Friday night saw another tough loss for the Washington Spirit in a goal-heavy match against Angel City FC. The Spirit hung in the game with a brace from center back Esme Morgan and another goal by Gift Monday, but poor defense in the box saw the LA side outscore Washington 4-3.

“It was a super transitional game. Really, really fast-paced,” Morgan said. “I feel like the distances between both back lines were really large, so then the space in midfield for either team was quite big to be able to get on it, and obviously they took advantage of that, with having the space for their sixes to then push it in behind.” Throughout the match, Angel City also used their speed and width to block and intercept Spirit passes, disrupt movement in the midfield, and punish attempts to build out of the back.

In an unfortunate echo of the previous week’s loss to Gotham FC, Washington went down early. They first were to slow to clear a ball in the box in the 8th minute and gave Riley Tiernan plenty of space to score her fourth of the year. Then, in the 22nd minute, Alyssa Thompson crossed a ball to sister Gisele Thompson, who made a central run to receive it and to score her first professional goal. It was also the first NWSL goal scored and assisted by a pair of sisters.

Going down two goals gave the Spirit some renewed energy. Resetting after a set piece was defended in the 30th, Gabby Carle blasted the ball back to the waiting line of Spirit players in the box. Ashley Hatch headed it down into the path of Morgan, who scored with a slanting shot to the far post.

“I mean, I just had a feeling this morning that I was going to score,” Morgan said. She also reflected on a close-range shot that she’d hit off-target last match against Gotham, saying, “I got the perfect opportunity to redeem myself this week.”

Ten minutes later, the Spirit tied things up. Goalkeeper Angelina Anderson came out to the edge of the box to beat Hatch to the ball, but her clearance fell right at Kouassi’s feet. Kouassi sent a first-touch pass back up to Monday, who’d continued her run and had a wide-open goal in which to place her shot.

Both teams had chances to score again before the half ended. For the Spirit that included a shot by Kouassi that clipped the top of the goal and a penalty kick call that was overturned by VAR. But their best chance of the half came between Angel City’s goals when Monday drove forward with the ball and made a pass to Hatch in the box. Hatch slid a perfect cross to Kouassi’s feet on the opposite side of the goal, but Kouassi’s shot went wide.

The match seemed wide open at half time, but Angel City came back swinging and had the majority of chances in the second half. They pulled ahead in the 72nd minute with another strike inside the box, this time hit low to the far post by Katie Zelem.

Morgan came through for the Spirit again in the 89th minute, scoring in a similar way to her first. She said Spirit players had noticed that Angel City was disorganized in the second phase of set pieces, leaving them vulnerable to attacks at the far post. Once again, Carle sent a second ball back into the box, where Brittany Ratcliffe heading it down for Morgan to pounce on and score a second.

The goal was initially called offside, and it was a tense few minutes in Audi Field while the officials looked at video and called the center referee over for review. Finally, the call came in that the goal was good, causing a huge cheer and celebration from Spirit players and fans alike. The celebration didn’t last long, though. Angel City’s Tiernan scored a final goal late in stoppage time to win the game.

“It feels a bit, like, surreal to be honest,” Morgan said. “We just looked at each other after the final whistle and went, ‘How did that happen?'”

Despite that initial reaction, she and coach Adrián González were both able to highlight some areas for improvement after the match. González focused on defending, saying, “We need to be more aggressive defending and marking in those critical spaces,” as well as the need to have more control over the match. Morgan, meanwhile, said the team could have had more patience in possession rather than driving straight toward the goal.

The Spirit will get a chance to re-set next weekend, when they travel to Chicago to play the struggling Stars on Saturday, May 10.

Three takeaways 

• Sandy MacIver’s debut. Goalkeeper Sandy MacIver started over captain Aubrey Kingsbury, a decision she said she was informed of early in the week. The Scottish keeper’s debut didn’t go exactly the way she’d hoped, with four goals allowed, but MacIver made some big saves in the second half to keep Washington in the game, stretching and leaping to bat the ball away from goal and coming out big to stop a dangerous run late in the second half. After the match, González said the coaching staff saw an opportunity to get MacIver some minutes to help make sure they have multiple players able to play in game at every position. He stood behind the decision, despite the loss, saying, “She’s ready. She’s prepared.”
• Defending in the box. Most of Angel City’s goals were preventable with better defending and marking in the box — a skill the Spirit previously seemed to have mastered. This is another area where injuries have hit the team hard, with both Casey Krueger and Hal Hershfelt unavailable since March. Both are reportedly doing well in training, but their return to the pitch can’t come soon enough.
• Attack finally clicking. Though it was a disappointing finish and a game that highlighted multiple weak points, there were positives to this match, especially compared with the previous 3-0 loss to Gotham FC. Chief among them is an attack that’s finally generating goals, with Monday acclimating to the NWSL and Kouassi available to start for the first time this year. Combining with Hatch, they were a fast, threatening forward line, and all three got a chance to show off their best qualities in this match.

Box Score

NWSL Regular Season –  Game 7

Washington Spirit 3 (Morgan 30′, Monday 40′, Morgan 89′)

Angel City FC 4 (Tiernan 8′, G. Thompson 22′, Zelem 72′, Tiernan 90+7′)

Lineups

Washington Spirit (523): Sandy MacIver; Rebeca Bernal, Tara McKeown, Gabby Carle, Esme Morgan, Makenna Morris (Brittany Ratcliffe 66′); Narumi Miura (Courtney Brown’), Heather Stainbrook (Kysha Sylla 66′); Ashley Hatch (C), Rosemunde Kouassi (Croix Bethune 66′), Gift Monday (Chloe Ricketts 87′)

Angel City FC (4231): Angelina Anderson; Sarah Gorden (C), Savy King, MA Vignola (Miyabi Moriya 46′), Gisele Thompson (Megan Reid 75′); Alanna Kennedy, Kennedy Fuller (Christen Press 68′), Katie Zelem (Madison Hammond 90+3′); Julie Dufour (Claire Emslie 46′), Alyssa Thompson, Riley Tiernan

Misconduct Summary

Washington Spirit:  Monday 35′

Angel City FC:  Fuller 24′, King 83′