After two high-scoring matches against teams from El Salvador and Canada in the Concacaf W Champions Cup, the Washington Spirit were finally held scoreless by NWSL opponent NJ/NY Gotham FC last Wednesday. With the battle to make the knockout stage still raging, Annie Elliott and André Carlisle took a look at the biggest lessons from that game.

Not the Bats We Expected

This tournament is only in its second year, so teams are still adapting how they cope with midweek games in a different competitive format. Still, when two top-4 NWSL teams are scheduled to clash, you expect peak NWSL’ing, regardless of the name of the competition.

However, both Gotham and the Spirit are gearing up for the playoffs, with Gotham hoping to cling onto their top-4 spot to secure a home playoff game. The Spirit are in a much more secure position, holding a multi-match points lead over the team below them in 3rd. Below them, though, it a hot ass mess. Several teams are within a game’s haul of points from jumping or, or sliding down, the table.

As such, the Bats decided this was not the match to prove a point against the Spirit. The energy exerted could impact their performance during a weekend league match that they need points from. After the match, head coach Adrián González noted that the style of play they faced in this match was not the one the team anticipated. Gotham are typically an aggressive and intense pressing team, a style that requires prolonged periods of high intensity running. Instead, they came out with a much more vanilla gameplan.

Given this, it’s no surprise that the match ended 0-0. The result keeps Gotham and the Spirit in good standing to advance, with the Spirit being able to win the group outright against Monterrey, Wednesday, October 15, at Rowdy Audi.

A Gotham problem?

The result does put the Spirit in an interesting position, though. In three contests against Gotham this year, they’ve lost once (3-0 in April) and have settled for scoreless draws twice since the summer NWSL break. With both teams vying for the knockout rounds in this tournament and league play, another clash this year seems likely, while the outcome is anything but.

The Spirit and Bats have both struggled with injuries this year but are finally healthy and ready to show off their super deep benches. For example, by subbing on players like Croix Bethune, Leicy Santos, Midge Purce, and Rose Lavelle in the second half of this match. Last Wednesday’s match also showed how close they are in terms of ability, with similar numbers of shots on target (4 for Gotham, 3 for Washington), saves (3 each), and tackles (19 Bats, 20 Spirit) and close percentages in pass accuracy and possession (a slight advantage to the Spirit on both counts).

This writer has always felt talk of a Gotham-Spirit rivalry was largely manufactured by the NWSL based on little more than geographic proximity. But with the teams so evenly matched and likely to keep meeting in consequential matches, a real rivalry could be brewing.

Scary Slips

This game was held at Subaru park in Chester, Pennsylvania, Gotham’s sometimes home away from home. They share their primary stadium with New York Red Bulls, and Subaru Park is the home venue for Philadelphia Union. Both are quality, natural grass playing surfaces, so it was rather alarming to see players slipping so frequently. Two of those slips in particular were particularly scary in the moment.

Tara McKeown was chasing down an attempt to play a ball in behind, she won it but slipped during her attempt to turn, causing her to fall quite awkwardly and quite hard. Later in the match, Kysha Sylla had another slip that resulted in an awkward and painful looking fall.

Though McKeown was subbed at halftime, and Sylla in the 62nd minute, both seem to have avoided serious injury. McKeown started and played 90 minutes in the following weekend’s win over San Diego, and Kysha Sylla was available off the bench. It’s difficult to know what could have caused this. Sometimes the wrong footwear for a particular surface can lead to slips, slides and awkward falls, and there’s also the possibility that the pitch was over-watered pre-match and at halftime.

Whatever the culprit, it was good to see the Spirit come out of the match still unbeaten in the group, and without any injuries.

MacIver makes her case

With Aubrey Kingsbury in good form, goalkeeper Sandy MacIver hasn’t had many opportunities to prove herself since joining the Spirit earlier this year. She’s started just one NWSL match: a challenging 4-3 loss to Angel City FC.

This tournament promised to give her more of the chances she needs to challenge for match time, and MacIver’s served capably, starting and keeping clean sheets in all three of the Spirit’s matches so far. But Alianza and Vancouver Rise Academy, Washington’s first opponents, didn’t offer much to challenge MacIver. On Wednesday night, Gotham made her earn her clean sheet.

Under significantly more pressure than in the earlier games, MacIver still proved reliable with her feet, avoiding errors and maintaining 84 percent pass accuracy. Most importantly, she did what she needed to in the dangerous moments, making three saves and several grabs to stop Gotham from scoring.

One of her best was a close-range save of a shot by Katie Stengel late in the first half. Anticipating the shot, MacIver moved off the line to limit Stengel’s access to the goal. Then, when Stengel struck from just outside the penalty area, MacIver not only took the full force of the kick, she had the presence of mind to grab and keep hold of the ball, ending Gotham’s chance decisively.

With another of these point-blank saves at the beginning of the second half and some solid work throughout (plus help from her defenders), MacIver showed she has the skills and judgment needed to be an NWSL goalkeeper. Her experience illustrates the value of international tournaments like this in building confidence and experience to prepare players to take on a bigger role.

The tournament ahead

This match was Gotham’s final game in the group stage, and the tie means they are guaranteed to advance, but the Spirit’s fate is still in their hands. They have one more to play on Wednesday, Oct. 15 against CF Monterrey Femenil, and picking up any points there would mean they can also advance to the knockout stage.

Because of their strong goal differential, a win in the next game would earn Washington the first place spot, despite tying Gotham on points. A tie, meanwhile, would put the Spirit in second place. The Rayadas only hope is to beat the Spirit on their home field, a difficult proposition.