In their first game of the year in Loudoun County at Segra Field, the Washington Spirit were beaten and shut out for the first time since May 21st, losing 1-0 to the Chicago Red Stars from an Own Goal by Julia Roddar.
Chicago set out to frustrate the Spirit, playing as a tight block in the center of the field and not allowing Washington to build up their attack through the middle. The Spirit were unable to practice on turf before this game, with their training getting rained out yesterday and the early choppiness of the game made that obvious. Paige Nielsen said that the team adjusted well despite that, passing the ball in the air to overcome the slow, dry turf.
For the first 25 minutes of the game, the Spirit were forced to pass the ball around the back, looking for an open channel that wouldn’t appear, and resorting to long balls played to the wings. Richie Burke commented on the way Chicago set up:
“This game was always going to be won on the wings…Chicago set two number 6’s in the middle and didn’t move. We need to go to a plan B and exploit it better, and the players will learn these lessons going forward.”
Richie Burke, Post Game
Meanwhile, Chicago was only dangerous on the counter, with Mallory Pugh showing a moment of magic in the 17th minute, cutting past three Spirit defenders, before laying off to Morgan “The Butcher” Gautrat who blasted it over the crossbar.
The Red Stars continued to apply pressure in the first half and broke through in the 33rd minute. Defender Kayla Sharples scored off of a far post corner, which failed to be dealt with by Aubrey Bledsoe or the two Spirit defenders stationed at that spot. Andi Sullivan tried to respond immediately after the goal, but shot over the crossbar from outside the 18 yard box. Chances continued to be hard to come by for Washington, aside from a slick combination between Trinity Rodman and Tori Huster, with the former cutting past the defense and laying the ball off to Ashley Sanchez who saw her shot blocked. The ball didn’t move on the turf at Segra in the way it usually does on natural surfaces, with Richie Burke saying “we aren’t big fans of synthetic turf, and especially not of turf that isn’t able to be watered to speed the ball up.”
Both teams came out of the half at a high intensity, trading chances in the 46th minute, with Rodman forcing a finger tip save by Cassie Miller and Kealia Watt having her shot tipped away at full stretch by Aubrey Bledsoe in the 48th minute. Trinity Rodman went down holding her back in the 57th minute and left the game. Rodman was hit in the back with a shot in the first half and she has been dealing with back spasms earlier in the season.
The Spirit struggled to break down the Chicago defense for the rest of the match, forced into running down the wing and throwing in crosses that were often grabbed by Miller or headed away from danger. After a 2 game stretch of poor defending where they conceded 5 goals, Chicago used this match as an opportunity to play a compact and disciplined game and provide the Spirit with plenty of the ball but very few dangerous opportunities. Analyzing the end product, Paige Nielsen said that “the issue was in the final third, and they were firm in the tackle and I think we were a little shook.”
With the loss, the Spirit fall to 3-2-3 and stay in third place in NWSL. They return to action on July 10th against the NC Courage at Audi Field.