersey club could claim title

In addition to her usual marching orders, Christie Rampone, Sky Blue FC's player/coach, added one more instruction for her players late last week. "Pack for Los Angeles," she said.

It may seem incongruous that Sky Blue, the New Jersey-based club in Women's Professional Soccer, should find itself one win from the championship match after an inaugural season that began with two winless games in a minor league baseball stadium, a five-game trip and the departure of two coaches — Ian Sawyers and Kelly Lindsey.

"No one really believed in us," Rampone said Sunday night in a telephone interview.

She and her players defeated the host Washington Freedom, 2-1, in a playoff game Saturday and were preparing for their semifinal match tonight against the St. Louis Athletica in Fenton, Mo. The winner of that game will go to Carson, Calif., for Saturday's final against the Los Angeles Sol.

As the league's top team during the 20-game regular season, the Sol drew a bye to the title match, which will be televised nationally on Fox Soccer Channel.

Lindsey had been an assistant coach until taking over for Sawyers, who was fired in late May, when the team was 1-4-2. Lindsey stunned the club when she resigned July 29 with 10 days and two games left in the regular season.

"We were still in contention and didn't have time to look for a coach," Rampone, a New Jersey native who is also a longtime defender for the U.S. national team, said of Lindsey's departure. "They asked me and I knew the team needs me, so I took the job without hesitation."Rampone said that her first call was to the coach of the U.S. women's national team, Pia Sundhage, who in an interview last year said that Rampone struck her as a kind of coach on the field. Sundhage was in the stands for Saturday's match.

"On my way home, I was still in shock that day because Kelly had resigned," Rampone said. "The first person I call was Pia for some encouraging words and how to approach the situation. She gave me confidence and said there was nothing to lose. I started to break down some film until I realized that, hey, I don't even know how to edit film."