The Spirit’s winning streak ended at 4 after a tough loss to the Pride in front of 11,636 fans.
The Washington Spirit (4-0-1) came out with a slightly changed formation, with midfielder Paige Metayer coming on in place of forward Ashley Hatch. The Pride were able to give their first start to new forward Barbra Banda to compliment their undefeated squad (2-3-0).
The game began with a good deal of back and forth without any real chances on goal. The Spirit’s first chance came in the ninth minute when midfielder Paige Metayer took the ball from the corner of the 18 yard box and, after a nice move to avoid one defender, sent a low cross to forward Ouleye Sarr. Sarr’s shot was weak and right to the feet of Pride goalkeeper Anna Moorhouse, leaving Sarr to pound the ground in frustration. Eight minutes later Trinity Rodman had a powerful shot from right outside the box that forced a slight but manageable dive from Moorhouse to save it from going in the goal.
The Pride’s first goal came in the 22nd minute when their attack down the right side went all the way to the endline where Pride forward Banda, who beat Spirit centerback Annaïg Butel, sent the ball back toward the penalty spot. Pride midfielder Angelina then beat Metayer and one-timed it into the goal out of the reach of Spirit goalkeeper Kingsbury.
Then in the 41st minute, Croix Bethune threaded a pass past a sliding defender to an advancing Ouleye Sarr, who was then one-on-one with Moorhouse. As Moorhouse came out to challenge, Sarr chipped the ball from the top of the box over her and into the goal to tie the game up 1-1.
Seven minutes of extra time were added to the first half. Halfway through that extra time Spirit midfielder Andi Sullivan went in for a challege against Pride forward Summer Yates, leaving Yates on the ground in pain. Sullivan was shown a yellow card for the offense, which she contested before backing away when it looked like the referee might pull a second yellow for dissent.
The first half ended with no more real chances by either team and they went into the locker rooms tied 1-1.
The second half started off with a change for the Spirit, when they brought in forward Ashley Hatch for Ouleye Sarr.
At first play was mostly in the midfield and then the Pride were able to push toward the Spirit goal. After a number of passes, they were able to garner a corner kick in the 51st minute. Yates took the corner and sent it to the near post where it was flicked on right at Banda standing at the top of the 6-yard box. Banda’s quick header went over Kingsbury and the Pride took the lead 2-1. It was Banda’s first NWSL goal.
The Pride continued to control the ball for the next few minutes. At the 54th minute, Banda received the ball toward the top of the 18 yard box and Spirit defender Butel came in to challenge but missed the ball and fouled Banda, resulting in a penalty kick.
Summer Yates converted the penalty as she sent Aubrey Kingsbury the wrong way putting the Pride up 3-1.
The play went back and forth for a while before the Spirt had a spell of control. In the 65th minute, after moving the ball around the area just outside the box, the Pride got the ball but midfielder Kerry Abello took a bad touch and Spirit forward Ashley Hatch took the ball away just outside the box. Turning away from her defender, Hatch took a powerful shot toward goal. Moorhouse mishandled it and the ball squirted up over her gloves and into the goal, cutting the Spirit’s deficit by one.
The remainder of second half regulation was a back and forth that didn’t result in any particularly dangerous chances. In the 81st minute, while defending a long ball over to the far corner, Spirit defender Anna Heilferty, who had come in for Gabrielle Carle earlier in the second half was injured. Heilferty spent the 2023 season out with an ACL tear and this injury was also to her left knee, causing some obvious concern, but she was able to walk off on her own power. She would not return.
Then just before extra time, Pride defender Brianna Martinez stopped a Rodman breakaway by fouling her, receiving a yellow card. She had previously received a yellow in another foul against Rodman in the 71st minute, therefore she was given an accumulation red card and was sent off, leaving the Pride with 10 players for the 11 minutes of extra time.
The Spirit largely controlled stoppage time. They had one excellent chance in the 7th minute of stoppage. Tara McKeown sent a hard pass to Ashley Hatch, who was inside the penalty arch. Hatch then turned and sent a hard shot from the top of the box that bounced off the underside of the crossbar but didn’t go in. Metayer’s header off the rebound then went over the goal and landed on top of the netting.
The Pride held on for the remainder of extra time and came away with the win. The Spirit fell to 4-0-2 and the Pride remained undefeated with a record of 3-3-0.
Post by Kelley Piper
