After two NWSL Championship appearances, the start to this year’s Washington Spirit season has not been the success most predicted. They lost their first match at home to Portland Thorns, then tied three straight before finally earning a win against Bay FC.

The win moved the Spirit into eighth place, in a playoff spot for the first time this season, and could offer the opportunity to reframe their “winless” streak as an “unbeaten” one. With the international break drawing to a close, we take a look at how fair that interpretation would be and what these first few games indicate about the rest of the 2026 season.

By the numbers

We admit that five games is a very small sample size, but overall, the numbers show plenty of reason to believe the early results will improve. The Spirit are a top performing team across several metrics, and the early statistics show a team that is largely playing the way they want to play. They’re controlling possession with a league-best average of 59.6 percent and have a strong passing game, connecting an average of 400.2 passes per match (though they’re in the middle of the pack when it comes to accurate crosses). Esme Morgan shines in particular, leading the league in average long ball accuracy and boasting an overall passing rate of 89.7 percent.

Defensively, the Spirit have been very strong. Led by captain Tara Rudd, the Spirit have conceded just four goals (0.8 per match), and two of those four were the result of goalkeeper error that is now hopefully behind Sandy MacIver as she adjusts to her starting role — she’s kept two straight clean sheets since. The team’s effective high press has them winning possession in the final third eight times per match, helping to keep opponents out of dangerous scoring positions and contributing to their third-lowest in the NWSL expected goals conceded (4.7).

When attacking, they’re also impressive in pretty much everything but the scoreboard. The Spirit are second in the league for both expected goals (9.7) and total touches in opposition box (161) and third for shots on target per match (5.8). This indicates that they’re progressing well in possession and creating scoring chances. 

Finishing problems linger

Though the Spirit won their first match of the season in San Jose, they’re still lagging far behind their expected goals. Their 3.18 xG in a 1-1 draw with Utah was particularly concerning, but even in their win, they only scored one goal from 2.75 xG. This is a problem that could disrupt their whole season, if they let it. The NWSL table is already tight, and taking too long to get into the swing of things could easily be the factor that keeps the Spirit out of a home playoff game or out of the post-season altogether.

Some of this can be attributed to the trade of Croix Bethune well into preseason. Without her creativity in midfield, Washington’s attack is heavily driven by the wings, and — while Rosemonde Kouassi and Trinity Rodman are formidable chance creators — that can make the Spirit’s shots too easy to predict and defend against. So far, they’ve tried to adjust through tactics, like having wingers cut inside in possession to serve as passing outlets and create a numbers advantage, but those tactics haven’t (yet) been fully successful in creating enough threat centrally to improve goal-scoring.

The scoring problem can’t all be attributed to the shortage of threats from the midfield, though. Washington are creating quality chances, but all too often, they’re missing. Of the 10 big chances Spirit players have created this season, they’ve converted only three. This is a trickier problem to diagnose, let alone solve, because it implicates the confidence, decison-making, and accuracy of several individual players. Adrián González says the team has continued to improve and perform well in training, so in this area, we may just need to trust the process, hoping that increased training time will allow the Spirit players to develop the comfort with each other and the updated tactics to better anticipate chances and convert more of their shots.

Newbies impress

On the positive side, Washington’s scouting team remains a strength. Once again, they’ve brought in surprising new players to improve the depth of the squad. In just a handful of games, some of those newbies have already made an impact.

Lucia di Guglielmo impressed from Matchday One, prompting Rodman to call her performance “the craziest thing I’ve ever seen in my life.” The Italian left back is particularly effective defensively. She leads the team in both tackles and blocked shots, drawing praise for her match-saving moments.

Loaned to the Gainbridge Super League in 2025, Tamara Bolt made her first two appearances with the Spirit in this window. Serving as a substitute for Kouassi each time, she’s provided energy and creativity off the bench, notably making a deft pass to Trinity Rodman that created Gift Monday’s goal against Bay.

Claudia Martínez has played significant minutes off the bench in all five matches and is so, so close to her first NWSL goal. Leading the team in shots per 90, she’s had several strong chances, typically shooting from close to the goal. Some adjustment time is to be expected for Martínez, who joined the team late in preseason and is facing some significant language and cultural barriers, but as she becomes more comfortable and her finishing improves, she should be a major asset to the team.

Possible improvements

There’s plenty of reason to believe that, given a little more time and training, the Spirit will continue to improve. They’re heading into an intense month with a crowded match calendar, but they still have a bench stacked with talented players, a strong underlying culture, and a tactical plan that has been effective in their best moments. If they’re looking for some ways to improve though, here are a couple of suggestions.

The biggest need is obvious: another attacking-minded midfielder to support Leicy Santos with more hold-up play and progressive carries to increase danger from the center of the pitch. A new signing is unlikely until the summer when the secondary transfer window opens, so the Spirit should consider whether any current players could help out in this area. Hal Hershfelt has been playing in a higher role than in past seasons and creating 1.8 chances per match (compare that with Bethune’s average of 1.9 in 2025), but given the ongoing finishing challenges, it could be time to try some new tactics. Perhaps Martínez could be developed to play more centrally, or Sofia Cantore and Monday could be fielded together to increase the central threat?

Regardless of the chosen approach, the team could benefit from getting Monday on the field more often. Kouassi has created an astonishing 15 chances across 364 minutes, and her established chemistry with Monday could allow the team to capitalize on more of those. For the other wing, Monday’s speed would give Rodman a more consistent passing option on breakaways. Between a weak first performance and injury, Monday saw limited match time in the first five matches, but her immediate impact in the win against Bay FC made a strong case for her return to a starting role.