Recap: Spirit Earns Crucial Three Points in Regular Season Home Finale
Washington, D.C. (10/20/2024) – The Washington Spirit defeated the Chicago Red Stars, 2-0, in front of an Audi Field crowd of 17,065. The fifth-biggest crowd in Washington Spirit history showed out for the team’s last regular season home match of the season.
Coming into the match, both teams were certain to play with purpose as playoff seeds remain on the line. The Spirit, Kansas City Current and NJ/NY Gotham FC entered the weekend all within one point of each other in a battle for the #2 overall seed. With a win, Chicago could lock up the #6 seed, as well.
The Spirit began the match committed to its high press and counterattack, causing a number of Red Stars turnovers, but the Spirit was not able to capitalize. Possession was easily controlled by the Spirit against a Chicago side that entered the match dead last in the NWSL with about 40% possession per match.
The high press and a blitz of shots from the Spirit finally paid off when Heather Stainbrook found the back of the net in the 31st minute. With the goal, all six Spirit rookies have now scored in the regular season – extending an NWSL record for goals scored by rookies on a single team in one season. The goal also extended the Spirit’s club record for number of different players with a goal in one season (15). Entering the match, the Spirit was a perfect 7-0-0 when scoring first at home and had scored an NWSL-high 29 first half goals this season.
For the rest of the first half the Spirit continued to dominate, finishing with ten shots, seven corner kicks and even secured over 50% of the action in the Chicago Red Stars third in the last 15 minutes of play.
The Spirit saw its first major chance of the second half off a streaking run past Chicago defenders and a cross from Ashley Hatch, but it was picked up by Red Stars keeper Alyssa Naeher. Shortly after, Trinity Rodman’s debut in the match elicited an eruption of cheers that echoed around Audi Field. Makenna Morris dropped to cover the middle of the field, allowing Rodman to take her usual spot on the wing.
Things got chippy quickly, and the mood of the match swung dramatically in the 70th minute. Rosemonde Kouassi, who was arguably the Spirit’s biggest playmaker throughout the match, and Chicago’s Ludmila got into an altercation that resulted in both players’ ejection from the match. Lidmila initially received a yellow, but it was reversed to a red card following a VAR review.
Down to ten players, Rodman made her impact felt almost immediately. Picking off a pass from a Chicago defender, she split the back line with a pass to Hatch who got her left foot on the ball, sending it across the goal. On the late run, Morris launched herself, and the ball, into the back of the net giving the Spirit its second goal of the match. The goal was Morris’ fifth of the season, tying Croix Bethune and Louisville’s Emma Sears for the most in the NWSL by a rookie in 2024.
The Spirit hung on to its momentum, not allowing Chicago to take a single shot for a 30-minute stretch. The nine extra minutes of stoppage time ended where most of the game was played, in Chicago’s final third with a myriad of attempted shots, but the final scoreline held. The Spirit finished with 23 shots, tying a team record for most shots in a single match.
The clean sheet was the Spirit’s sixth of the season. Goalkeeper Aubrey Kingsbury now stands in third place in Spirit history with six shutouts in a season. Additionally, the victory extends the Spirit’s unbeaten streak when leading at halftime to 34 matches (26-0-8). Finally, the victory keeps the Spirit at the #2 seed on the NWSL table. A win in its final regular season match and maintained advantage in goal differential over Gotham FC will guarantee the Spirit homefield advantage until the NWSL Championship match.
Up next, the Spirit closes out the season on the road in Cary, North Carolina against the North Carolina Courage on Saturday, November 2. The match kicks off at 7:30 p.m. EDT and will be broadcast on ION and on the Washington Spirit Radio Network
-NWSL Match Report-
Match: Washington Spirit vs. Chicago Red Stars
Date: Sunday, October 20, 2024
Venue: Audi Field (Washington, D.C.)
Kickoff: 5:00 p.m. EDT
Weather: Sunny, high-60’s
Scoring Summary:
| Goals | 1 | 0 | F |
| Washington | 1 | 1 | 2 |
| Chicago | 0 | 0 | 0 |
WAS – Heather Stainbrook – 31’
WAS – Makenna Morris – 83’
Lineups:
WAS: 1 – Aubrey Kingsbury; 9 – Tara McKeown; 14 – Gabby Carle; 24 – Esme Morgan (5 – Annaig Butel, 87’); 3 – Casey Kruger (6 – Kate Wisner, 74’); 16 – Courtney Brown (2 – Trinity Rodman, 56’); 17 – Hal Hershfelt; 22 – Heather Strainbrook; 8 – Makenna Morris (13 – Brittany Ratcliffe 87’); 19 – Rosemonde Kouassi; 33 – Ashley Hatch (4 – Lena Silano, 87’)
Unused Substitutes: 28 – Nicole Barnhart; 32 – Jenna Butler; 26 – Paige Metayer; 39 – Chloe Ricketts
CHI: 1 – Alyssa Naeher; 32 – Taylor Malham; 4 – Cari Roccaro; 41 – Hannah Anderson; 12 – Natalia Kuikka (30 – Camryn Biegalski, 45’); 20 Bea Franklin; 21 – Julia Grosso (13 – Leilanni Nesbeth, 76’); 14 – Ludmila; 9 – Mallory Swanson (11 – Chardonnay Curran, 60’) ; 22 – Rosella Ayane (10 – Shea Groom, 45’); 8 – Jameese Joseph (26 – Nadia Gomes, 89’)
Unused Substitutes: 19 – Mackenzie Wood; 5 – Julia Bianchi; 23 – Tatumn Milazzo; 24 – Jenna Bike
Stats Summary: WAS / CHI
Shots: 23 / 9
Shots On Goal: 12 / 2
Saves: 2 / 10
Fouls: 12 / 5
Offsides: 0 / 1
Misconduct Summary:
WAS – Hal Hershfelt – Yellow Card – 47’
WAS – Rosemonde Kouassi – Red Card – 70’
CHI – Ludmila – Red Card – 70’
WAS – Heather Stainbrook – Yellow Card – 90+4’
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