Washington Spirit can’t stop winning. Just 5 games into the 2024 season, they are on a four-match winning streak after defeating NJ/NY Gotham FC 2-0 at home this afternoon.
Gotham was on the attack for much of the first 15 minutes and gave Washington a few scares, including a runaway corner counterattack that sent Aubrey Kingsbury sprinting back to her open goal and required a winning footrace and tackle by Ouleye Sarr to stop. The Spirit defended well, though, successfully executing on their game plan to prevent more early goals – a problem that plagued them through three of four previous games.
By the 40th minute, the Spirit were knocking at the door, having made four close shots in about 10 minutes. In this attack, Washington had recovered the ball on a counterattack in the 40th minute and passed it to Trinity Rodman in Gotham’s half. Rodman’s shot was saved by Gotham goalkeeper Cassie Miller and Sarr’s rebound shot by a Gotham defender, but Washington retained possession.
Regrouping, the Spirit got the ball to Casey Krueger, who found Croix Bethune between Gotham’s lines. Bethune quickly turned, moved find an opening, and ripped a left-footed shot from just outside the box, scoring her third goal of the season.
Minutes later, Bethune looked to have done it again when she got the ball behind Gotham’s back line and took another long-range shot into the back of the net. The resulting goal was called offsides, and Washington went into half time up a goal.
They started the second half strong as well but were unable to complete any chances until an error by Gotham fell in the Spirit’s favor. At the 66th minute, Bethune’s shot in the box was blocked by Sam Hiatt’s arm. Though play continued briefly, a quick VAR review confirmed the handball, and Ashley Hatch was sent to the spot. Hatch took a confident strike into the top right corner of the goal, converting her 10th consecutive penalty kick.
Gotham pushed hard to score over the remainder of the match, but Washington pushed back just as hard to prevent that, as a pair of yellow cards within two minutes of the penalty kick demonstrated. The Spirit defended well throughout the game, largely keeping Gotham out of the goal area and forcing off-target shots (though Kingsbury also made three saves), to create their first clean sheet of the season.
In this 2-0 defeat of the 2023 NWSL Champions, the Spirit looked confident, like a team that knows who they are and what they want to do on the pitch. They’ve clearly improved on their ability to solve matches, looking for weakness in their opponents that can be exploited. They repeatedly frustrated Gotham, who often looked low on ideas on how to contain the Spirit and keep them out of the box.
Speaking after the match, Rodman attributed much of the difference from last year to “confidence,” both individually and in their team.
“We’re not going alone; we’re going together, and I think that’s something [interim head coach] Adrián [González]’s embedded in us,” Rodman said. “We’re a family, we’re a team, and we’re going to work for each other.”
Three takeaways
- Croix Bethune, ROTY contendeer. The NWSL is a league about which it’s unwise to make early predictions. A lot can change in 21 games among a group of such competitive teams. But it feels safe to say that Croix Bethune, with 3 goals in her first 5 professional matches, is an early leader in the Rookie of the Year competition.
- Rodman-Sarr connection. The connection between forwards Rodman and Sarr was strong in this match, resulting in so many chances, including rebounds from one another’s shots, that it was somewhat astonishing there was no resulting goal. “I think right now what’s missing between me and her is execution, the finishing,” Rodman said, “I’m not proud of the opportunities I missed and she feels the same, so for us, I think our focus is putting it in the back of the net.”
- Attendance keeps climbing. The Spirit recorded their 4th largest attendance ever at this match, with 15,004 fans in attendance for this afternoon “blackout” match against a local rival.
Box Score
NWSL Regular Season – Game 5
Washington Spirit 2 (Bethune 41′, Hatch (P) 69′)
NJ/NY Gotham FC 0
Lineups
Washington Spirit (4231): Aubrey Kingsbury (C); Casey Krueger (Kate Wiesner 90+3′), Annaïg Butel, Tara McKeown, Gabby Carle; Croix Bethune (Chloe Ricketts 90+3′), Andi Sullivan, Hal Hershfelt (Paige Metayer 83′); Trinity Rodman, Ouleye Sarr (Brittany Ratcliffe 76′), Ashley Hatch (Courtney Brown 90+3′)
NJ/NY Gotham FC (433): Cassie Miller; Bruninha (Maycee Bell 75′), Tierna Davidson (Sam Hiatt 22′), Maitane Lopez, Jenna Nighswonger; Emily Sonnett (Ella Stevens 75′), Delanie Sheehan (Neely Martin 60′), Yazmeen Ryan; Esther González, Lynn Williams (C) (Crystal Dunn 60′), Katie Stengel
Misconduct Summary
Washington Spirit: Hershfelt 71′, Butel 86′
NJ/NY Gotham FC: Sonnett 55′, Nighswonger 70′
Happy to see about the attendance. I think we might see Jonatan Giraldez early if Barca can’t win the away leg at Chelsea. And what impresses me is that Gonzalez has said that while he’s pleased, the team has just barely begun to implement the system he and Giraldez have planned to go with.
I will repeat this in tomorrow’s Freedom Kicks but I am increasingly impressed with Trinity Rodman’s soccer IQ.
While the ref was off reviewing VAR for handball, all Gotham players were huddled at the midfield circle and all Spirit players were grouped near their bench, getting drinks and talking strategy.
However, Rodman was watching the ref. As soon as the ref gave the signal for a penalty kick, Rodman sprinted flat out 50 yards to station herself right at the junction between the ten yard circle from pk spot and the 18 yard box line. In short, the nearest distance from the pk in case of a rebound.
She was there 20-30 yards before any other player trotted/walked up and resolutely held her ground even while two-three Gotham players tried to push her away.
Finally, the ref had to walk up and tell Gotham players to back off — Trinity Rodman had laid a valid claim to that spot.
If you look at the video of Hatch’s pk, you can see Rodman positioned at that crucial spot, a step in advance of any Gotham defenders.
For a 21 year old, that’s remarkable veteran savvy.
That’s an outstanding observation. And yes, I completely agree with your overall point (about soccer IQ). Right now she sucks as a finisher–and she’s playing the best soccer of anyone on the team. Her overall game is just so impressive–tracking back, helping on defense, high press, winning 50-50 balls, first touch, distributing, making runs off the ball. She’s so good at just about all elements of her game.
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