Earlier this week, Washington Spirit published their initial preseason roster of 27 players, coinciding with the start of their 2025 preseason training. Though the announcement contained few surprises and is not the final list of players who’ll take the field this year — updated rosters are due February 19 and March — the roster gives us some indications about how the Spirit will look in 2025.

Here are five things you should know about Washington’s initial roster.

Five new signees

As previously reported, the Spirit have added five new players to their roster. This group includes rookies Deborah Abiodun from Pitt and Emma Gaines-Ramos from San Diego State University, and transfers Sandy MacIver from Manchester City and Tamara Bolt from Brazil’s SC Internacional. The only player with NWSL experience in the group is Narumi Miura, who was signed as a free agent after completing her contract with North Carolina Courage and will likely be put to work right away in the midfield. Altogether the group will use four international slots, explaining Washington’s decision to trade $50,000 in allocation money to Orlando Pride for an additional slot.

No non-roster invitees

In an unusual move, this roster does not include any non-rostered invitees, players who train with the team despite not being signed. At 27 signed players, the Spirit certainly don’t have a lot of room to add to their roster, but for a team that had so many injuries last year, not inviting any NRIs could be short-sighted. Their familiarity with the team mean that they can more easily be included in the squad should a need for replacement players arise, and in past years, Spirit NRIs like Paige Metayer and Heather Stainbrook have even made their way to the senior roster after impressing in training. Keep an eye on this area as the Spirit continue their preseason training in Virginia and Florida this winter.

No injury updates (yet)

All four players who ended 2024 on the season-ending injury list, Croix Bethune, Lyza Jessee (née Bosselmann), Ouleye Sarr, and Andi Sullivan, are still listed as such on the preseason roster. They are joined by Gaines-Ramos, who was reported to be recovering from knee surgery at the time of her signing. Any of these player designations could change before the season begins on March 14, but with a maximum of 26 active players allowed, it’s clear that one or more are expected to be out long-term.

Position changes

The roster list showed that a few players have been moved to different position groups from their previous classifications. As many suspected, Tamara Bolt will be used as a defender rather than an attack, and the team finally solidified former midfielder Metayer’s status as a fullback as well. This increases the number of defenders to seven, but it’s still unclear who will fill the role of backup center back to Tara McKeown and Esme Morgan.

Meanwhile, the number of midfielders has ballooned to ten, with both Makenna Morris and Chloe Ricketts joining that group. Ricketts has seen most of her game time in the midfield, so this shift makes sense for her. Morris, meanwhile, is a versatile player who’s taken the pitch in a variety of positions and is likely to continue to be deployed as needed this year.

Consistency

One of the clearest themes on this roster is consistency. Twenty-two players from the 2024 team are returning — 21 were still on contract and one, Kaylie Collins, re-signed for an additional year out of free agency.

Compare this with last year, when the team said goodbye to 10 players (and the head coach) from the 2023 squad and signed six rookies and two free agents in the offseason. With their long-term coach in place, the Spirit are clearly ready to rely on stability and seeking to build around the existing group instead of making sweeping changes. After years of upheaval and transition, this is a positive development.

Initial preseason roster

Goalkeepers (4): Kaylie Collins, Lyza Jessee (SEI), Aubrey Kingsbury, Sandy MacIver (INTL, NYR) 

Defenders (7): Tamara Bolt (INTL), Gabby Carle, Casey Krueger, Tara McKeown, Paige Metayer, Esme Morgan (INTL), Kate Wiesner 

Midfielders (10): Deborah Abiodun (INTL), Croix Bethune (SEI), Courtney Brown, Hal Hershfelt, Narumi Miura (INTL), Makenna Morris, Chloe Ricketts (U18), Leicy Santos (INTL), Heather Stainbrook, Andi Sullivan (SEI) 

Forwards (6): Emma Gaines-Ramos (SEI, NYR), Ashley Hatch, Rosemonde Kouassi (INTL), Brittany Ratcliffe, Trinity Rodman, Ouleye Sarr (INTL, SEI) 

Have any lingering questions about the initial Spirit roster? Let us know in the comments below!