Washington Spirit drew Angel City FC 2-2 in a scrappy, dramatic match in LA last night, extending their unbeaten streak to nine matches. Washington’s goals were scored by Trinity Rodman and Croix Bethune.

Angel City came on strong with a series of corner kicks in the first few minutes, although they would eventually be out-shot 9-21, with just one shot on target.

The Spirit’s were finally able to put together an attack in the eighth minute, with Bethune getting the ball to Gabby Carle, who had plenty of room to run and passed it to Rodman at the edge of the box. Once inside, Rodman was tackled by Miyabi Moriya, losing the ball but earning a penalty kick. Rodman’s kick was blocked by goalkeeper Angelina Anderson, but she rectified the error by getting to the rebounded ball first and slamming it into the corner of the goal.

Angel City responded immediately. Flying back down the field with the ball, they got it to Gisele Thompson on the right side of the penalty area. Thompson beat Kate Wiesner to the endline and cut the ball back, placing it directly in front of goal for Evelyn Shores to run onto.

There was a long break in play shortly after the goal when Deborah Abiodun was hit in the face by the cleat of a falling Jun Endo. The referee immediately called medical staff over to bandage Abiodun’s head, and it appeared that the Spirit coaching staff was preparing Sofia Cantore to come into the match, but Abiodun was able to return. The injury continued to be an issue for Abiodun throughout the match, causing at least two additional stoppage and more than one jersey change, though her performance was strong throughout.

The Spirit came back from the injury delay making better better connections and had a spell of possession in which they took five straight shots. The most dangerous came from Narumi Miura just outside the box, hitting the crossbar. The home team continued to threaten, largely via the speed of Thompson and Sveindís Jónsdóttir, but neither team scored again before half time.

Angel City pulled ahead in the 55th minute by forcing an own goal. Riley Tiernan crossed toward the far post with teammates rushing forward to meet her pass. Tara McKeown stuck a leg out to block the ball but diverted it into the goal instead.

Throughout the second half, the Spirit were able to find space outside of the box but not inside of it. To remedy this, Adrián González subbed in Cantore in the 67th minute, helping the team to move the ball better in the final third. Three minutes later, they equalized on a headed goal by Bethune. On a ball crossed by Leicy Santos from outside the box, the 5’3″ midfielder leaped past Sarah Gorden to strike the side netting.

Both teams had chances to win, with several shots from open players going wide, but they ended in a draw.

Up next: The Spirit will return home to play Houston Dash on Sunday, Sep. 28.

Box Score

NWSL Regular Season –  Game 21

Angel City FC 2 (Shores 15′, McKeown (OG) 55′)

Washington Spirit 2 (Rodman 12′, Bethune 71′)

Lineups

Angel City FC (433): Angelina Anderson; Sara Doorsuon, Sarah Gorden (C), Miyabi Moriya, Gisele Thompson (Madison Hammond 68′); Evelyn Shores, Nealy Martin, Maiara Niehues (Macey Hodge 79′); Jun Endo (Kennedy Fuller 46′), Sveindís Jónsdóttir, Riley Tiernan

Washington Spirit (4231): Aubrey Kingsbury (C); Kate Wiesner (Paige Metayer 46′), Tara McKeown, Gabby Carle, Esme Morgan; Deborah Abiodun (Gift Monday 87′), Narumi Miura (Sofia Cantore 67′), Croix Bethune, Leicy Santos; Trinity Rodman, Rosemonde Kouassi

Misconduct Summary

Angel City FC:  Jónsdóttir 52′, Gorden 85′
Washington Spirit:  bench 34′

Lead image courtesy of the Washington Spirit