Spirit fall 2-0 to Western New York in front of 4,630

Washington Spirit  |   June 15, 2013
Spirit fall 2-0 to Western New York in front of 4,630 Featured Image

Boyds, Md. (June 15, 2013) – The Washington Spirit (1-5-3) fell 2-0 to the Western New York Flash (5-2-2) on Saturday night at the Maryland SoccerPlex. The official attendance of 4,630 marked the second-largest crowd in Washington Spirit history, only behind a sell-out crowd of 5,011 against Portland.

“It’s a really good crowd, nothing like I’m used to playing in front of,” said Spirit defender Toni Pressley, who made her NWSL debut Saturday against Western New York. “We have really good fans and everyone’s excited to be here and see us, and we’re really fortunate to have this big of a fan base.”

Pressley, a transfer from Russian club Ryazan VDV, made her debut alongside another newcomer, Teresa “Lupita” Worbis. Worbis, who has over a decade of experience with the Mexican Women’s National Team, joined the Spirit in late May and made her debut in the 70th minute of Saturday’s game.

Veronica Perez broke the scoring open for Western New York in the ninth minute, finishing in-close on a feed from Adriana Martin. Vicki DiMartino added to the Flash lead in the 35th minute, scoring on an assist from Alex Sahlen.

“We just didn’t come out ready to play in the first half,” said Spirit head coach Mike Jorden.

Western New York outshot Washington 10-7, but the Flash did not muster a single shot in the second half. The Spirit defense rose to the occasion in the second half, and the offense showed signs of life earning eight corner kicks.

“It’s disappointing, but I think in the second half we made a couple changes and I thought the second half was good,” Jorden said. “Unfortunately we didn’t get any goals, but we took it to them and played well.”

With the loss, the Spirit fall to 1-5-3 on the season, and remain in seventh place in the NWSL. Western New York advances to 5-2-2 and have not lost a game since April, going 5-0-1 in its last six matches. The Flash move back into third place, surpassing FC Kansas City by one point in the standings.

The Spirit return to action next Sunday, June 23 when they take on FC Kansas City at Shawnee Mission North High School. The match kicks off at 8:35 p.m. ET.

After another road match in Western New York on June 28, the Spirit return to the Maryland SoccerPlex on July 3 to face Kansas City for the only time this season. Tickets are available now at: https://tickets.washingtonspirit.com.


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