In another country and a mile and a half above sea level, the Washington Spirit lined up against non-NWSL competition for the first time this season. Prior to the Spirit taking the pitch, Gotham were taught a hard lesson by Club América courtesy of a 4-1 loss that denied them the opportunity to defend their title. Washington took heed, and despite a shaky start, managed to ride a late Claudia Martínez goal to victory over Pachuca to take the slot opposite Club América in the final.

To start the match, head coach Adrián González shook up his lineup from what’d become standard in NWSL competition. Elisabeth Tsé earned her first start next to Tara Rudd in central defense, and Leicy Santos was deployed as false 9, with Sofia Cantore and Gift Monday among the available subs. The changes, plus Pachuca’s intensity to start the match, combined to provide a number of uncomfortable moments for the Spirit in the first half.

The match began with the local team desperate to show the visitors a bad time. Aline Gomes created a dangerous moment dribbling in the box early, and the resulting corner was smacked against the base of Sandy MacIver’s post. Fifteen minutes into the match the Spirit were still struggling to find their possession game and wrestle back control of the match.

Washington’s first real chance came in the 21st minute, courtesy of Trinity Rodman latching onto a long ball and firing a cross to Leicy Santos, who had her first time shot saved by Barreras. It was a glimpse of the talent Washington boasts, but wasn’t enough to alter the flow of the game. Moments after, Charlyn Corral, Pachuca’s all-time leading scorer, cut inside and curled a shot to the far post that MacIver was able to snag.

A little after the half hour mark the Spirit finally started to look like themselves. They had their longest spell of possession around the 32nd minute, and were able to find Rodman and Kouassi in space along the wings. Pachuca still showed a threat when the ball was turned over, but the Spirit counterpress had fully engaged as well, snuffing out dangerous moments by reclaiming possession as soon as possible.

As the clock ticked toward halftime the Spirit suddenly started pinning Pachuca back. Some exquisite, patient buildup in the final third saw Hal Hershfelt fire a low cross that Kouassi turned toward goal first time but right at Barreras. Kouassi and Rodman both found themselves behind Pachuca’s defense, with the former taking a touch too wide to find an open goal and the latter smashing the crossbar.

After a tense half of play the Spirit somehow went into halftime fortunate not to have conceded, and unfortunate not to have scored.

Halftime | 0-0

González got the Spirit back into their usual shape and personnel with a couple halftime subs. Lucia Di Guglielmo came in for Kate Wiesner in a straight swap at left back, but Andi Sullivan exited her first start since becoming a mother in favor of Sofia Cantore. The Italian forward replaced Leicy Santos in the middle of the attacking line, dropping the Colombian into her more natural midfield position.

Despite the changes, the hosts weren’t in any rush to let the visiting NWSL club find the comfort they both crave and excel in. Pachuca continued to cause problems with their intensity, forcing the Spirit to chase them in transition and by spreading the ball east to west in possession. The gameplan is a smart one against a team not used to playing at elevation, and who haven’t been in town long enough to have fully adapted.

Adrián responded by leaning on the team’s depth. Claudia Martínez replaced Leicy Santos in the 62nd minute, and Gift Monday came in for Rose Kouassi in the 74th.

Before they could make an impact though, a poor pass out wide in the 65th minute forced the Spirit to defend a dangerous counter as Rudd played to the feet of opposition in between her and the fullback she was aiming for. The quick counter turned into a great chance for Pachuca, as they dribbled into the box and rifled a shot across goal that narrowly missed the far post. The game still hung in the balance, poised to hinge on one big moment or one big mistake.

Just before the 70th minute an interception by Hal Hershfelt in the attacking third nearly turned into the moment the Spirit were waiting for. After intercepting, she drove into the box and fed a low cross in front of goal that Sofia Cantore was a step away from turning into the net. The 77th minute saw another moment nearly manifest for the Spirit. Slick one-touch passing between Bernal, Monday and Martínez looked to have sprung Rudd—having a Tara the Explorer moment—behind the line to round the keeper and fire into an empty net, but the offside flag spoiled celebrations before they could happen.

As the clock ticked into the final ten minutes of normal time, the moment finally came. A long punt from MacIver was flicked high by Monday, and controlled by Rodman as it dropped from the sky. Rodman held off her defender as she waited for Di Guglielmo to make an overlapping run, then backheeled the ball into her path. Lucia drove with intent into the box, sizing up her options, opting to underlap with Monday and feed a tidy ball behind the line to Martínez making a late central run. The teenager shot low but had the ball deflect upward and spinning to the goaline, once it fell in front of goal she swept it into the net to be sure.

Though the Spirit finally had a lead, it wasn’t a comfortable trek to the final whistle. Pachuca continued to pile on the pressure from corners, and forced Sandy MacIver into multiple diving saves—particularly in stoppage time. Time ran out and Pachuca and the final whistle came to send the Spirit into Saturday’s final.

Full Time | 1-0

Up Next: Concacaf W Champions Cup Final, vs. Club América. Saturday, May 23 @ 9:30 pm ET on Paramount+ (English) and ESPN+ (Spanish).

Three takeaways 

• Survive & Adapt. NWSL teams rarely get a chance to step outside of NWSL competition. There’s more tactical variety in the league than there’s ever been, but the keys to consistently winning games is more or less the same. More international competitions are on the way, but this was a solid—scary at times—lesson in finding a way to survive, and adapting against a talented, intense and unfamiliar opponent putting the team under a lot of pressure.
  
  
• Depth to the Rescue (again). A factor outside of the 22 players on the pitch was the altitude in Hidalgo, Mexico. Estadio Hidalgo sits nearly 8,000 feet above sea level. For reference, that’s nearly 3,000 feet higher than Denver’s famous ‘Mile High’ stadium the Spirit faced the Summit in front of over 63,000 spectators earlier this season. Adrián González leaned on five subs to help the team cope, while Pachuca made just one change. Claudia Martínez not only subbed into the match and made a telling impact yet again, but the match winning move involved three subs—Martínez, Monday, and Di Guglielmo.
  
  
• Trophy Time. The Spirit secured their spot in their fourth final/championship match of the Michele Kang era. They were able to secure the Challenge Cup trophy, but have ended as runners up in back-to-back NWSL Championship matches. This will be their first shot at a trophy against non-NWSL competition. It’ll require everything they gave against Pachuca and perhaps a slight bit more. Club América won the LigaMX Femenil Clausura a week ago, and followed up with an energetic performance that shredded Gotham 4-1 to book their spot in the final. Lessons learned today will have to be applied instantly if the Spirit want to get their hands on the trophy.

BOX SCORE
Concacaf W Champions Cup
Semifinal

Pachuca 0-1 Spirit
[Martínez 81′]

Lineups

Pachuca (4231): Barreras; Ibarra, Caicedo, Minota, Robles; Pereira, Nieto (Garcia 84′); Nicosia, Fragoso, Gomes; Corral

Washington Spirit (433): MacIver; Wiesner (Di Guglielmo 46′), Tsé, Rudd, Carle; Bernal, Sullivan (Cantore 46′), Hershfelt; Rodman (Metayer 84′), Santos (Martínez 62′), Kouassi (Monday 74′)

Misconduct Summary

Pachuca: Minota 32′
Spirit: None

Lead photo courtesy of Washington Spirit.