Washington Spirit are defending a perfect away record in a late night match tonight against Seattle Reign FC. The Spirit’s high-scoring attack could keep their winning streak going, but the tactically and defensively sound Reign are well-positioned to end it.

Washington Spirit (5W-1D-3L) have become their own worst enemy in recent weeks, allowing 12 goals in their past four matches. Midfielder Hal Hershfelt, who saw her first minutes last weekend after being sidelined by an ankle injury, said the team is aware of their problem defending in the box and “honed in on that” this week in training.

Spirit head coach Jonatan Giráldez said a key for his team was being connected from the beginning to avoid early goals and described a focus on reacting to losing possession, including when to press and how to recover position when they can’t.

“We don’t have to attack and defend; we have to do all together,” Giráldez said. “When you are attacking, you are also defending. When you are defending, you are already attacking. Because in the way that you are attacking, you are being more prepared to be a good team when you don’t have the ball.”

Under Laura Harvey, Seattle Reign (4-2-3) are a highly tactical team. They haven’t scored a lot of goals this year — only eight in nine matches — but let in even fewer, allowing them to keep matches close against even the toughest opponents. Unless the Spirit have made the necessary improvements, the Reign will be sure to take advantage of their defensive weakness to score early and then defend their lead.

Giráldez was anything but dismissive of the threat Seattle can pose offensively, saying they try to “break” games and put a lot of numbers forward, forcing their opponents to make difficult tactical decisions. Hershfelt said the Spirit are up to the challenge, though, citing the number of chances created in the second half of last week’s game, despite Utah Royals’ compressed defensive shape.

“It’s going to be an interesting game because they… like to create a crazy game, attacking and defending,” Giráldez said.

Key Player: Casey Krueger

Casey Krueger was a game-changer for Washington when she came on at halftime last week. In addition to scoring the last-minute equalizer, Krueger helped the Spirit find additional avenues of attack throughout the half. With her one-on-one skills and experience organizing the backline, her return can only help their defense tonight.

Watch Out For: Maddie Dahlien, Lynn Biyendolo

Rookie Maddie Dahlien leads the Reign with two goals and 2.1 expected goals, but you can’t discount the threat of all-time leading goal-scorer Lynn Biyendolo, who joined the Reign this year.

Challenges: DEFENDING. IN. THE. BOX.

Previously: Last season, the Spirit and Reign split matches, each winning once.

Seattle Reign Availability:

Out: Ryanne Brown (SEI – knee), Ana-Maria Crnogorčević (back), Veronica Latsko (SEI – lower leg), Maddie Mercado (excused absence), Cassie Miller (leg)

Questionable: None

Washington Spirit Availability:

Out: Emma Gaines-Ramos (SEI – knee), Lyza Jessee (SEI – wrist), Paige Metayer (D45 – knee), Chloe Ricketts (USA U-20); Trinity Rodman (excused absence), Leicy Santos (knee), Ouleye Sarr (SEI – back), Andi Sullivan (maternity leave), Kate Wiesner (hip)

Questionable: None

Location: Lumen Field, Seattle, WA
Kickoff time: 10 p.m.
Referee: Brad Jensen
Available streaming: Prime Video