In a largely disappointing performance, Washington Spirit drew San Diego Wave FC 1-1 in San Diego last night. Despite 18 shots from the away side and an exemplary performance by Trinity Rodman, both goals were ultimately scored by Wave defender Kristen McNabb.

Early in the match, a high-pressing San Diego crowded the pitch, making it difficult for Washington to move the ball. (Some poorly-judged passing helped with this as well.) It took some clever individual play by Rodman to create space for the Spirit to go on the attack.

The only goal of the half was the result of one of Rodman’s runs. Moving the ball into the attacking third, she passed through San Diego’s line to Ouleye Sarr. Sarr attempted to pass to Kouassi on the left side of the goal, but the ball was intercepted. Unluckily for San Diego, the clearance attempt hit McNabb square in the torso, knocking the ball into their own goal.

Taking the goal as they found it, Washington grabbed onto the momentum and spent the next several minutes attacking the goal. Shots by Rodman and Leicy Santos were close, but no one found the back of the net again before halftime.

McNabb herself got the equalizer in the 68th minute. A San Diego corner kick landed at her feet, and with no Spirit players acting quickly enough to defend it, she easily tapped the ball past Aubrey Kingsbury.

For the rest of the match, Washington sought a game-winner to no avail. They mostly looked like the better side but still just a shadow of the high-flying, goal-scoring team they’ve shown they can be. Luckily for the Spirit, not finishing chances is a familiar problem they’ve overcome before. With some more time to build chemistry with new and returning players, they could be right back to form.

Three takeaways 

• Rodman’s unrewarded work. The biggest story of this match may be the many Rodman assists that should have been. The Spirit’s star winger put in herculean effort to create space for herself and played at least five passes to teammates directly in front of San Diego’s goal. But no matter who those passes went to, they just couldn’t seem to find their way into the goal.
• Kouassi’s first start. Rosemunde Kouassi made her first start in the NWSL last night and has now appeared in every Spirit match she’s been eligible for. While there’s still room to grow in her connection with teammates, she continues to show glimpses of how important she could become to the team. Last night, she created 3 chances, had a 91% passing accuracy rate, and had a couple very good chances, including a goal that was called offside in the first half.
• Around the League. Losses by both Kansas City Current and NJ/NY Gotham FC mean that Washington’s number 2 spot in the standings went uncontested this weekend. The tie did allow Orlando Pride to pull ahead in the race for the Shield, with six points now between them and the Spirit.

Box Score

NWSL Regular Season – Game 18

San Diego Wave FC 1 (McNabb 68′)

Washington Spirit 1 (McNabb (OG) 30′)

Lineups

San Diego Wave FC (433): Kailen Sheridan; Naomi Girma, Kristen McNabb, Hanna Lundkvist (Christen Westphal 62′), Kennedy Wesley; Emily von Egmond, Melanie Barcenas (Sofia Jakobsson 70′), Makenzy Doniak; Delphine Cascarino, María Sánchez, Alex Morgan (C) (Amirah Ali 70′)

Washington Spirit (4231): Aubrey Kingsbury (C); Casey Krueger (Gabby Carle 79′), Annaïg Butel, Tara McKeown, Paige Metayer; Leicy Santos, Andi Sullivan, Hal Hershfelt (Courtney Brown 79′); Trinity Rodman, Ouleye Sarr, Rosemunde Kouassi (Makenna Morris 62′)

Misconduct Summary

San Diego Wave FC: None

Washington Spirit: None