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Spirit cruised in their Concacaf W Championship debut with a dominant victory in El Salvador against Alianza FC

For the first time in the club’s 13-year history, the Washington Spirit were participating in an international tournament, as they began their participation in the Concacaf W Championship. The Spirit qualified for the tournament thanks to finishing 2ndĀ in the NWSL standings last season.Ā 


This game also marked the first time the team played their first competitive match in international soil, as they flew to El Salvador to take on current Salvadoran league champions and 10-time league winners Alianza Women’s FC, as both teams kicked off play in Group B of the tournament in Estadio Las Delicias in the city of Santa Tecla Tuesday night.Ā 


The Spirit put on a dominant showing in their Concacaf W Championship debut as they soundly defeated Alianza by a final score of 7-0.Ā 


Rosemond Kouassi and Chloe Ricketts celebrate during the Spirits' victory against Alianza FC. Photo Credit: Washington Spirit
Rosemond Kouassi and Chloe Ricketts celebrate during the Spirits' victory against Alianza FC. Photo Credit: Washington Spirit

The Game

The Spirit created several goal-scoring opportunities early, but Alianza goalkeeper Samantha Valadez was able to keep the Spirit’s offense at bay and keep them from opening up the scoring.Ā 


However, the Spirit would open up the scoring in the 21st minute. On an Alianza throw-in, the Spirit’s high press was able to force the Salvadoran outfit into an error in their backline. Rosemonde Kouassi intercepted the ball and played a pass inside the box to Chloe Ricketts, who went charging towards goal. As she made her way inside the penalty area, Ricketts was clipped from behind by Neyda Martinez inside the box, and the referee did not hesitate to award the Spirit the penalty. Kouassi would step up to take the penalty, and the Ivorian forward buried it into the back of the net to give the Spirit the lead.Ā 



The Spirit doubled their lead just three minutes later. Courtney Brown played a pass that ping-ponged off a teammate and into the feet of Kouassi. Kouassi charged into the box, laying the ball off to Ricketts, who shot the ball onto Valadez, who came off her line to impede the 18-year-old forward from scoring. After two attempts that were saved by the Alianza goalkeeper, Ricketts was able to get a third shot that ended up finding its way into the wide-open net to double the Spirit’s lead.Ā 



Washington opened up the scoring in the second half as Kouassi won the ball off an Alianza defender after her attempted through ball to Trinity Rodman was intercepted, and Kouassi would make a sweeping challenge close to the box and took on the Alianza defenders, getting a shot off in the box. Her attempt was stopped by Valadez, but the ensuing rebound would fall to Brittnay Ratcliffe, who simply placed the ball in the lower left-hand corner of the net to further the Spirits' lead.Ā 



The Spirit would further their lead in the 51st minute after a long, bending pass from Rebeca Bernal found Makena Morris on the right-hand side. Morris would take on a defender inside the box and take a shot from a weird angle, which Valadez was equal to; however, Kouassi would pounce on the rebound and put the ball in the back of the net to secure her second goal of the night.Ā 



In the 56th minute, Kysha Sylla played a pass to Ricketts, who carried the ball past the midfield line and laid a pass to a wide-open Ratcliffe. As Ratcliffe raced down the right-hand side, she played a cross to an open Rodman, who was following the play in the back post, as Valadez was not able to secure the incoming cross, and the ball also skipped an Alianza defender as Rodman simply placed the ball into the back of the net.Ā 



Kouassi would secure her hat-trick in the 59th minute after Sylla reset the ball and played to Bernal, who placed a scorching pass down the right-hand side to Morris, who gave chase to the ball. She laid it off to Ratcliffe, who sent a cross to Kouassi, who headed the ball down to the ground before it crossed the line, securing the Ivorian forward’s hat-trick.Ā Ā Ā 

Ratcliffe nearly secured her hat-trick in the 82nd minute after a Heather Stainbrook cross found her open inside the box, but her header would go wide of the goal.Ā 



The Spirit put the final touches on their dominant victory in the 89th minute. Croix Bethune played the ball to Ratcliffe, who slipped a through ball to an incoming Sofia Cantore inside the box. The Italian forward shot the ball towards the middle, and the ball went past Valadez, securing Cantore's 2nd career Spirit goal.Ā 



With this result, Washington sits atop Group B along with Gotham FC with three points, with the Spirit having a better goal differential. Gotham defeated Monterrey 2-1.Ā 


Now the Spirit has a quick turnaround as they travel to Northern California to resume NWSL play. They travel to San Francisco as they face Bay FC at Oracle Park, the home of the MLB franchise San Francisco Giants. The game will take place on Saturday afternoon with kickoff scheduled for 4 pm EST.Ā 


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