Well, that didn’t go as planned! After a changed location, a soft red card for their captain, and what could be charitably called…unpredictable refereeing, the Washington Spirit snuck out of BBVA Stadium with all three points and their first win of the season.
With the game scheduled to be the home opener for the Spirit at Segra Field, the NWSL forced the team to play the game in another location, as Segra’s lack of running water in the “locker rooms” meant that it was unsuitable for the NWSL standard. The team tried to move the game to Audi Field, but terms offered by DC United were too steep or onerous for the the Spirit to accept, and the “home game” was instead played in Houston on Wednesday night.
After you’ve checked out a few gamers, here’s a few important things about this game:
This was all about overcoming adversity. The relocation to Houston. An early defensive lapse that put the Spirit down 1-0. A soft first yellow and a soft second yellow for captain Andi Sullivan put Spirit behind the 8 ball for most of the second half. Continually perplexing refereeing decisions. Any of this could have doomed the Spirit to a loss, but despite all that, a second half goal for Ashley Hatch, sprung by a great long ball by Natalie Jacobs (playing in a deep lying midfield role) gave the Spirit a lead that they wouldn’t surrender. After multiple games with dominance without reward, the Spirit took advantage of the fewer chances and got the result. This will give the team some confidence as they head to take on the OL Reign on the road and see an old friend who this website very much doesn’t want to play against.
Trinity Rodman and Kelley O’Hara need a break. Both players threw their bodies around with reckless abandon, spending lots of time on the ground in a heap. That level of sacrifice was necessary, as both players were instrumental in creating chances in attack and Rodman especially continues to impress with her poise on the ball and ability to dribble out of tight spaces. O’Hara had some issue keeping up with the Houston attack on the wing, but she continues to be playing at a high level with a less than 100% knee.
Ashley Hatch is heating up. The Achilles heel for this team in recent months has been inefficient finishing, and many were looking to Hatch to step up her game and be the solution to that problem. This issue resulted in the Spirit using early draft picks on forwards and Richie Burke continuing to tease a big name attacking signing in the summer. Early in 2021, Hatch is showing that she can be the solution to the scoring woes faced by the Spirit.
Ashley Sanchez scored a golazo. I mean, look.
Aside from the goal, Sanchez had an uneven game. She undoubtedly has talent and can elevate herself to do something that no one else on the field can do. Once she can keep her levels up for an entire 90 minutes, she will be impossible to play against and the Spirit will have a real dangerous player on their hands. As she gets there, though, scoring these goals are nice too.
The Spirit head to Tacoma to face OL Reign in three days. This will be a tough test and I hope the players are chin deep in ice baths as we speak.