The Washington Spirit will enter the June break in a comfortable spot after beating Seattle Reign FC 2-1 last night at Buzzard Point. An own goal almost spoiled their night, but a stunner of a free kick by Leicy Santos and Hal Hershfelt’s first career game winner ensured they would earn all three points, though the team was not as pleased with the performance as the results.

“Obviously it’s great that we won, but I don’t think that was, like, a great performance by any means,” Hershfelt said. “I think the break is needed. We kind of need to reset and get back after it because I don’t think that was, like, a great performance at all.”

Adrián González was also critical of the team’s performance, indicating they had more opportunities to score that were not converted but was able to draw positives from the match.

“I’m happy because the team is fighting until the end, finding solutions, ways to compete, ways to win, and also again super important players coming on in the second half, changing the game again,” he said. He also praised the team’s defensive performance.

González said his team was prepared for the Reign, expecting their defensive midfielders to be facing a lot of pressure and anticipating that they would sometimes need to skip that line when in possession. After an adjustment period early in the match, he saw his team beginning to combine passes and create dangerous opportunities, especially in transition.

In the 16th minute, Trinity Rodman drew a foul just outside of Seattle’s goal area. That gave Santos the opportunity to do what she does best. Taking the free kick, Santos kicked the ball over Reign’s line, bouncing it past Claudia Dickey and into the far netting.

The Spirit were relentless on attack for much of the half, creating numerous chances and keeping the Reign largely on the defenses but struggling to put their final shots on frame. Unfortunately, Seattle were the next on the scoreboard. On one of their only attacks, the Reign found Maddie Mercado running towards Washington’s goal. Trying to prevent a one-on-one between Mercado and Sandy MacIver, Lucia Di Guglielmo kicked the ball toward her own goal. It floated over MacIver’s head to even the score for the Reign.

The Reign made some adjustments to their formation to begin the second half, slowing the Spirit’s attack down a bit but still unable to create many chances themselves. They finished the match with just five shots and two on target, both in the first half. Washington, meanwhile, adjusted around the 60th minute and began finding shots again, finishing with 12 total, three on target.

One of their most promising was taken by Hershfelt in the 73rd, though in her words, she “shanked it.” She said she was “still pissed off” about that miss almost 10 minutes later, when Rodman passed her the ball a little past the center circle. Finding little opposition, Hershfelt dribbled to just outside the box and took her shot. A deflection off the leg of a Reign player meant that its path surprised Dickey, who dove the wrong way, allowing the ball to cross unencumbered into the goal.

After the match, Hershfelt credited the runs of Rodman and Claudia Martínez for drawing the attention of Seattle’s defenders and creating the space for her to take her shot.

“It wasn’t, like, the cutest shot ever, but it went in, so I guess… a goal’s a goal,” she said.

The Spirit continued to create chances, including a strong team play a few minutes later that Martínez shot too high, but Hershfelt’s goal ultimately stood as the game-winner.

“As ugly as the game felt for us, I do feel like it was a little stepping stone, in terms of, like, doing what we needed to do to win a scrappy game, which has been a struggle for us… especially in finals,” Rodman said, likely thinking of the team’s 5-3 loss last weekend in the Concacaf W Champions Cup.

Up next: The NWSL will be on a break for all of June for the men’s World Cup. The Spirit will host Houston Dash at Audi Field on July 3.

Three takeaways 

• Comparing with last match. Despite the team’s negativity about their performance, it was in many ways an improvement upon their match against the Reign earlier in May. They solved Seattle’s high press much earlier than in that game and went on to create several goal scoring opportunities, unlike the previous match where they only took two shots. “I think we corrected,” Rodman said, “Being able to play a team, like, a couple weeks apart is weird but also really nice because you can fix it really quickly and have it fresh on your brain, so we did adjust our positioning, and you saw, like, me and Rose were a lot lower defensively…. I thought we were a lot smarter about it.”
• Hype for Hal. Hershfelt was muted on her own performance, but her coach and teammates did not feel the same way. “Whatever you ask her, she’s going to do,” González said. “I haven’t seen a player like her in my life. I think it’s huge, what she brings to the team. Whatever the team needs, she’s going to do, attacking, defending.” He noted that she’s been asked to play in the box more this year, after playing in many different positions for the team, and described her as a leader who’s willing to sacrifice herself so the team can succeed. “I call her like a Jeep, you know a four-by-four: she can do everything,” he quipped. Rodman also said the team has a high degree of trust in Hershfelt’s abilities and that she’s happy to see her in the attack more often.
• Summer break plans. Though there will be interruptions, as some players compete in international games, the Spirit already have a plan for their summer break. “In these types of breaks, I think it’s important one to reset a little bit. Stop and get ready, recover. And then we always do the same: we just try to focus a lot on the individual needs that each player has in different areas, like tactically, technically, physically, and also mentally, emotionally,” González said. The next step is to work with units on areas they know they need to improve, before moving on to prepare the whole team for the second half of the season. In the short term, though, the team will get a much needed break. González is headed to Puerto Rico, while Hershfelt plans to spend some time at the lake.

Box Score

NWSL Regular Season –  Game 11

Washington Spirit 2 (Santos 18′, Hershfelt 81′)
Seattle Reign 1 (Di Guglielmo (OG) 45′)

Lineups

Washington Spirit (4231): Sandy MacIver; Gabrielle Carle (Paige Metayer 82′), Tara Rudd (C), Élisabeth Tsé (Esme Morgan 66′), Lucia Di Guglielmo; Rebeca Bernal (Andi Sullivan 66′), Hal Hershfelt, Leicy Santos (Gift Monday 82′); Trinity Rodman, Sofia Cantore (Claudia Martínez 66′), Rosemonde Kouassi

Seattle Reign FC (4231): Claudia Dickey; Madison Curry, Jordyn Bugg, Phoebe McClernon, Sofia Huerta; Angharad James-Turner (Brittany Ratcliffe 89′), Ainsley McCammon (Sam Meza 46′), Sally Menti (Mia Fishel 65′); Maddie Dahlien, Madison Mercado (Emeri Adames 87′), Holly Ward (Nérilia Mondésir 46′)

Misconduct Summary

Washington Spirit:  Tsé 5′, Sullivan 78′
Seattle Reign FC:  Ward 17′, Menti 59′, McClernon 68′

Lead photo courtesy of the Washington Spirit