Washington Spirit got their first home win of the season last night, defeating Bay FC 2-0, with help from some favorable calls, an improved use of a three-back formation, and a strong performance by Ashley Hatch.

Hatch was the hero of the match, scoring both goals and being involved in most of Washington’s best chances. Her first goal of the night made her the 5th all-time highest goal scorer in the NWSL, with 55 goals over her career, most for the Spirit.

Hatch scored her first in the 24th minute, after Leicy Santos made a perfectly-placed cross from the left corner of the box. Using her head, Hatch angled the ball downward into the goal, past Bay’s Jordan Silkowitz. The Spirit celebrated by forming a mimed photography pool around the goal scorer.

Mere minutes later, Hatch scored her second when Rodman drew a foul call just outside the box. Narumi Miura took the free kick, and Hatch once again found the ball with her head to win herself a brace.

“Hatch is always in the right place at the right time,” Trinity Rodman said. “I think her positioning is phenomenal. She knows exactly how to kind of sneak on the back shoulder any time. “If she’s finishing with her head, her foot, her knee, her stomach, I think she’s always finding a way to get it in the back of the net.

For the second week in a row, Washington played with a three-back formation, allowing Washington’s center backs to share defensive duties and to cover for each other when one sees a chance to play forward. The wing backs were more involved in this match, especially in the first half, stretching play across the width of the field and moving the ball up the side channels to create chances.

After a dominant first half by the Spirit, Bay made two subs at halftime and changed their press to stay to flip the script second. They held the Spirit to just one shot in that half and had 64 percent of the possession, forcing Washington to stay on the defensive despite a late change in formation to move Santos higher on the pitch.

In the 60th minute, Bay’s relentless attack seemed to bear fruit. Taylor Huff took a shot from just outside the box, hitting it low past Rebeca Bernal and past the outstretched fingers of Kingsbury. The referee overturned the call after video reviewed showed that Racheal Kundananji had fouled Gabby Carle in the build-up. Another apparent Bay goal was called offsides in the the 87th minute.

Head coach Jonatan Giráldez was ready as ever with praise for individual players (and the crowd at Audi Field) but saw plenty of room for improvement in his team’s performance.

“We cannot be happy because the performance was not good enough in the second half,” he said. He thought his team achieved their goals of playing more in the opponents’ half and creating chances in the first half, but the next step is doing a good job for the entire 90 minutes.

Up next, the Spirit take a break for next week’s international window and return to play in Louisville on Saturday, April 12.

Three takeaways 

• Injury update. Washington’s availability report continues to slowly get shorter. Still getting back to full health (and later telling the press her back may never be back to 100 percent), Trinity Rodman made her first start of the season and played a strong 60 minutes. Heather Stainbrook and Kysha Sylla also made their first appearances after injury. The Spirit can’t seem to escape a match without a new injury, though. Gabby Carle left last night’s in the second half with a hand injury.
• Formation. With fullbacks Kate Wiesner, Paige Metayer, and now possibly Carle injured, the three-back formation may be here to stay. Luckily, it seems to suit the Spirit’s style, and defenders say they’ve enjoyed the switch in formation. “It’s been fun,” Esme Morgan said, “I feel like it gives us a lot of security defensively, and we did a lot better this week using it to our advantage in possession.” Casey Krueger agreed, adding that she’s loved learning and playing in the different shape and thinks it makes Washington more versatile.
• Always time for fun. Despite a lengthy injury list and rocky start to the season, the Spirit always find a way to bring joy to the pitch. Morgan pointed out that players were bringing more of their personalities to their performance this week, and of course, there was the goal celebration. Morgan came up with the idea to have the scorer perform like a model on a catwalk and enlisted Rodman’s help in getting all the possible models on board. Both said Hatch was reluctant pre-match, but she eventually played her part, sharing her joy at scoring with teammates and fans.

Box Score

NWSL Regular Season –  Game 3

Washington Spirit 2 (Hatch 24′, 27′)

Bay FC 0

Lineups

Washington Spirit (343): Aubrey Kingsbury (C); Tara McKeown, Esme Morgan, Rebeca Bernal; Casey Krueger, Gabby Carle (Heather Stainbrook 78′), Narumi Miura (Kysha Sylla 90+6′), Leicy Santos (Margie Detrizio 90+6′); Trinity Rodman (Brittany Ratcliffe 64′), Makenna Morris (Chloe Ricketts 78′), Ashley Hatch

Sandy MacIver (352): Jordan Silkowitz; Caprice Dydasco, Abby Dahlkemper (C), Joelle Anderson, Alyssa Malonson; Kiki Pickett, Tess Boade, Taylor Huff; Asisat Oshoala, Rachel Hill (Racheal Kundananji 46′), Penelope Hocking (Karlie Lema 46′)

Misconduct Summary

Washington Spirit:  Santos 51′, Hatch 54′, Morgan 90+1′

Bay FC:  None

Lead image courtesy of the Washington Spirit