Spirit draws at home against the Chicago Stars in a highly close affair
- Mario Amaya
- 2 days ago
- 4 min read
After back-to-back games on the road, the Washington Spirit returned to the friendly confines of Audi Field, or “Rowdy Audi” as they call it, to take on the Chicago Stars, a team that was looking to break through at the expense of the home team, on Sunday afternoon in Washington, D.C.
After back-to-back road victories and in front of 16,605 that gathered to watch the match, a very close match between two teams on the opposite sides of the NWSL table, the Spirit only managed to get a 1-1 draw at home against the Stars.
“This league is crazy,” Spirit defender Gabrielle Carle said. “You never know week in, week out what you’re going to get.”
The Game
The Spirit created the first big scoring of the game, 45 seconds in, a Kate Wiesner throw-in attempting to find Sophia Cantore, which fell to Croix Bethune. Bethune played the ball off to Trinity Rodman and dribbled with the ball. She sent a cross into the box, rebounding off a Chicago defender. The ball fell to Cantore, who tried to use her back heel to beat Alyssa Naeher, but the former USWNT goalkeeper kept the ball away from goal. Carle would pick up the ensuing rebound, but her shot was denied by the wall of Chicago defenders on the goal line, as they cleared the ball out of play for a throw-in.
“Well, there are always things to improve, not at the end. You're left with a bittersweet taste in your mouth after a draw, and it feels like a defeat, but in the end, you have to appreciate it too. No, it's not easy for the team to win in this league yet. When we lost, I think it was in the first half; we needed to adjust to that pressure a bit. We didn't get in with an opponent who had four players inside in that diamond.” Said Spirit Head Coach Adrián González while also talking about Chicago’s diamond-shaped midfield formation. “Luckily, we have room for improvement, and we still have many games to play. To resolve that situation if it happens again. The things we've done well, we're creating opportunities every game. The team is ambitious in attack, has different ways of attacking, and we create chances. We were able to do so again, but it's not going to win the game. In the end, it wasn't to be today. But I think the team competes, competes until the end, right? We have the ability to rotate players, we can have different profiles, and from there, well, knowing that. In 2 days, we play another game, and next Sunday, we play again. Well, I think it's important not to have the versatility that we have.”
Weisner and Rodman would connect again in the 23rd minute. A Weisner free kick found the USWNT on the back post as her header connected to the ball and aimed in towards goal, but Naeher denied Rodman in the goal line, but left the ball to Rodman, whose ensuing shot hit the crossbar, but the opportunity was nulled due to an offside call.
Chicago had an opportunity to open up the scoring close to halftime after a Ludmila long ball found Ally Schlegel inside the box. Schlegel got a shot off, but her shot was stopped by Spirit goalkeeper Aubrey Kingsbury.
Chicago had a chance to open up the scoring early in the second half as a Julia Grosso low cross found Schlegel inside the box, but her shot went wide of the goal.
The Spirit opened up the scoring in the 57th minute. After a series of passes, the ball made its way to Rodman, who played the ball back to Bethune. Bethune would play a through ball to Rodman towards the end line. Rodman played the ball back towards goal to Paige Metayer, but Sam Angel was equal to the cross and attempted to clear the ball; however, her clearance would fall to Cantore, who placed the ball into the lower right corner of the net to get her second goal of the season and third goal overall as a member of the Spirit.
“Trin put a lot of balls inside the box in the first half,” said Cantore. “I was feeling like I had to be in the right place.”
Chicago would tie the game in the 68th minute. After an errant back pass from Hal Hershfelt, the ball would be intercepted by Ludmilla. The Brazilian striker charged towards goal and buried her shot past Kingsbury to tie the game and notched her 5th goal in three games.
“Chicago creates a lot of chaos,” Kingsbury said. “They’ve kind of thrived in the past couple of months being this late comeback team, somehow ending up with ties.”
When asked how he handled Hershfelt’s error González said: “I just gave her a hug and said, ‘We haven’t tried because of that.’ As a team, we win, we lose, and we tie together. I said that I love her and it’s going to be fine.”
Nadia Gomes had a chance to give Chicago the lead in the 81st minute, but her shot was stopped by Kingsbury, who came racing out of her line to the top of the box to make the save.
Metayer had a chance to grab the winner in stoppage time as she got to the end of a cross, shooting the ball with a one-timer with the outside of her right foot, but her shot went wide and out of play.
“We got that one extra point,” Bethune said. “But this game is behind us.”
With this result, the Spirit keep themselves in 2nd place of the NWSL standings with 32 points, while Chicago remains in 13th place with 11 points.
The Spirit will face another quick turnaround as they play two games this week at home. They will play their second Concacaf W Championship match when they host Vancouver Rise FC Academy on Wednesday night and then face the Seattle Reign on Sunday afternoon.
