Despite being frustrated for much of Sunday’s match by Seattle Reign’s press, Washington Spirit found a way to keep their winning streak alive, thanks to a late goal by Claudia Martínez.

“I feel like I spent the whole game in, like, grit zone, just hanging on,” Gabby Carle said. She gave the Reign credit for “a really good game plan” that required the Spirit to “show heart” to overcome.

The Reign employed a high press that was well-structured to disrupt Washington’s possession and keep them from progressing with the ball. The Spirit, meanwhile, had to get creative to escape the press, with set pieces, drives from center back Tara Rudd and a mid-half field swap between the wingers launching some of their best opportunities.

Perhaps as a sign those tactics were working, Washington’s highest expected-goal shots came toward the end of the half. In the 40th minute, Trinity Rodman headed the ball forward for Sofia Cantore off of a throw-in. Cantore beat her defender and made a cut-back pass from the endline. Her pass was disrupted but found Leicy Santos, who passed quickly to a wide-open Kate Wiesner. Wiesner’s shot was high of goal, as was Rodman’s a few minutes later, after she read a pass to intercept it near the goal area.

Washington made some half-time substitutions, but it was the Reign who adjusted better. Their continued press meant Spirit players still didn’t have as much time as they’d like on the ball, while Seattle were finding openings themselves with long diagonal passes to put runners behind Washington’s back line. Things wouldn’t fall into place for the Spirit until much later in the half, after they’d made all their substitutes and been able to tweak midfield tactics under Andi Sullivan’s leadership.

The Spirit wouldn’t find their first shot on target until the 80th minute. The team regained possession after a long pass by Sandy MacIver, Santos passing ahead to Gift Monday. With her back to the goal, Monday opted to flick the ball over her head and behind her for Martínez. Martínez found Paige Metayer in the box, but Claudia Dickey stopped they shot.

Having almost scored a team goal once, they were ready to try it again. Four minutes later, Andi Sullivan made a pass in midfield to Metayer, who found Carle on the wing. Carle crossed the ball under the legs of two Reign players to find Martínez in the center of the box. The Paraguayan teenager played the ball low through traffic for the game-winning goal, her third goal of the season.

The Reign sought to strike back, forcing MacIver to make a save just moments later on another long diagonal to Maddie Dahlien, but, with the game state now in their favor, the Spirit were able to slow down play and see themselves to a five-game winning streak.

“I think the team has done a great job fighting until the end, believing,” Adrián González said.

Up next: The Spirit are staying on the West Coast to face San Diego Wave on Friday, May 15.

Three takeaways 

• Gamechangers. Starters typically get all the glory, but it was the Spirit’s substitutes who really shone in this match, with Martínez, Metayer, and Monday making a difference in the attack, while Sullivan and Lucia Di Guglielmo helped get the match under the Spirit’s control. González spoke after the match about the importance of having subs he can trust, not just to take over for the starters, but also to change the game with their own unique profiles. “Most of the games, especially in this league, are decided in the second half,” he said, explaining how even players who come on late are expected to make an impact.
• Rodman substitution. One of Washington’s subs wasn’t purely tactical. Early in the second half, Rodman appeared to sustain an ankle injury after jumping to defend a set piece. She returned to play briefly but was removed in the 55th minute. González described her substitution as largely precautionary, noting that he had expected her — and other players like Sofia Cantore — to have some fatigue in this match, after playing so many minutes in the past few. Early substitutions this evening should help them stay fresh for the long stretch of road games ahead.
• A gritty win. Most of the Spirit’s wins this season have come from dominant performance, and even in their worst games, they’ve been effective in creating chances. That wasn’t the case today. The Spirit took just two shots on target and created 0.44 expected goals. “To be honest, it was a bit of a hard watch. Apologies to the people at home,” MacIver quipped after the game. She said a key to avoiding games like this in the future will be variation: “Even if things are going well, you’ve still got to be unpredictable for the opposition.” Carle said she thinks that will improve over the course of the season as the Spirit face more teams and learn to adapt quicker.

Box Score

NWSL Regular Season –  Game 9

Seattle Reign FC 0
Washington Spirit 1 (Martínez 84′)

Lineups

Seattle Reign FC (4231): Claudia Dickey; Sofia Huerta (C), Emily Mason, Phoebe McClernon, Madison Curry (Brittany Ratcliffe 89′); Ainsley McCammon (Angharad James-Turner 79′), Sam Meza, Madison Mercado (Emeri Adames 79′); Maddie Dahlien (Holly Ward 87′), Mia Fishel, Nérilia Mondésir (Sally Menti 87′)

Washington Spirit (4231): Sandy MacIver; Kate Wiesner (Paige Metayer 46′), Tara Rudd (C), Gabrielle Carle, Esme Morgan; Rebeca Bernal (Andi Sullivan 67′), Leicy Santos, Hal Hershfelt; Trinity Rodman (Lucia Di Guglielmo 55′), Rosemonde Kouassi (Claudia Martinez 46′), Sofia Cantore (Gift Monday 67′)

Misconduct Summary

Seattle Reign FC:  Mondésir 65′
Washington Spirit:  Bernal 36′, Morgan 72′

Lead image courtesy of the Washington Spirit