Washington Spirit climbed to #2 on the NWSL table courtesy of a 3-1 win over the North Carolina Courage in Giráldez’s final home game. Unfortunately, due to North Carolina coach Sean Nahas missing the match due to ‘unforeseen medical reasons‘ this ended up being a game of temporary head coaches, with assistant Nathan Thackeray taking charge of the Courage.

Still, it was an intense and tactical battle that saw the Spirit come up with more answers than their opponent.

North Carolina started the game conceding possession to the Spirit and trying to generate early chances through their press. It caused a couple of nervy moments for Washington, with the most intense being Cortnee Vine having a goal disallowed, which was the right call. A misplayed header from Bernal sent Vine behind but after Kingsbury’s stop, the speedy Courage forward did a bit of a koopa stomp as Aubrey attempted to scramble toward the ball. I’m fairly certain the rulebook doesn’t specifically disallow a ‘koopa stomp’, but the action is certainly a thing you cannot do.

The Spirit continued to cede early chances, which could have been devastating had the Courage packed their finishing boots. Ashley Sanchez connected with a low cross near the penalty spot but the ball spun wide. Shortly after that she was able to bring a lofted ball down in the box, cut inside and shoot for the near post, but that rolled wide as well.

With the finishing gods displeased, Washington turned the tables and found the back of the net for the game’s first goal. Some great play between Gift Monday, Croix Bethune and Brittany Ratcliffe created the opportunity. Ratcliffe’s patience deserves a special note, as she froze North Carolina’s defense and waited to send a slick low cross for Courtney Brown to run onto.

Then, Brittany Ratcliffe decided that one goal contribution felt so good that she might as well get even more directly involved. A nice cross from Casey Krueger was floated toward the back post, where Gift Monday and Ratcliffe were waiting. Whether Monday recognized that the ball would float beyond her or she heard Ratcliffe claim the ball, Gift ducked out of the way to give her teammate a clean look. Ratcliffe lined up and flicked her header across goal and over Murphy for Washington’s second.

But the fun wouldn’t last as North Carolina pulled a goal back quickly after an attempted forward pass from Rebeca Bernal was cut out. Manaka Matsukubo was sent in behind, and though she was being closely chased, was able to loft the ball over an onrushing Aubrey Kingsbury to cut Washington’s lead in half.

Halftime 2-1

Rose Kouassi and Tara McKeown, two would-be starters, subbed in at halftime to replace Courtney Brown and Esme Morgan. This was the start of what would become a flurry of substitutions as the Spirit tried to manage a difficult opponent, and juggling playing time for players recently back from an international break, and others recently back from injury and free from minutes restrictions.

The first wave of subs had an immediate impact. Kouassi struck the first shot of the half while McKeown’s incisive passing was keeping the Spirit moving through North Carolina’s lines. Having had a half to absorb the Courage’s system and chat about it during the halftime break, McKeown, Rebeca Bernal and Hal Hershfelt repeatedly zipped balls through the Courage’s defensive setup to trigger instant attacks.

This quick and clever passing led to multiple chances, and eventually another goal. Bethune and Miura combined to float a cross through the box which was met by a diving header from Gift Monday. In the category of fun stats, Spirit comms reports that Monday has now scored on a Friday, Saturday, and now, Sunday.

Shortly after a flurry of fresh substitutions were made. Giráldez called on Kysha Sylla, Heather Stainbrook, and Makenna Morris to help close out the match. It wasn’t without its scary moments. Aubrey Kingsbury had to make a handful of important saves, including a couple off the line. She also remarked in the mixed zone postgame that she may owe Gabby Carle a drink for clearing a shot off the line after Kingsbury made an initial save.

There were multiple lengthy stoppages as Casey Krueger, Gift Monday and Croix Bethune fought through cramping (and in Monday’s case maybe a more serious ailment, Giráldez did not have any additional information postgame) to get to the final whistle. Because of the stoppages, the added time tallied eight additional minutes, and more stoppages saw the Spirit playing into the 100th. Finally the whistle blew and Washington were able to end Jona Giráldez’s stay at Rowdy Audi with a multi-goal win.

Three takeaways 

• The Brittany Ratcliffe of it all. I was focused on Ashley Sanchez terrorizing her old team but it was Ratcliffe who decided to accept the role of former player haunting her former team. Ratcliffe feasted on the wide space behind the wingbacks. In my match preview I noted that space would be crucial, I just expected Rosemonde Kouassi to be the primary beneficiary. Instead, Ratcliffe notched a first half goal and assist against her former club. There was also none of that silly refusing to celebrate against a former team thing. In fact, according to Ratcliffe, she didn’t even think about it, telling reporters postgame “I just blacked out, I couldn’t even tell you what I did.”
  
  
• Subs on subs on subs. The international break led to some tricky lineup solutions. From the starting lineup to the bevy of substitutions—and running out of substitutions as multiple players went down with cramps—it was a difficult game to manage. All in all 16 players contributed to what in the end looked like a comfortable 3-1 win. However, it was anything but. Several players returned from international play to grind through a tough, transitional match in some peak Washington, DC humidity. In the mixed zone postgame Gabby Carle admitted to reporters that she was “wrecked.”
  
  
• Monday Scaries. Due to the Spirit’s exceptional scouting, you could be forgiven for forgetting that this is an incredibly difficult league to adapt to. Gift Monday’s performances may have also given you a similar amnesia. Through her first eight games (six starts) she has four goals and one assist. She’s become a vital part of the Spirit, and was doubly so today with Ashley Hatch sitting out due to a back injury. However, Monday was struggling a lot in the final quarter of the game, and eventually needed to be subbed off. Postgame she was seen very gingerly slinking down the steps to the locker rooms at Audi. If the injury is serious, and Hatch also has to miss more games as well, the Spirit would be fresh out of natural 9s. It would put a sad halt on a brilliant and seamless integration into the team, and league.

Box Score

NWSL Regular Season –  Game 11

Washington Spirit: 3 (Brown 24′; Ratcliffe 27′; Monday 58′)
N.C. Courage: 1 (Matsukubo, 32′)

Lineups

Washington Spirit (4231): Kingsbury (C); Krueger, Morgan (McKeown 46′), Bernal (Sylla 60′), Carle; Miura, Hershfelt; Brown (Kouassi 46′), Bethune, Ratcliffe (Morris 60′); Monday (Stainbrook 73′)

N.C. Courage (3421): Murphy; Staude, Kurtz (Bell 54′), Berkely; Rauch, Jackson (Shaw 71′), O’Sullivan, Williams; Sanchez (Koyama 54′), Matsukubo; Vine (Pinto 71′)

Misconduct Summary

Washington Spirit: None

N.C. Courage: None

Lead image courtesy of the Washington Spirit.