Despite a fearsome attack and dominant performance from Washington Spirit at home yesterday, Chicago Stars FC’s draw streak was too powerful to be broken, and the teams split points in a 1-1 draw.

In the lead image, Sofia Cantore runs with the ball, with two Chicago Stars players in pursuit. Photo by Jason Taylor

Washington got the attacking started early, with shots by Sofia Cantore and Carle in the first minute of the match. The attempt, begun by Carle stealing the ball and Trinity Rodman making the first of many dangerous crosses, was well-defended by the Stars and unfortunately previewed how many of their attacks would go in the half. Despite four shots on target and 0.87 expected goals, plus some excellently placed passes into the box by Rodman and Kate Wiesner, the Spirit couldn’t get the ball to cross the goal line.

The Spirit were structured defensively in the first half, playing four players in the backline and three defensively-minded midfielders in Rebeca Bernal, Hal Hershfelt, and Narumi Miura. The strategy worked to hold the Stars to just one shot on goal that half, but gave them a numbers advantage higher up the field. Gabby Carle said their formation match-up against Chicago’s made the Spirit’s first half press “wonky.” Meanwhile, Chicago’s diamond midfield allowed them to have a lot of numbers behind the ball to defend when Washington took possession.

At half time, the Spirit shifted into a three-back, deploying Carle and Paige Metayer as wingbacks. Coach Adrián González said the move allowed his team to be more aggressive and improved their ability to pressure Chicago on the ball, “not giving them time to think too much.”

In the 57th minute, Washington’s attack found some success. Croix Bethune passed the ball forward to Rodman, who just barely saved it from going out and crossed. A Stars defender cut off Metayer’s run but deflected the ball into Cantore’s path. She smacked into the corner of the goal with a strong right-footed shot.

Alyssa Naeher and the Stars argued with the referee for a few minutes following the goal, but it stood due to a lack of clear and convincing evidence the ball had gone out of play before the goal.

The Spirit continued to attack, but it was Chicago who would score next. Taking advantage of a poor back-pass by Hal Hershfelt, Ludmila claimed the ball behind Washington’s back line to create a one-on-one situation with Aubrey Kingsbury, despite Tara McKeown’s best efforts to cut her off. The keeper moved to limit Ludmila’s angle, but without any other defenders between her and the goal, Ludmila had her choice of shot placement.

Both González and Kingsbury were supportive of Hal after the game. González said, “I just gave her a hug and I said that we haven’t tied because of that. I mean, as a team: we win, we lose, we tie all together.”

The Spirit fought to regain their lead, with Metayer in particular putting in a heroic effort to get another goal and McKeown making a last minute drive up-field.

“If I see a space, and we’re still tied, I’m gonna go,” the center back said.

Chicago’s defense remained strong, however, and earned their team their fifth draw in the month of August. Despite dropping two points, the Spirit remain in second place in the league but will face a tight turnaround of two games in the next week.

Next up: Washington will compete in the Concacaf W Champions Cup at 7 p.m. on Wed., Sep. 3, hosting Vancouver Rise FC Academy.

Three takeaways 

• Corners. The Spirit didn’t score on any of their 11 corner kicks last night but have been one of the more successful teams this year on set pieces. González said they are emphasizing short corner to get more players involved in the set piece and force defenders to move more, but also out of recognition that the Spirit don’t have a lot of aerial threats. On what they can still improve, he said, “Be able to be a little bit patient because sometimes I think we are crossing too early sometimes, and maybe the option is not open, so maybe we need to add the extra pass. But it’s not easy because when you are [that] close to the box, you just want to put the ball there.”
• A promising beginning. Just days after being recalled from her loan to Dallas Trinity FC, Midfielder Deb Abiodun debuted in this match and made an immediate impact on the pitch, finding connections and making forward passes to teammates in the final third. González had words of praise for his newest player after the match, saying she impressed him when first signed by the team in preseason and had improved tactically during her time in Dallas. “She’s very hard-working and very mature, even though she’s young, and I think she’s going to help us a lot, to be honest, because she’s ready to compete,” he said.
• Fan displays. Washington Spirit supporters continue to make bold statements at the games. For the second home match in a row, they broke into a chant of “Free DC” in the 51st minute of the match to protest National Guard occupation and increased federal law enforcement in the city. They also displayed a trans flag tifo at the beginning of the match, a fitting symbol for the team’s celebration of Pride.

Box Score

NWSL Regular Season –  Game 18

Washington Spirit 1 (Cantore 57′)

Chicago Stars FC 1 (Ludmila 68′)

Lineups

Washington Spirit (433): Aubrey Kingsbury (C); Kate Wiesner (Leicy Santos 77′), Tara McKeown, Gabby Carle, Esme Morgan; Narumi Miura (Paige Metayer 46′), Rebeca Bernal (Courtney Brown 86′), Hal Hershfelt; Trinity Rodman (Gift Monday 58′), Croix Bethune (Deb Abiodun 77′), Sofia Cantore

Chicago Stars FC (4231): Alyssa Naeher (C); Sam Angel (Ava Cook 72′), Sam Staab, Kathy Hendrich, Taylor Malham; Maitane Lopez (Leilanni Nesbeth 72′), Bea Franklin Micayla Johnson 90+4′), Julia Grosso; Jameese Joseph (Nadia Gomes 81′), Ally Schlegel, Ludmila

Misconduct Summary

Washington Spirit:  None

Chicago Stars FC:  Joseph 22′