The Washington Spirit hosted the San Diego Wave on Fan Appreciation Day in front of 17,422 fans (the fifth largest crowd in Spirit history). The Spirit entered the day handily in second place, with a 6 point lead over third place Gotham, but with a number of teams still within striking distance and the team wanting to have home field advantage through both the quarterfinals and semifinals of the playoffs, getting points out of the game was an important goal.
The Spirit started off the scoring in the ninth minute with a cross from Deb Abiodun to Rose Kouassi. Kouassi was waiting just in front of goal and was able to head the ball past Wave goalkeeper Kailen Sheridan. The remainder of the first half saw the Spirit with a few more chances, none of which they could finish, while the Wave did not have a single shot on goal.
The second half started off much as the first one ended. The Spirit continued to find opportunities, including a one-on-one chance for Gift Monday that she shot directly at Sheridan. It wasn’t until well into stoppage time that another goal would get on the board. The Wave’s only shot on goal of the entire day was scored by second half sub Delphine Cascarino.
It looked like the Spirit would have to settle for the draw, but with the last few seconds of stoppage time ticking away, Kouassi sent a long back into the box, ostensibly as a cross, but the ball went up over Sheridan and into the far side of the net, giving the Spirit the advantage. The whistle was blown directly after the restart and the Spirit were able to collect all three points. With Gotham’s draw, they are now up 8 points on their nearest rival and will only need 1 point to assure a home quarterfinal game and 2 points to potentially have both early round playoff games at home.
The Spirit next travel to North Carolina to face a Courage team that has been less than stellar this season. They currently sit in 9th place, currently 3 points short of 8th place and a spot in the playoffs.
