When Richie Burke and his staff were game planning for Gotham, they were likely not anticipating being a player down for 83 minutes against the stingiest defense in NWSL. Unfortunately, after a 7th minute red card for a denial of goal scoring opportunity* for Sam Stabb, the Spirit found themselves swimming upstream against the formidable Gotham defense and trying to keep the water out of the boat, repelling counterattack after counterattack. Instead of becoming a lopsided result, goals were flying in Loudoun with Burke imploring the team at halftime to go out and win the game. Ultimately, the Spirit were unable to overcome the man advantage and lost 3-2.
With Tori Huster unavailable after feeling the after effects of an Andi Sullivan shot in the last game, Tara McKeown was added to the starting lineup and the Spirit opened up in a 4-3-3. The Spirit claimed the first chance, with Trinity Rodman laying off to McKeown and forcing a point blank save from Didi Haracic in the first minute.
The turf at Segra Field has been a constant point of focus for the players and coach, with the inability to water the turf leading to slower ball movement on warmer days. Potentially in an effort to bypass this issue, the Spirit started out the game playing a number of diagonal long balls out of the back to try to catch their wingers behind the Gotham defense.
The Spirit were having the better possession and connecting on those long passes until a sequence in the 5th minute led to a red card on Sam Stabb on a foul one atom outside the 18 yard box. After the game, it was still unclear to the Washington coaching staff if it was a DOGSO penalty or something else, but Burke wisely deferred talking about the refereeing after a number of his compatriots had gotten in trouble for doing the same last week.
The free kick that resulted from the foul came to nothing and Andi Sullivan stayed back to play centerback the rest of the game.
Despite the gut punch of a red card, it was actually the Spirit who took first blood. Trinity Rodman was sprung by Sullivan, who played a through ball out to the left wing. Rodman collected the ball, cut back in on her right foot and bent it inside the far post of Haracic (who was able to get a glove to it) for a 1-0 lead.
Gotham reacted quickly, and forced Aubrey Bledsoe into saves in the 14th minute on Ifeoma Onamanu, 18th minute on a Midge Purce cross, and the 22nd minute again denying a shot by Purse. The momentum was definitely tilted in the visitor’s direction when Nahomi Kawasumi slotted in a goal line save by Paige Nielsen off of a Gotham corner in the 24th minute to bring the score level at 1-1.
After the goal, the pressure continued on the Spirit backline with a giveaway by Dorian Bailey in the 30th minute that should have resulted in a goal and one in the 34th minute by Paige Nielsen, although she quickly snuffed out the resulting chance.
One minute later, Gotham struck again from a corner kick. This time, McCall Zerboni created space for herself at the top of the 6 yard box and Nielsen was slow to react to her movement. She was able to head it past Bledsoe and gain the lead for Gotham towards the end of the first half.
The last 10 minutes of the first half consisted largely of stretches of the Spirit being unable to build out of the back, losing possession and allowing Gotham to quickly move into their counterattack. Worse yet, Rodman and Ashley Hatch went down injured in the 42nd minute. Rodman was able to return but unfortunately Hatch was subbed at halftime due to a recurrence of concussion symptoms.
The chaotic first half bled right into the start of the second half, with conservatively 345 passes consecutively completed by Gotham culminating in another miss for Onumonu that had to be a 1 xG level miss. The Spirit were not holding back, with Rodman crossing the ball from the wing to a darting Ashley Sanchez at the back post, and but for maybe a 2 inch longer cleat, the game would have been tied in the 55th minute. Luckily, ball don’t lie.
After a foul on Mariana Speckmaier outside of Gotham’s 18 yard box, Tegan McGrady and Ashley Sanchez stood over the ball. Sanchez took the initiative, and struck a beautiful bending kick past a diving Haracic to bring the game level again.
After the game, Sanchez after nearly scoring last Saturday on a free kick at a similar distance, she felt confident to take the chance again. In the 64th minute, Karina Rodriguez came in for Trinity Rodman and Kumi Yokoyama took the place of Tara McKeown.
Unfortunately for Washington, the draw disappeared in the 76th minute. Ifeoma Onumonu ran through a gap in the Spirit defense and found Midge Purce past a diving Nielsen and Anna Heilferty to tuck in the winner.
The Spirit continued to push and look for a winner, with the bench chance falling to Speckmaier, after she failed to convert a pinpoint cross from substitute Camryn Biegalski from a few yards out. At the end of the game, too many key offensive players were substituted and the ones that remained had just been running their lungs out for 80 minutes plus.
Major takeaways:
Red cards change games, and this one absolutely impacted the way that the Spirit wanted to play. However, going down a man didn’t impact their outlook on the game and Burke was stubbornly keeping on his offensive weapons and urging them to continue pushing for 3 points. While the end result was not the desired one, the team should be proud of the effort they made at Segra Field.
Andi Sullivan and Paige Nielsen put in heroic performances, with Sullivan getting to play about 7 minutes in her preferred midfield before slotting back for the missing Staab while still offering up offensive creativity and lung busting runs into the 90th minute. Paige Nielsen is still building her way back up to 90 minutes after an extended time period, and as he said after the game, Burke will likely be hearing from Michael Minthorne, the High Performance Director of the Spirit. Due to the available players and the situation, Burke had to push Nielsen to her limit, and despite being near the ball on two of the goals, she put together an extremely gutsy and physical performance. The Spirit are lucky to have her back full strength as the summer season continues.
Trinity Rodman continues to be “a problem”. It would be wonderful for the Spirit if they were able to rest her for a week or so to settle her back spasms down completely, but they will not have that luxury. She is simply too dynamic and integral to the Spirit attack. Ashley Sanchez continues to grow every week, and her free kick goal will be in the Spirit highlight reel for some time.
Ashley Hatch’s potential concussion could be a real problem for this team. Tara McKeown and Mariana Speckmaier are the only other true #9 on the roster, and both are young and unproven. If Hatch is sidelined for any amount of time, Burke may have to get creative with the forwards in the upcoming games.
The Spirit are back in action on July 25th, returning to Lynn Family Stadium in Louisville, looking to avenge an early season 2-0 defeat.
Scoring Summary:
WAS- Trinity Rodman – 13’
NJ/NY – Naho Kawasumi – 24’
NJ/NY – McCall Zerboni – 35’
WAS – Ashley Sanchez – 56’
NJ/NY – Midge Purce – 76’
Lineups:
WAS (4-3-3): 1- Aubrey Bledsoe; 9- Tegan McGrady (24- Chinyelu Asher 81’); 3- Samantha Staab; 21- Anna Heilferty (30- Camryn Biegalski 81’); 14- Paige Neilsen; 19- Dorian Bailey; 12- Andi Sullivan; 27-Tara McKeown (17- Kumi Yokoyama 73’); 10- Ashley Sanchez; 2- Trinity Rodman (25- Karina Rodriguez 64’); 33- Ashley Hatch (20-Mariana Speckmaier 45’)
Unused Substitutes: 31- Sydney Schneider; 26- Taylor Aylmer; 28-Morgan Goff; 18-Devon Kerr
NJ/NY (4-4-2): 13- Didi Haracic; 28- Imani Dorsey; 12- Gina Lewandowski; 24- Estelle Johnson; 3- Caprice Dydasco; 27- Gaëtane Thiney (11- Sodam Lee 61’); 16- Allie Long; 7- McCall Zerboni; 9- Naho Kawasumi (18- Delanie Sheehan 75’); 25- Ifeoma Onumonu (19- Elizabeth Eddy 85’); 23- Midge Purce
Unused Substitutes: 2- Brianna Pinto; 6- Jennifer Cudjoe; 14- Kenie Wright; 15- Sabrina Flores; 17- Domi Richardson; 21- Mandy McGlynn
Stats Summary: WAS / NJ/NY
Shots: 8 / 24
Shots on Target: 5 / 7
Saves: 3 / 4
Blocked Shots: 1 / 4
Fouls: 5 / 10
Offside: 2 / 7
Misconduct Summary:
WAS – Sam Staab 7’ – Red Card
NJ/NY – Allie Long 51’ – Yellow Card
NJ/NY – Midge Purce 92’ – Yellow Card