It took a while for the goals to come, but the Washington Spirit were forced to share the points after a late strike from North Carolina Courage cancelled out a Trinity Rodman banger. The two teams had vastly different approaches heading into this one, with the Courage needing any points at all while the Spirit were focused on rest and recovery ahead of a three-match week.

In a show of immense depth, the three Spirit goalscorers (Courtney Brown, Brittany Ratcliffe, Gift Monday) from these clubs’ first matchup of the year all started on the bench. Also it was raining. Like, a lot.

North Carolina started the match showing the desperation and intensity they needed to find a result. As a result, the match began at a pretty intense pace, with both teams stealing possession and crafting clever openings in possession. The best chance of the first 20 minutes came from a beautiful angled throughball from Narumi Miura to Trinity Rodman, who cut the ball along the grass through the box toward Sofia Cantore, who stretched but couldn’t meet it at the far post.

North Carolina’s best chance of the half came in the 25th minute, courtesy of a change in approach. Instead of trying to pick their way through the Spirit, they sent a long ball over the top to Ashley Sanchez, who got free in the box and struck a low shot that beat Aubrey Kingsbury. However, the offside flag was raised. While not a goal, it was a warning, and a show that the Courage were willing to try the kitchen sink approach toward bagging a goal.

The Spirit responded through another linkup between Rodman and Cantore. This time Rodman cut into midfield on the dribble and fizzed a ball into the feet of Cantore who had her defender pinned. She executed a sweet turn buy just enough space to hit a shot, but belted it wide of the near post.

An intense and soggy first half ended with neither team able to get on the scoreboard.

Halftime | 0-0

The second half began with a couple changes from the Spirit. With the second seed wrapped up before kickoff, and a big W Champions Cup midweek match on the horizon, Tara McKeown and Rose Kouassi were subbed off with Kysha Sylla and Gift Monday coming into the match.

The half wasn’t even ten minutes old when the Spirit took the lead by showing they can play a bit of long ball themselves. Hal Hershfelt dropped a dime to Rodman behind the defense, whose defender slid and failed to get a touch on the ball or knock Rodman off her stride. The USWNT star cut inside and had time to pick out the right strike, hitting a left-footed curling shot into the far side netting. No seriously, you’ll want to watch, then rewatch, the precision of this strike.

Washington didn’t have a ton of time to celebrate as North Carolina had the ball in the net again. But, like in the first half, the goal was called back due to a clear offside. It was yet another warning though, as Courage winger Payton Linnehan got a free to run in front of Kingsbury by making a run behind Kate Wiesner.

With about five minutes left of normal time the Courage put the ball in the back of the net again, and this one would count. Manaka Matsukubo’s clever footwork helped her evade Leicy Santos to deliver a low cross into the box. The cross was cut out by Esme Morgan with a lunging effort, but without enough power or height to clear Courage players stationed around the box. One of those players was Shinomi Koyama, who settled the ball and slide a shot past Kingsbury into the side netting.

The referee declared eight minutes of stoppage time, giving the Spirit plenty of time to do that dramatic late goal thing they’ve grown accustomed to doing. However, it was North Carolina who had more of the chances and a lot more of the ball. Courage fans wanted a late penalty against Deborah Abiodun for a ball that deflected off her midsection and hand, but the referee was unconvinced and VAR didn’t see enough to intervene.

In the end both teams shared the points, with a desperate North Carolina fighting back against a Spirit team trying to hold onto a one goal lead, and with one eye on rest, recovery, and an important midweek match.

Up next: The Spirit switch competitions to the W Champions Cup for their final group stage game, and what I am clumsily dubbing The Rebeca Bernal Derby. Bernal’s former team, Monterrey, will come to Audi, Wednesday, October 15, in hopes of preventing the NWSL side from topping the group.

Three Takeaways 

• Clinched. The first match on the day saw league leaders Kansas City Current beat Gotham FC 2-0, which cementer the Spirit into the #2 spot on the table. This is Washington’s second consecutive season finishing second, and it means that as long as the Spirit keep winning, the road to the NWSL Championship in San Jose, CA will require stops at Audi Field.
  
  
• Rest and recovery. Given that the Spirit’s league position, plus home playoff games, were secured before kickoff, and the match started a string of three games in one week, some player management was necessary. Head coach Adrián González used all available subs and substitution windows by the 67th minute. In the postgame presser he told reporters that the subs were pre-planned to maximize rest and recovery for players either coming back from injury, or who’ve had hefty workloads all season.
  
  
• Let’s talk about it. On another day the Trinity Rodman + Sofia Cantore linkup could’ve led to a goal or two. Heading into halftime cameras caught an animated conversation between Rodman and Cantore as the two tried to get on the same page. Individually, their movements combined well to create dangerous opportunities, but seemed to be slightly off when it came to the final run or pass.

Box Score

NWSL Regular Season –  Game 24

Washington Spirit: 1 (Rodman 52′)

North Carolina Courage: 1 (Koyama 86′)

Lineups

Washington Spirit (4231): Aubrey Kingsbury (C); Kate Wiesner, Rebeca Bernal (Morgan 61′), Tara McKeown (Sylla 46′), Deborah Abiodun; Hal Hershfelt (Metayer 61′), Narumi Miura; Rose Kouassi (Monday 46′), Croix Bethune (Santos 67′), Trinity Rodman; Sofia Cantore

North Carolina Courage (433): Casey Murphy; Dani Weatherholt (Bell 82′), Kaleigh Kurtz, Natalie Jacobs, Ryan Williams; Shinomi Koyama, Ashley Sanchez (Betfort 73′), Riley Jackson; Meredith Speck (Lussi 73′), Manakla Matsukubo, Payton Linnehan (Vine 79′)

Misconduct Summary

Washington Spirit: Abiodun 84′

North Carolina Courage: None

Lead image courtesy of the Washington Spirit.