Having clinched a berth in the 2024 National Women’s Soccer League (NWSL) playoffs the night before, the Washington Spirit exuded energy and excitement while hosting the Houston Dash at Audi Field last Sunday. With the pressure lifted off their shoulders, the Spirit are now focused on making the final tweaks and finishes before the postseason.
The Houston Dash entered the matchup sitting dead last in the standings, having not won an NWSL game since May 24. Although no win is ever a guarantee, the Spirit were clearly the overwhelming favorites for the afternoon.
A few new faces made the Spirit’s starting lineup: English defender Esme Morgan — signed from the FA Women’s Super League’s Manchester City this June — made her first appearance, and forward Brittany Ratcliffe — signed from the NWSL’s North Carolina Courage in the offseason — earned her third start (and first since May).
The Spirit had about as good of a start as they could have asked for after a controversial penalty — a handball in the box by Dash defender Allysha Chapman — was called in their favor in just the second minute of play. After a video assistant referee check, forward Ashley Hatch cleanly buried the penalty to put the Spirit up 1-0 just seven minutes in.
Though the game was relatively uneventful for the next 20 minutes, Spirit star forward Trinity Rodman made sure to quickly pick up the slack. In the 26th minute, Rodman positioned a perfectly precise cross into the box to set Hatch up perfectly for a tap-in goal, putting the Spirit up 2-0 and giving Hatch a first-half brace. The goal would be Hatch’s 50th of her NWSL career, putting her in elite company with only 6 other players to have ever reached that milestone.
Things seemed almost too good to be true when the Spirit put the ball in the back of the net for a third time just five minutes later. A corner-kick sequence by midfielder Leicy Santos and defender Casey Krueger saw Morgan’s initial shot saved by Dash keeper Jane Campbell, but Santos got on the end of the rebound and then beat Campbell. However, the referee spotted a foul in the box during the play, so the scoreline remained 2-0.
The 14 minutes of first-half stoppage time saw the Spirit continue to unleash attack after attack on the Dash’s box: Ratcliffe hit the post 2 times in just 9 minutes. However, the Spirit would end the first half up 2-0, but certainly with the better of the momentum going into the second.
The Spirit’s strong ending to the first half paid off. In just the first minute of the second half, Trinity Rodman landed an absolutely stunning solo effort goal from outside the penalty box, seemingly out of nowhere, to make the score 3-0 and almost certainly put the game away for the Spirit immediately after they reentered the field. The goal was Rodman’s 8th of the season, tying her with forward Ouleymata Sarr for most on the team, and the joint 4th-most in the league).
Although the second half saw multiple more good looks for the Spirit, including multiple from rookie forward Makenna Morris, the game concluded with the Spirit winning 3-0.
The Spirit’s win against the Houston Dash was their second win against the Dash of the season. Their previous victory came back in April on a 3-1 scoreline. The Spirit are now undefeated in their last five league games, with four of those being wins.
Having already clinched a spot in the 2024 NWSL Playoffs, the Spirit will now look to use their remaining six regular season games to keep up the good form they have shown of late and fine-tune the team before the playoffs. Expectations will be high: The Spirit fell just short of earning a playoff berth last season, so fans are anticipating a more convincing showing this year, especially with the Spirit having qualified so early in the season.
The team will travel to Kansas City, Mo., this Friday, Sept. 20 to take on the Kansas City Current, who currently sit in fourth place with 39 points, two places behind the Spirit, who sit in second place with 44 points. Coincidentally, these two teams faced off just a few weeks ago as well, in a fixture that saw the Spirit come away with a 4-1 win. They will certainly be looking to play a similar game this time around and continue their final push towards the 2024 NWSL Playoffs.