The Washington Spirit home opener in front of a sold out crowd of 19,254 fans was against one of the best teams in the league last year, the Kansas City Current. The Spirit were again without a whole host of players on the bench including Hal Hershfelt, Croix Bethune, and Ouleye Sarr, all of whom are expected to return at some point this season, however not having them available has really put the Spirit under a lot of pressure. Star forward Trinity Rodman was available off the bench and played the majority of the second half.
The first half ended in a scoreless draw, but in the second half the Current were able to take the lead after a VAR check revealed a hand ball in the box, resulting in a penalty kick converted by Current captain Lo’eau Labonta.
Shortly after Rodman came on, she put the ball in the net on a corner, but it was initially ruled offside. After a VAR review, it was determined that Rodman was onside, but another player had committed a foul in the box and the goal was disallowed. Later in the second half, Spirit forward Ashley Hatch went down in the box and was initially awarded a penalty kick, but it was overruled after another VAR check.
The Current were about to add a second goal in second half stoppage time when Temwa Chawinga received a long pass and was able to beat her defender. Aubrey Kingsbury was able to stop the initial attack but was only able to parry it away, allowing Chawinga an open net to score the final goal.
