Recap: Washington Spirit defense steps up in scoreless draw with Wave FC

San Diego, Calif. (06/22/2025) – Aubrey Kingsbury made six saves to lead the Washington Spirit to a clean sheet and a point on the road Sunday night. Playing to a scoreless draw at Snapdragon Stadium, the Spirit wrapped up the first half of the season and will enter the July break from regular season play at 7-4-2 with 23 points, good for fourth on the NWSL table. 

Kingsbury started the game by tipping out a shot from San Diego that was just off target before María Sánchez took a shot just over the cross bar on the ensuing corner kick. The Wave followed up in the 11th minute with a header that was just wide. 

After five more Wave shots, the Spirit got its first opportunity when Gift Monday had a fantastic run down the field and got a shot off to draw a corner. Narumi Miura then was off target after a nifty feed from Croix Bethune in the 28th minute. Bethune and Gabby Carle followed with shots before the end of the first half to no result, while the Wave’s Gia Corley picked up a yellow card. 

Rosemonde Kouassi subbed in for Narumi Miura to start the second half for the Spirit while Hal Hershfelt picked up a quick yellow card. After a few Wave opportunities in the attack, one of which required a highlight save from Kingsbury, Kysha Sylla and Courtney Brown also subbed in for the Spirit, replacing Casey Krueger and Makenna Morris, respectively. Kingsbury would make three highlight saves in a span of less than 20 minutes during the second half to help preserve the scoreline for the Spirit. 

Bethune found another shot on target in the 68th minute and, after giving up possession, Rebeca Bernal blocked a shot outside the box to limit a Wave opportunity. Heather Stainbrook and Kate Wiesner subbed in late for Washington to help close out the match on defense as Wiesner made her season debut. San Diego attempted the final five shots of the match before the final whistle split the points. 

Tonight’s match marked Kingsbury’s 41st regular season clean sheet, tying her with Casey Murphy for fourth-most in NWSL history. Her clean sheets have come against 14 different opponents, making her just the fourth goalkeeper to keep clean sheets against 14 or more teams (AD Franch, Alyssa Naeher, Kailen Sheridan). 

Next up for the Spirit is the NWSL’s July break from regular season play. Several Spirit players will also head off for international duty this week, competing for their respective home countries in upcoming friendlies and summer tournaments. When the NWSL resumes the regular season later this summer, the Spirit will host Portland Thorns FC at Audi Field on Sunday, August 3. Tickets are available here. 

-NWSL Match Report- 

Match: San Diego Wave FC vs. Washington Spirit 

Date: Sunday, June 22, 2025 

Venue: Snapdragon Stadium (San Diego, California) 

Kickoff: 10 p.m. EDT 

Weather: Clear, mid-60s 

Scoring Summary: 

Lineups: 

SD: 1 – Kailen Sheridan; 75 – Perle Morroni; 14 – Kristen McNabb; 3 – Trinity Armstrong; 6 – Hanna Lundkvist; 11 – Gia Corley (17 – Kimmi Ascanio, 59’); 21 – Savannah McCaskill; 10 – Kenza Dali; 7 – María Sánchez (25 – Melanie Barcenas, 73’); 9 – Adriana Leon; 20 – Delphine Cascarino 

Unused Substitutes: 31 – DiDi Haračić; 12 – Kennedy Wesley; 15 – Makenzy Robbe; 19 – Kyra Carusa; 28 – Jordan Fusco; 30 – Daniela Arias; 34 – Quincy McMahon 

WAS:  1 – Aubrey Kingsbury; 3 – Casey Krueger (25 – Kysha Sylla, 67’); 24 – Esme Morgan; 9 – Tara McKeown; 14 – Gabby Carle; 17 – Hal Hershfelt; 5 – Narumi Miura (19 – Rosemonde Kouassi, 46’); 4 – Rebeca Bernal (22 – Heather Stainbrook, 74’); 7 – Croix Bethune (6 – Kate Wiesner, 81’); 21 – Gift Monday; 8 – Makenna Morris (16 – Courtney Brown, 67’) 

Unused Substitutes: 28 – Sandy MacIver; 13 – Brittany Ratcliffe; 39 – Chloe Ricketts 

Stats Summary: SD / WAS 

Shots:  16 / 7 

Shots On Goal: 6 / 3 

Saves: 3 / 6 

Fouls: 11 / 14 

Offsides: 1 / 0 

Misconduct Summary: 

SD – Gia Corley – 41’ – Yellow Card 

WAS – Hal Hershfelt – 49′ – Yellow Card 

WAS – Kysha Sylla – 71′ – Yellow Card 

WAS – Rosemonde Kouassi – 81′ – Yellow Card 

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