The third place Washington Spirit took on second place Kansas City Current as the first game of a doubleheader at Audi Field that saw a total attendance of 17,130 fans at Audi Field. The beginning of the game saw the Current with most of the ball as they quickly began to pressure the Spirit defense with a number of shots and a corner all within the first 8 minutes. But then in the 9th minute new Spirit signing Leicy Santos passed a ball from before midfield out to Paige Metayer, playing right back for the first time in the regular season. Metayer then drove down the field, cut the ball back around her defender near the top of the box, and took a shot near post that Current goalkeeper AD Franch was unable to get down for. It was not only Metayer’s first goal of the regular season, it was her first shot on goal and the first goal in her career that was not a header.
The Spirit’s second goal again came after a period of Current possession. But a poor pass from the Current in their own defensive half allowed Spirit midfielder Croix Bethune to intercept and then make another wonder pass to Spirit forward Ouleye Sarr, who was able to send the ball low to Franch’s left and snuck just out of her reach to hit the far side netting. It was Sarr’s eighth goal of the season, and Bethune’s 10th assist, which ties the single season NWSL record, held by Tobin Heath since 2016.
The rest of the first half saw the Spirit defending against more of the attack of the Current, who were unable to get past the stalwart Spirit defense to manufacture much in the way of quality chances.
The second half saw the Spirit begin to control the game more than in the first. With more of the possession, it was no surprise that the Spirit were able to score again. In the 51st minute, Trinity Rodman, who had just returned from her massive Olympics effort, received a pass from Paige Metayer inside the box and sent the ball across the face of goal. The ball deflected off of Current defender Ellie Wheeler and went over Franch into the far side netting.
The Current were finally able to get one back in the 64th minute when league leading scorer Temwa Chawinga received a pass and was able to get around three Spirit defenders before putting a quick shot into the lower right corner of the net just below Spirit goalkeeper Aubrey Kingsbury hand. But the Spirit were able to again bring the lead to three when, in the 73rd minute, Leicy Santos was able to add to her first game stats with a goal from the left side of the box. Gabby Carle fought off an opponent and saved the ball from going over the endline before sending the ball into the box where Santos was able to do a quick turn and send the ball across the goal into the far side netting.
The Spirit then held on for the rest of the game to come out with the 4-1 win, putting them in second place with a 2 point and 2 goal differential lead on the Current in the standings. The Orlando Pride still sit unbeaten at the top of the league with 41 points (4 more than the Spirit) and a GD of 21 (also 4 more than the Spirit).
