Surrounded by the support of a record-breaking sellout crowd, the Washington Spirit (1-1) fell 0-2 to the Kansas City Current (2-0) in their season home opener March 22 at Audi Field. Despite holding the majority of possession and completing over 20% more passes than the Current, the Spirit failed to convert, spurred by video assistant referee (VAR) footage reviews called against Washington. 

The 19,254 bundled-up fans filed into the stadium at Audi Field Saturday night, braving the blistering wind to cheer on their team (and boo the referees) in a new Spirit home opener record. The match marked the third consecutive home sellout for the Spirit and a 7,500-person increase in attendance from last year’s home opener, a season culminating in an NWSL championship bid. 

The 2025 season is not shaping up to be quite as successful. Despite winning their first game against the Houston Dash March 14, the Spirit entered Saturday’s match sitting at third in the NWSL based on goal differential behind the Orlando Pride, last year’s champions, and the Current themselves, who took down the Portland Thorns 3-1 the week prior. Coming into Saturday’s match, the Spirit held a 5-3-0 historical record over the Current.

Following Saturday’s match, the Spirit fell to seventh in the NWSL standings. 

Saturday’s match began on the Spirit side, with midfielder Narumi Miura passing the ball to fellow midfielder Leicy Santos. The Current attempted to quickly gain control of play, committing a foul less than a minute into the match. Their attacking strategy proved semi-successful, yielding them the ball less than a minute into play despite their conceded foul. However, the Spirit quickly gained back possession before the Current took control again, and back went the ball to the Spirit, who kicked it out of bounds. Interceptions, intermingling with the sidelines, erroneous passes, ineffectual throw-ins — the list goes on, and the ball ping-ponged without much direction for the majority of the first half. 

Both teams looked closer to finding their groove as the game approached the 15-minute mark. The Spirit were trialing a new 5-back defensive position, hoping to shut down 2024 NWSL MVP forward Temwa Chawinga, and their defensive fluidity built. Offense on both ends remained lacking. The Spirit and the Current both put up multiple goal attempts, though balls sailed wide. 

The half ended scoreless — the only event of note being a yellow card against Kansas City midfielder Claire Hutton.

Returning from the halftime break, the pace of the game rapidly accelerated. The Spirit sent up a goal attempt in the 46th minute, and the Current swiftly responded with one in the 47th. Kansas City put in a few more attempts, but Spirit goalkeeper Aubrey Kingsbury swept in for the save each time. 

In the 51st minute, Chawinga put up a header for the Current that was blocked by the Spirit’s tight defense as a whistle screeched through the stands, holding the potential for a Current penalty kick. VAR footage review ruled the Spirit’s block a handball off defender Esme Morgan. Lo’eau LaBonta lined up Kansas City’s penalty kick at the 56-minute mark and sent it swinging off her right boot and into the net.

The Spirit staff made swift plans to attain the equalizer, subbing out 17-year old midfielder Chloe Ricketts and replacing her with Spirit sensation forward Trinity Rodman in the 57th minute to erupting crowd cheers. Rodman has been nursing a back injury since September 2024 that left her out of the U.S. national team’s January camp.

In the 58th minute, Washington drew a corner that made its way into the box and out to Rodman at the edge, who effortlessly sent the ball flying into the back of the net. A whistle blew, and Rodman was initially ruled offside. But the VAR consultation deemed Rodman onside, and a potential Spirit penalty kick was suggested. Further VAR review identified an initially missed offensive foul, and the prospect of a much-needed penalty kick was rescinded. Kansas City was gifted the ball back in the 62nd minute.

The Spirit looked like they had a shot at a goal again in the 67th minute, following what appeared to be a flagrant foul by the Current. But VAR once again turned against the Spirit, and the promising penalty was withdrawn once more. 

The punctuated regulation time of the second half ran out, with both teams failing to capitalize on counter-attacks and convert to a goal. Eleven minutes of stoppage time were added to the second half, which saw Kingsbury record her 500th career save and Chawinga head up the pitch on a fast break before sending in an attempt that rolled out of Kingsbury’s dive, found its way back onto Chawinga’s foot and into the back of the net. 

While the Spirit lost to the Current in what may appear to be a decisive defeat, the team was satisfied with their improving performance. The team instituted a new defensive strategy with a 5-back before shifting to a 3-back, and they found their groove. Calls did not go in favor of the team, but the opportunities were there. While the Current did record more shots and shots on target with 16 and 6, respectively, compared to the Spirit’s 11 and 3, respectively, the Spirit dominated the pitch, controlling 56% of the possession, sending off 450 passes and drawing 10 corners. Kansas City held 44% of the possession, sent off 363 passes, and drew a mere 4 corners.

Kingsbury echoed a positive sentiment of the team’s performance in a postgame press conference, saying the Spirit’s performance improved throughout the match.

“That is a win and we can take that as a positive and hopefully build on that for Friday’s home game,” Kingsbury said.

Kingsbury, however, also echoed the team’s fears of disappointing the fans. This match marked the Spirit’s third consecutive sellout home spectacle.

Kingsbury said this loss was especially dispiriting.

“It hurts because it’s at Audi,” Kingsbury said. “We know we’re the better team.” 

The Spirit return to the pitch March 28 at Audi Field, where they will host Bay FC (1-0-1) in a rematch of last year’s NWSL quarterfinals. The team will look to make a triumphant return to the pitch in front of their home crowd.