The Washington Spirit used an Ashley Hatch brace and Trinity Rodman banger to secure a comfortable 3-0 win over the Houston Dash. Both teams resided at opposite ends of the table, and it looked like it for the vast majority of the afternoon as the visitors only managed six shots, and just two on target.

Lineup rotation continued with summer signing Esme Morgan making her Spirit debut starting at CB alongside Tara McKeown, veteran forward Brittany Ratcliffe started in attack, and Ashley Hatch was back at her familiar striker position with Ouleye Sarr out with a back injury. Houston were a little shorthanded in defense without their star summer signing, Tarciane.

Things started off quickly with Tara McKeown finding her way forward, cutting inside like the forward she used to be and clipping in a cross that went off a Dash player’s arm. A long VAR delay resulted in a penalty to the Spirit in the sixth minute which Ashley Hatch scored in the seventh.

There was a scary moment fifteen minutes in when Hatch went up for a header and clashed heads with a defender. She went down immediately grabbing at her head but after some treatment and a concussion test jogged back on the pitch.

The Spirit dominated the ball for a long stretch but a handful of chances went begging, until the 26th minute. Trinity Rodman received the ball wide left, beat her marker to send in a quick hip high cross that Ashley Hatch was able to redirect into the net for her first brace since April 1st last season.

A bit of calamity from the ref resulted in a weird situation in which the Spirit scored a third courtesy of Leicy Santos while a Dash defender was down in the box. The referee didn’t blow the whistle but a check found the Spirit at fault and wiped off the goal, but in stadium the announcer belted Santos’ name and, as is customary, Audi got rowdy. Unfortunately the score was adjusted back to 2-0, and the Spirit played on seeking to extend their lead (again).

Fourteen minutes of stoppage time were announced. Fourteen. Four-damn-teen. All because the referees took so long with VARC decisions. This is out of control. Brittany Ratcliffe hit the bar after a sweet pass from Rodman but the teams headed into halftime without a change to the scoreline.

Halftime: 2-0

Allysha Chapman, who was only making her second appearance after maternity leave, exited for Havana Solaun as the team’s got the second half underway. Well, maybe I should just say Trinity Rodman.

The USWNT superstar started the second half by scoring an absolute banger to give the Spirit their third goal, but for real this time. Rodman hit a patented Trin Spin™ to find space to cut inside and ended up in a physical duel as she continued to chase the ball centrally. It looked like she lost it but caught up in time to rip a shot that beat Jane Campbell at the far corner of the net. Rodman celebrated in true Rodman fashion, by dropping her version of the ‘night night‘ celly.

This goal typifies several attributes that make Rodman damn near impossible to contain. She’d already picked up an assist with a nice dribble and perfect cross, and for this goal she showed what she can do centrally. Her runs have to be protected, but then she spins and changes the picture. The Dash stayed close, and tried shoving her off the ball but she maintained her balance and used her strength to control the ball and fend off a defender. While doing all of that, she pinged a perfect shot with her right that beat one of the best goalkeepers in the league.

Five minutes after that banger, Rodman got free down the wing and clipped in a lovely cross that hung just a second too high for Andi Sullivan. She displayed just how close she was to connecting with the cross to head into an open net by laying flat on the ground after the ball, and chance, rolled away.

With a three goal lead Jonatan Giráldez called on his bench to give a few players some rest. Andi Sullivan and Leicy Santos came off for Lena Silano and Heather Stainbrook, then four minutes later Courtney Brown and Makenna Morris replaced Trinity Rodman and Hal Hershfelt. The Spirit are a much deeper team these days, and relying on them to close out games shows a lot of faith in the whole squad from the coaching staff.

A few minutes later Casey Krueger went down with a bit of an injury and the Spirit decided not to take any chances and subbed on Paige Metayer, who is just straight up a right back now. Makenna Morris hit the post on two separate occasions but unfortunately couldn’t celebrate her new contract with a goal. We don’t know why the goalposts wanted to do so much hatin’, but we strongly disagree with its decision.

The final whistle blew to secure a comfortable win win and all three points.

Three takeaways 

• Esme Morgan’s Spirit debut. Morgan finally made her long awaited debut and it was worth the wait. She has a calm on the ball that simplified the Spirit’s ability to keep possession and complete forward passes. One thing that stood out is how easy her passes are to receive, she keeps the ball on the grass and has perfect weight to her passes. Stiffer tests are to come, particularly against the sort of physically dominant attacking talent that the Dash don’t have, but if she can hold up she’ll be an excellent weapon on the ball.
  
  
• Well that was easy. The NWSL has a reputation of no game being easy. That’s largely because of the physicality of players in the league, amount of running required, ultra-competitiveness, and that just about every team has at least one game changing player. The Dash aren’t one of those teams, and it showed. From a Spirit perspective, you still have to perform and get things big-to-small right to put together a performance like this. They did, and made the game into more Chelsea v. Leicester than Spirit v. Dash.
  
  
• Title chase? We maybe shouldn’t get too hype about this, Orlando are the most balanced and deepest team in the league, but the math is the math. The Pride haven’t lost this season but drew with Kansas City over the weekend, allowing the Spirit to gain two points and trim their lead to four. The Spirit have to travel to Orlando, where three points will be on the line. But they also have to face a resurgent Bay FC, The Fighting Sophia Smith’s, a new-look Seattle Reign, and Gotham FC. However, the Spirit have to play Kansas City again, and finish the season at WakeMed Soccer Park, where the Courage have yet to lose a game. It’s probably too hopeful to dream of winning the shield just yet, but another weekend or two like this (or more in the Spirit’s favor) will make things interesting.

Box Score

NWSL Regular Season –  Game 20

Washington Spirit: 3 (Hatch 7′ [pen], 26′; Rodman 46′)

Houston Dash: 0

Lineups

Washington Spirit (433): Aubrey Kingsbury (C); Casey Krueger (Metayer 75′), Esme Morgan, Tara McKeown, Gabby Carle; Leicy Santos (Silano 64′), Andi Sullivan (Stainbrook 64′), Hal Hershfelt (Brown 69′); Trinity Rodman (Morris 69′), Ashley Hatch, Brittany Ratcliffe

Houston Dash (3421): Jane Campbell (C); Paige Nielsen (Soto 90+5′), Allysha Chapman (Havana Solaun 46′), Jyllissa Harris; Michelle Alozie, Sarah Puntigam, Elin Rubensson, Avery Patterson (Gareis); Yuki Nagasato (Briede 64′, Andressa Alves (Olivieri 64′); Diana Ordóňez

Misconduct Summary

Washington Spirit: none

Houston Dash: Chapman 54′,

Image courtesy of Washington Spirit