The Washington Spirit made noise before kickoff by dropping a very interesting lineup. Paige Metayer joined the XI for her first start of the season (and was listed as a forward on the official team sheet) while Ashley Hatch dropped to the bench.
Washington controlled the match for the first fifteen minutes, snuffing out Orlando’s chances to break and dominating possession to craft chances. Their efforts led to an early corner, a free kick in the final third, and a big chance in front of goal for Ouleye Sarr.
Then in the 22nd minute Orlando went up 1-0. Barbra Banda, who’d been finding like difficult 1v1 versus Tara McKeown, switched to the other side and beat Ana Bütel to a loose ball and put in a cross. Angelina flew in with a first time strike that beat Aubrey Kingsbury.
This is the tough part about teams bringing in superstar attackers. You can dominate a game and then they do something that only a handful of footballers can do and all that hard work feels like a waste. Thankfully the goal seemed to have pissed off the Spirit more than anything, and their match intensity went up a level as they tried to level before halftime.
The Spirit strike back five minutes before halftime with Croix Bethune riding a challenge and getting a through ball by a center back and into the path of Ouleye Sarr. None of her finishing issues showed here as Sarr remained composed and beat the keeper with a delicious chip.
Washington upped the intensity to level the score before halftime, and VAR denied them a chance to grab the lead after contact on Sarr inside the box was deemed fair.
HALFTIME | 1-1
After halftime Orlando came out with their own brand on intensity and Barbra Banda again showed why she was more than worth all the bags Orlando dropped to get her. She scored from a flick on after a corner in six minutes after halftime, and earned Orlando a penalty four minutes after that.
Eleven minutes after halftime Orlando had stunned Audi by pushing the score to 3-1. With Washington’s win streak on the line interim head coach Adrián González subbed on Brittany Ratcliffe for Andi Sullivan and Anna Heilferty for Gabby Carle.
The moves up the pressure and a hopeful effort from Ashley Hatch has just enough spin and dip to confuse Moorhouse, who gets both hands to the ball but drops it into her own net. Washington were back within a goal, and preserving their unbeaten run.
Amid the Spirit furiously trying to find an equalizer, Anna Heilferty went down holding her knee. She was eventually able to get up and walk off, but was immediately subbed off for Kate Wiesner, with Casey Krueger swapping over to the right flank.
Brianna Martinez struggled with Rodman all night, bringing her down every time Trinity was about to round her. In the 92nd minute of stoppage time she did it for the final time, and was sent off with her second yellow of the match.
The Spirit had several minutes of extra time to avoid their second loss of the season. They put Moorhouse’s heart in her throat on a couple occasions, and smacked the bar, but the goal never came.
Three takeaways
- Metayer in for Hatch. The first lineup surprise in a run of games turned out to be Paige Metayer, suddenly in her forward era, coming into the XI for Ashley Hatch. Interim head coach Adrián González noted that the team has three games in ten days, and that the decision was also made with an eye on this specific opponent. “Today we wanted to give her a chance, and have an extra player inside, so four midfielders,” he said postgame.
- Barbra Banda: Good. Turns out signing one of the best forwards in the world is a good idea. This was Banda’s first start and she directly contributed to all three goals by assisting Angelina, scoring a header, and drawing the penalty for Yates to convert. Tara McKeown was handling Banda early on, but then she started to roam around the backline and the Spirit struggled to stop her.
- Win streak stopped. After losing their first game of the season, the Spirit went on to rattle off four wins in a row and secure a cozy spot near the top of the table, albeit very early on. Failing to top Orlando broke the winning streak, and not finding the equalizer confirmed their second loss of the season.
Box Score
NWSL Regular Season – Game 6
Washington Spirit: 2 (Sarr 40′, Hatch 65′)
Orlando Pride: 3 (Angelina 22′, Banda 51′, Yates 57′ [pen])
Lineups
Washington Spirit (4231): Aubrey Kingsbury (C); Casey Krueger, Annaïg Butel, Tara McKeown, Gabby Carle; Andi Sullivan, Hal Hershfelt; Croix Bethune; Trinity Rodman, Ouleye Sarr; Paige Metayer
Orlando Pride (433): Moorhouse; Strom, Rafaelle, Sams, Martinez; McCutcheon, Angelina, Yates; Abello, Banda, Doyle
Misconduct Summary
Washington Spirit: Sullivan (45+5),
Orlando Pride: Martinez (71′, 90+2′), Lawrence (89′)
Banda is incredible. She reminds me of Samuel Eto’o when he played for Barcelona, just an incredibly dynamic talent. No real weaknesses as a forward. We do not have a poor defense, her talent was just not contained, as you say, when she started hunting for gaps across the backline.
It made me honestly think, I know the economic forces are different in the women’s game, but if I could sign a front line of Sophia Smith, Mallory Swanson, and Barbara Banda for three million dollars, I’m slamming the spend button.
If I could get Jadyn Shaw or Trin instead of Swanson, I’d probably be ok with that, too. My point is, it’s crazy the economics and how three million, which is basically one relatively promising youth prospect on the men’s side… why isn’t anyone pulling the trigger?
I also said this on the match thread, the system is good, it has a lot of merit… it needs better passers deep to work. CBs. 6s. At least one real 8.
Busquets and Pique weren’t weak or unathletic when they played for the best team probably ever, but it was their passing that made them special. Xavi I can’t remember ever achieving what we consider top speed for a pro soccer player, and I don’t recall a slide tackle easily. He didn’t need to achieve anything but a game opening pass and good positioning.
I don’t know if this system is possible without some special passers. I really like Bethune and Trinity’s interchanges, but they can’t unlock this system’s true potential so far upfield. There were too
many moments tonight when the identity of this team begged for someone to ping one superbly, or see a pass that most wouldn’t.