Spirit win, DC United lose, and more: Monday Freedom Kicks
Happy Monday, everyone. All four local soccer teams were in action over the weekend, so we start there!
Washington Spirit defeat Racing Louisville on the road, 2-0 (DP)
Leicy Santos had a ridiculous free kick goal, and Ashley Hatch added another as the Spirit come home from Louisville with the win.
DC United drops fourth straight in 1-0 defeat to FC Cincinnati (DP)
Despite showing some fight, DC United lost 1-0, its 4th straight defeat.
DC Power respond with 1-1 draw against Fort Lauderdale United (DP)
DC Power got another goal from Gianna Gourley as they held on for a 1-1 draw down in Fort Lauderdale.
Takeaways from Loudoun United’s win over Tampa Bay (DP)
Loudoun United beat Tampa Bay Rowdies 2-1 and are now solidly in 1st place in the Eastern Conference!
USMNT learns Gold Cup schedule (SSFC)
The USMNT will play in San Jose, Austin, and Dallas-Fort Worth in the Gold Cup group stage.
Report: Weston McKennie among 12 Serie A players under investigation in gambling probe (SSFC)
It doesn’t sound like a huge punishment is coming, but McKennie is part of a major investigation into gambling on poker games and non-soccer sporting events through illegal channels.
El Clásico: Barcelona vs Real Madrid scheduled for May 11 (ESPN)
The last league El Clásico of the season will be on May 11th. They will also meet in the Copa del Rey Final on April 26th.
USWNT to now play Jamaica on June 3rd (SSFC)
The USWNT will still face China on May 31st, but their June 3rd opponent has switched to Jamaica after China said they can only stay for one match.
Finally, we leave you with Bill Hamid’s hilarious thoughts on receiving a yellow card for time-wasting:
Thumbs up to all for a great week!
Man, things might be bad for United, but it’s nice to see Hamid with a huge grin (and a win). Feels like he never smiled when he was with us…
I know Hamid is on the downswing, but can we bring him back?
Somehow there are 4 teams worse than DCU in the league this year…didn’t think that possible.
THAT was on my mind as well. My gosh, we are terrible. There are teams that are worse?
Tight race to the bottom, I say without any irony. There’s no way the Galaxy stay down in the basement all season, but Toronto, Montreal and us all have severe roster issues.
Using FM as a simulator, we are exactly on schedule: no wooden spoon, no playoffs.
If we could somehow get them back would Canouse and/or Hamid make this team better?
The View from Buenos Aires
Frankly, I think both would make us better. Cutting them loose seemed to be a combination of keeping the healthy, higher salaries, and “building for the long term future.” But their replacements have not been an improvement over their “declining” performance.
They might make the team better. But it’s also worth pointing out that no other MLS team has brought them on board either. And maybe those two statements aren’t exclusionary. We might just be that much worse than all the other MLS teams.
But yeah, you’re hoping to see more growth from the players on hand, and there’s not a ton to point to.
“Building for long term failure”
Unless Canouse is truly unfit, it is absurd not to bring him on board.
In last year’s 11 game winless stretch, we only lost a maximum of three games in a row during that one.
Sad stats.
Regression
Less talented and less experienced roster. We’ve seen it before with this organization. It’s gonna be a long year unless, again, there is some sort of miracle that energizes the guys to at least make the games respectable (and to their credit, losing 0-1 to a team that’s spent as much as FCC is ok in a vacuum).
Apparently Kristian Fletcher is returning. Maybe things will click for him now in MLS?
That would be nice. His play in the English reserves suggest a more dynamic, confident player, and the highlights I saw from his play with the US U20s program revealed a player with serious skills. Not getting a deal from Forest must be a disappointment, but they have a wealth of top attacking talent right now — players far too good for MLS..
I feel kind of bad for former DC defender and tastefully named Brendan Hines-Ike. His team was on the receiving end of allowing four goals to Brian White in Vancouver, and he himself was personally on the receiving end of goal #3, as it went right off his face and over the goal line, knocking him into the net as well.
The Coffee Pot Cup rivalry is renewed for the US Open Cup!
https://thedistrictpress.com/2025/04/17/dc-united-draws-charleston-battery-in-u-s-open-cup-round-of-32/