Washington Spirit (9-4-4) play the first of three games in eight days at home when they welcome Chicago Stars FC (1-7-9) to Buzzard Point this afternoon and try to cement their second place status.

Chicago may be last-ranked and on their fourth coach of the season — interim head coach Anders Jacobson — but they’ve strung together a series of come-from-behind draws this month. This resilience makes them an interesting match-up for a Spirit side known for chaotic game finishes. Speaking before his first match as coach, Jacobson said he would like the Stars to play more compactly, presumably to improve their low pass completion percentage. This could require some changes for the Spirit, who last week relied on short passes between midfielders to build an attack in the final third.

After last week’s match against Bay saw the Spirit’s 3-0 lead turn into a narrow, 3-2 win, coach Adrián González said his team has been working on the behaviors they want to display in the second half to more strongly close out matches.

“I think we are doing a good job starting the games, scoring goals, and maybe we need to get a little bit better in those last… last minutes and try to ‘suffer’ a little bit less,” he said. “We know how crazy the games are in the last 10, 15 minutes in this league.”

Today’s game is Washington’s annual Pride match, and the team has pledged to “go above and beyond” to celebrate LGBTQ+ fans.

“We know it’s a day that means a lot to our supporters, and we’re excited to support it too and celebrate diversity,” defender Esme Morgan said. “We know that we represent a lot of different people in our city and in our supporters’ groups, and we just want to sort of do them proud and represent them well on the pitch and make sure everyone has a happy day.”

Key Player: Esme Morgan

An incisive passer and recent Euro champion, Esme Morgan added an assist to her season total last week, in addition to completing the most passes. Her skills will be crucial to helping the Spirit launch attacks into Chicago’s weak areas and to defending against their most dangerous scorer, Ludmila, who Morgan described herself as excited to challenge herself against.

Watch Out For: Ludmila

Chicago’s Ludmila is a good enough attacker to win points all on her own, as evidenced by last week’s draw-saving hat trick. That match brought her to eight goals on the season. She’s also no slouch defensively, FBRef.com shows her in the 99th percentile for tackles and 95th for interceptions, compared to other forwards this year.

Challenges: Both of the goals Washington allowed last Saturday came from set pieces, and one of Ludmila’s three was a headed corner goal as well. The Spirit will need to improve their marking and defending in set piece situations near the box to avoid repeating those errors.

Previously: In May, the Spirit beat the Stars 3-2 in Chicago. Rose Kouassi and Gift Monday scored for Washington, and Julia Grosso and Sam Staab for the home team.

Chicago Stars Availability:

Out: Jenna Bike (lower leg), Shea Groom (SEI – lower leg), Natalia Kuikka (thigh), Manaka Hayashi (concussion protocol), Cari Roccaro (excused absence), Mallory Swanson (maternity leave)

Questionable: None

Washington Spirit Availability:

Out: Ashley Hatch (maternity leave), Lyza Jessee (SEI – wrist), Casey Krueger (knee), Ouleye Sarr (SEI – back), Andi Sullivan (maternity leave)

Questionable: Rosemonde Kouassi (knee), Kysha Sylla (thigh)

Location: Audi Field, Washington, DC
Kickoff time: 4 p.m. ET
Referee: Marie Durr
Available TV: CBS
Available streaming: Paramount+