The Washington Spirit took on Bay FC on a Friday night for their second home game in a week at Audi Field. The game was hard fought with emotions flaring at various points in the game. But it was the Spirit that had the better of the action early in the game.
Two early close chances for the Spirit followed a miss by Bay in the 6th minute. First forward Ashley Hatch had a header go just left of the goal off a Narumi Miura free kick. Then rorward Trinity Rodman, starting her first match of the season as she comes back from injury, hit a shot in the 14th minute that deflected off a Bay player and almost snuck under the bar and past a leaping Bay goalkeeper Jordan Silkowitz. A Makenna Morris follow up went awry to squander the chance.
But only about ten minutes later, in the 24th minute Spirit midfielder Leicy Santos sent in a cross from outside the box that Hatch was able to redirect with her head into the far right side of the goal. That goal put Hatch into the top five of goal scorers all-time in the league.
Then just three minutes later, on a Miura free kick earned when Rodman was fouled just outside the box, Hatch was able to send another header into the goal. Hatch is now also second on the list, behind only Lynn Biyendolo, for most game winners in the league’s thirteen years.
The remainder of the first half did not see another goal attempt by either team, and the second half mostly tilted toward Bay on the dangerous front. The West Coast team had two apparent goals called back, the first after a VAR check showed that Bay forward Asisat Oshoala had fouled Spirit defender Gabby Carle in the build up. The second was called back for being offside.
After 11 minutes of second-half stoppage time, the Spirit were able to walk away with all three points entering an international break. Their next game is on the road in Louisville on April 12th.
