Washington Spirit’s defensive woes continued Saturday night when they allowed Utah Royals to score three goals in the first half. A last-minute equalizer by Casey Kreuger saved one point for the home team, but they left the match disappointed.

Head coach Jonatan Giráldez was not happy with the team’s performance, saying the team had missed “a huge chance to win three points at home,” while captain Aubrey Kingsbury called letting in three goals in a half “unacceptable.”

Despite early dominance by Washington, the Royals were first to score. In the 9th minute, they made a quick switch to the right side and dribbled into the Spirit’s goal area. Kingsbury stopped the first shot, but Brecken Mozingo was able to get a foot on the rebounding ball and sweep it into the goal.

Undeterred, Washington kept attacking but were stymied more than once by Utah goalkeeper Mandy McGlynn. They finally broke through in the 17th minute with a rocket from Ashley Hatch. The Royals blocked Gabby Carle’s pass into the box, but clumsily, allowing Hatch to recover it. Moving herself around the ball, Hatch smashed it back toward the goal. McGlynn leaped for it but had no chance of stopping this one.

Moments later, Washington’s speedy attack struck again. As she did many times throughout the match, Rose Kouassi dribbled along the outside of the box to create an opening and crossed. This time, Meg Boade was waiting in front of the goal to bounce the ball in. The goal was Boade’s first as a professional, in just her second start.

The Spirit kept attacking after the goal but remained vulnerable to the counterattack. Just two minutes later, Utah’s Cece Kizer, unmarked in the box, found the rebound of a blocked shot to bring her team level. The Royals scored again in the 36th minute when a cross bounced off of Rebeca Bernal for an own goal.

The Spirit adjusted their press at halftime and brought on Casey Krueger, whose experience and defensive prowess have been sorely missed during a period of injury. The changes were effective — smothering the Royals and restricting them to two shots in the half — but as Kingsbury said, it was “too little too late.” The Spirit attacked relentlessly, but Utah, led by McGlynn, were largely successful at slowing things down and protecting their lead.

Washington’s best chance of the half came when Krueger drew a penalty call late in regulation time. After a delay to check the call and move Royals players into position, Hatch stepped up to the spot. Previously unstoppable at regular season penalty kicks, Hatch’s career perfect record was ended when McGlynn stopped her shot.

Running out of time, McKeown passed the ball up to Carle and continued her run. She received a pass back near the endline and launched the ball centrally. Krueger jumped for it and headed it down hard for the equalizer.

The Spirit will now travel to the west coast to play Seattle Reign on Friday, May 23.

Three takeaways 

• What’s going on with defense? The Spirit have now allowed 12 goals in their past four matches, and no one seems to have the answer on what fixing that will take. After the match players talked about a need to get back to fundamentals, lack of discipline, a lack of confidence, while Giráldez mentioned players not being in the right spaces and not being connected for the whole 90. The return of Krueger and Hal Hershfelt will help Washington’s defense, but until the team can figure out what’s causing this weakness, they won’t be able to compete for a top spot in this league.
• Attack is pretty good, actually. Although finishing could be improved (and we mourn Hatch’s PK record), the Spirit’s attack was exciting in this match. They outshot their opponents 29 to 9 and created seven big chances as a unit. Individually, Kouassi moved into the lead for assists this season with one in her last three straight matches, while Hatch’s goal keeps her in the running for Golden Boot. In her first start of the season, Croix Bethune set up a number of scoring opportunities that seem to foretell a return to her record-setting assist form.
• Kingsbury’s saves. Though she didn’t make the most saves in this match (that would be McGlynn, with nine), Aubrey Kingsbury’s three saves brought her career total to 520. She’s now in fourth place for all-time NWSL saves. If only her rise in the standings and 27 saves this year didn’t speak to broad defensive problems on her team!

Box Score

NWSL Regular Season –  Game 9

Washington Spirit 3 (Hatch 17′, Boade 19′, Krueger 90+12′)

Utah Royals FC 3 (Mozingo 9′, Kizer 22′, Bernal(OG) 36′)

Lineups

Washington Spirit (433): Aubrey Kingsbury (C); Rebeca Bernal, Tara McKeown, Gabby Carle, Makenna Morris (Casey Krueger 46′); Narumi Miura (Kysha Sylla 87′), Croix Bethune (Hal Hershfelt 77′), Meg Boade (Courtney Brown 46′); Rosemonde Kouassi, Gift Monday (Brittany Ratcliffe 77′), Ashley Hatch

Utah Royals FC (4231): Amanda McGlynn; Kate Del Fava (C), Nuria Rabano, Janni Thomsen, Lauren Flynn; Ana Tejada, Claudia Zornoza (Dana Foederer 46′), Allyson Sentnor; Brecken Mozingo (Bianca St-Georges 70′), Cece Kizer (Aisha Solórzano 55′), Mina Tanaka (Madison Pogarch 83′)

Misconduct Summary

Washington Spirit:  McKeown 45+2′

Utah Royals FC:  McGlynn 87′, Tejada 89′

Featured image courtesy of the Washington Spirit