In a game that could have sent them to the playoffs, the Spirit fell to the Courage 0-1 at Audi Field.
When Decision Day began, the Spirit (7-5-9, 5th place) needed only a win to ensure they would move through to the playoffs (or a number of other combinations thanks to 8 teams still being in the hunt for the final 4 playoff spots). Their opponent, the North Carolina Courage (8-7-6, 3rd place), were in a slightly better position where either a draw or win assured they moved into the postseason. The normal rivalry between these two teams, therefore, was even more heightened than usual.
The game kicked off in front of 15,479 spectators on a late afternoon with perfect soccer weather at Audi Field. However, the Spirit were missing two very important people. Head Coach Mark Parsons and centerback Tara McKeown, were both suspended due to yellow card accumulation. Assistant coach Mike Bristol stood in for Parsons (who watched the game from a suite).
The Spirit had to shuffle their back line due to the McKeown suspension, moving defender Annaïg Butel from right outside back to partner with Sam Staab as the right center back. This brought Dorian Bailey back into the starting XI while the rest of the lineup was no surprise (Kingsbury, Carle, Staab, Butel, Bailey, Metayer, Sanchez, Sullivan, Sarr, Rodman, and Hatch). The Courage starters were Murphy, Fox, Berkely, Kurtz, Williams, Narumi, O’Sullivan, Lussi, Manaka, Kerolin, and Boade.
Once the whistle blew, it took only a short while for the action to really unfold. The first shot attempt came in only the second minute off an O’Sullivan cross to Lussi, who one-timed it right to Kingsbury. Early on, possession was dominated by the Courage, which is no wonder as they led the league in that stat by the end of the season. It wasn’t until the 10th minute that the Spirit had a spell of possession, leading finally to an attempt over the goal by Hatch in the twelfth minute from just outside the box.
A better chance happened only a minute later after Sullivan intercepted the ball and the Spirit got a quick break from midfield that ended with a Sarr attempt at a low header that was mishit and went off of the Courage’s Williams only a few meters from goal. Rodman attempted a quick shot off that deflection but it was easily handled by the opposing goalkeeper, Murphy.
The Spirit’s first scare came off a Kerolin cross that led to Lussi and Bailey colliding and leaving an easy clearance for Staab. The resulting quick break by Rodman led to nothing, but Bailey remained down in front of goal and required treatment. Luckily she was able to continue.
Then in the 21st minute, Rodman was frustrated that she didn’t get a call and turned that frustration into a foul that at first resulted in a yellow. After a VAR check, however, that foul on O’Sullivan resulted in her being sent off with a red card.
Only a few minutes after a tearful Rodman left the field, the Courage were able to press their player advantage. A wonderful pass to Manaka, who was under no pressure, let her send a ball across the face of goal. Tyler Lussi, who was making a well-timed run, was able to beat Kingsbury to the ball and score the goal. The loud appeals for offside were for naught after VAR confirmed that Manaka was onside when she received the initial pass.
The next few minutes, as the crowd still continued to loudly protest the lack of an offside call, were full of foul calls against the Spirit and a long attempt by Manaka that was easily handled by Kingsbury. Every possession that the Spirit managed was quickly thwarted by the Courage. The Spirit continued to play defense as the Courage probed for another attack. Finally the Courage got a ball through to Boade, who took an initial shot that Kingsbury batted back only for Manaka to take a quick rebound shot that Kingsbury also saved. The flag came up after the wonderful double save, but the crowd definitely enjoyed Kingsbury’s effort.
The Spirit’s best chance of the first half came after Sarr got to the ball just before it went out over the end line. She looped the ball to the other side of goal, where Sanchez also had to make a quick shot back from the end line toward the box. Metayer got the ball from Murphy’s attempt to grab it and shot toward goal, but a combination of Williams and Narumi managed to keep the ball from crossing the line.
That seemed to spur the Spirit on and they had a much larger percentage of possession for the next few minutes before the Courage reverted to holding onto the ball in the Spirit’s half for much of the rest of the first half.
The second half turned out to be much like the first. With a player down, the Spirt just couldn’t manage to hold onto the ball enough to sustain attacks while the Courage were able to easily play their possession-heavy style and keep pressure on the Spirit’s defense.
The Courage did not leave this game without a major loss, however. In the 61st minute, while trying to stop the Spirit from starting another attack, Kerolin was injured and had to leave the game. The injury led her to be placed on the season-ending injury list due to a torn ACL.
The rest of the game really wasn’t too eventful. Courage midfielder Brittany Ratcliffe earned a yellow card shortly after coming on as a sub for kicking the ball away after a stop in play. Spirit Substitute Amber Brooks tried to get a bicycle kick flick toward goal off a Staab long throw in, but it was for naught.
After 9 minutes of stoppage time, and despite fighting hard, especially down a player for 70+ minutes, the Spirit were knocked out of the playoffs by ending up in 7th place.
Post by Kelley Piper
Photos from the game
