At the close of a 100+ degree Friday, Washington Spirit returned to Audi Field and added another win to their tally. Houston Dash looked to have earned a draw with a tying goal at the end of regulation, but the Spirit’s strong mentality, led by Trinity Rodman’s brace, ensured the win their performance deserved.

“This team is always fighting and believing that we can win until the end,” Adrián González said. Coming after a month’s break, he said they’d known it would be a tough game and that he was proud of the team’s performance.

To manage temperatures in the 90s at match time, both teams played close together and at a slow pace, leaving vast areas of the pitch open and frequently grouping up around the ball. The Dash employed a low block, which helped them stall Spirit attacks or force the final shots off target, although a halftime adjustment in Hal Hershfelt’s positioning allowed Washington to dominate the second half. Over the course of the match, they took 18 shots with six on target to Houston’s six and three.

The Spirit’s best chance of the first half was a penalty kick saved by Jane Campbell. In the 33rd minute, Avery Patterson fouled Rodman just as she pulled ahead of the defender in the box. The referee quickly awarded a penalty kick and showed Patterson a yellow card, but Kouassi’s attempt, to the left side of the goal, lacked power. A free kick just outside the goal area gave them another strong opportunity, but Leicy Santos’s shot went just wide.

It wasn’t until their halftime adjustment — moving Hershfelt back to play alongside Andi Sullivan — that the Spirit finally broke through. In the 50th minute, Santos made a long pass forward to Rodman, who had somehow managed to lose her marker and easily won the ball. Settling it with a deft touch, she pulled the ball around Campbell at the last moment and shot past her into the net.

The Spirit attacked relentlessly for the rest of the half but allowed an equalizer in its dying moments. Kate Faase slipped between the centerbacks to collect the ball in the 89th minute. Sandy MacIver came out for it, the shot went past her. After a long pause to confirm Faase was onside, the goal stood.

“Even after going down a goal, the mentality was still high,” Deb Abiodun said, and indeed the Spirit still had a game-winner in them.

Receiving the ball from Carle along the sideline in stoppage time, Rodman pulled it centrally and shot from just outside the box into traffic. Gift Monday, holding Campbell’s attention and obstructing her view, lifted her foot to allow the ball past her. It slipped just past the goalie and into the far corner to give Washington the win, surprising even Rodman.

“Tonight, it truly does make me think about the finals we’ve been in, and I do think this is what we need,” Rodman said. “I keep saying: consistency, not only in the way that we perform, but the way that we can come back, because at the end of the day, we can dominate a whole game, you can still lose it, so tonight was huge.”

Up next: The Spirit head to North Carolina to play the Courage next Saturday.

Three takeaways 

• The hottest game in town. The sweltering conditions may have impacted the speed of play, but it couldn’t dissuade Spirit fans:15,792 showed up to watch the Spirit’s summer return.
• Captain Sullivan. Andi Sullivan started this match, her first since October 2024 and her first time wearing the captain’s armband in even longer. While Sullivan was uncomfortable reflecting on “her journey” after the match, saying it was still ongoing, her coach and teammates had no such compunction. González said she brings leadership, experience, and voice to the pitch. Rodman agreed that “Her ability to communicate when it’s 100 degrees is actually insane.” She said, “We’ve all missed Andi on the field. It truly does help us so much.
• Joy for Rodman. Rodman was operating a high level, perhaps the best all season, both scoring a brace and winning a penalty kick. While she said these goals will help build her confidence in the final third, she said it was more important to her to show joy on the pitch. “When people come to the game, I want them to feel like we’re all having so much fun, and dominating.”

Box Score

NWSL Regular Season –  Game 12

Washington Spirit 2 (Rodman 50′, 90+5′)

Houston Dash 1 (Faase 89′)

Lineups

Washington Spirit (433): Sandy MacIver; Rebeca Bernal, Élisabeth Tsé (Gabby Carle 62′), Tara Rudd, Lucia Di Guglielmo; Leicy Santos, Andi Sullivan (C) (Deb Abiodun 62′), Hal Hershfelt; Trinity Rodman, Rose Kouassi, Sofia Cantore (Gift Monday 70′)

Houston Dash (4231): Jane Campbell (C); Lisa Boattin (Allyssa Chapman 70′), Paige Nielsen (Malia Berkley 46′) , Leah Klenke, Avery Patterson; Sarah Puntigam (Clarissa Larisey 62′), Danielle Colaprico, Kat Rader (Sophie Schmidt 70′); Linda Ullmark; Maggie Graham, Kiki Van Zanten (Kate Faase 46′)

Misconduct Summary

Washington Spirit:  Abiodun 65′
Houston Dash:  Patterson 33′

Lead photo courtesy of the Washington Spirit