After an early international break in the season, Washington Spirit (1-3-1) resume their 2026 campaign at home tonight against Kansas City Current (2-0-3). It should be a clash of the titans, between the teams that finished first and second in last year’s shield race. Instead, both teams faltered in the start to this year and are looking to launch their turnaround from Buzzard Point.

Though the recent international break left the Spirit without enough players still in the country to simulate match settings, defender Kate Wiesner said the remaining crew focused on “getting the little details right” in training. They’re hoping to “keep riding that momentum” from their first win against Bay FC in early April.

“There’s just kind of a buzz about the group right now, a real competitiveness, you know,” Wiesner said. “So I’m really excited to see kind of just the excitement we’ve had around being back together and playing together this week in training. See how that translates on the field [tonight].”

Coming off of a record-setting 2025, Kansas City Current (2-0-3) made some interesting changes in the offseason. They traded coach Vlatko Andonovski for Chris Armas, in his first job coaching women after a few less-than-successful stints at coaching in MLS. Then, they traded Claire Hutton to Bay FC, sacrificing some of their midfield control and defensive prowess. The results haven’t been as impressive as last year — although they have one win on Washington. The return from injury of two-time defending Golden Boot Temwa Chawinga gave them a boost to defeat NJ/NY Gotham FC in their last match and could trouble the Spirit tonight.

Adrián González was taking the Current seriously, despite recent struggles, describing them as an aggressive team both in and out of possession with “super talented players.”

“The identity’s the same,” he said. “It is a team that when they decide to press, to jump, they are very aggressive, but they are also very comfortable when, you know, they concede space. They drop, defend sometimes a little bit lower, and that allows them to, you know, have a lot of the space in behind, just in case they win it. They feel very comfortable after regaining the ball, possession, you know, in those transitions.”

To combat Kansas City’s verticality, González said the Spirit’s plan will be aggressive on both sides of the ball, maintain the ball as much as possible and play far from their own goal. When out of possession, Wiesner said the plan begins with the counterpress.

“For us, it starts with our front line,” Wiesner said. “It’s getting as much pressure on their back line as possible to limit the time that they have to be able to play those bigger balls in behind.” The Spirit’s backline will “Balancing when we need to drop back early and respect the pace that they have on their front line, and when we need to be physical, right? And bump players and bump runners and prevent them from getting going full-steam.”

Key Player: Gift Monday

Gift Monday scored her first goal of the season in Washington’s last match against Bay, sliding around defenders to slide a loose ball into the net just three minutes after she took the pitch. As one of the players who stayed home during this window, Monday’s had plenty of time to prepare for tonight and should be well-positioned to change the Spirit’s goal-scoring luck.

Watch Out For: Croix Bethune

Though she hasn’t yet been as essential for Kansas City as she could be for the Spirit, Croix Bethune’s return to Buzzard Point should make her old team a little nervous. Bethune is a tricky player with an incredible through-ball and vision. Plus, the Spirit have a weakness for goals by traded players.

Challenges: The Spirit have struggled with chance conversion all season. They’ll need to be better at the little details in the final third to outscore Kansas City.

Previously: Last year, the Spirit lost once and drew once against the Current.

Kansas City Current Availability:

Out: Alana Cook (knee – SEI), Vanessa DiBernardo (maternity leave), Clare Gagne (head – SEI), Mary Long (D-45), Gianna Paul (thigh)

Questionable: None

Washington Spirit Availability:

Out: Deborah Abiodun (hip), Ashley Hatch (maternity leave), Aubrey Kingsbury (maternity leave), Casey Krueger (maternity leave), Andi Sullivan (excused absence), Sara Wojdelko (hand)

Questionable: None

Location: Audi Field, Washington, DC
Kickoff time: 8 p.m. ET
Referee: Nabil Bensalah
Available streaming: Prime Video