Bledsoe stars as Spirit wrap season with 0-0 draw at Portland

Washington Spirit  |   October 13, 2019
Bledsoe stars as Spirit wrap season with 0-0 draw at Portland Featured Image

Owen Krucoff
Washingtonspirit.com

Boyds, Md., (10/12/2019) – The Washington Spirit completed the 2019 NWSL season Saturday with a 0-0 tie in front of 24,521 fans at Portland Thorns FC. 

Goalkeeper Aubrey Bledsoe led the Spirit to their first-ever clean sheet at Providence Park with a number of highlight saves to complete an excellent year in net for Washington.

Bledsoe’s first big play came in the 26th minute when she out-jumped Portland midfielder and U.S. national team star Lindsey Horan to grab an incoming cross.

With Thorns FC threatening again in the 39th, Bledsoe charged off her line to make consecutive blocks in traffic.

As Portland continued to push for a go-ahead goal in the 83rd. Bledsoe took to the air again to thwart a USWNT player. Tobin Heath unleashed a long-range shot that appeared headed for the top corner before Bledsoe pushed it out of danger.

Bledsoe finished the season tied with Sky Blue FC’s Kailen Sheridan for the league lead in saves with 86. The clean sheet was her ninth of the year, second only to Nicole Barnhart of Utah Royals FC.

Rookie defender Sam Staab was as consistent Saturday as she has been all season for the Spirit, leading the team with seven clearances. She finishes the year as one of the top rookies in the NWSL, having played all 90 minutes of all 24 Washington games.

Overall, the Spirit end the season in fifth place with 34 points, just one spot outside the playoff picture. Washington accumulated more than four times as many wins and more than three times as many points as it did in 2018.

-NWSL Match Report-

Match: Portland Thorns FC vs Washington Spirit

Date: October 12, 2019

Venue: Providence Park

Kickoff: 10:30 p.m. ET

Attendance: 24,521

Weather: Cloudy, mid-50s

 

Scoring Summary:

Goals 1 2 F
Portland 0 0 0
Washington 0 0 0

 

Lineups:

POR (4-2-3-1): 24-Adrianna Franch; 2-Katherine Reynolds; 25-Meghan Klingenberg; 16-Emily Sonnett; 4-Emily Menges; 12-Christine Sinclair (c); 27-Elizabeth Ball (75’ 23-Midge Purce); 17-Tobin Heath; 37-Emily Ogle (64’ 11-Dagny Brynjarsdóttir); 10-Lindsey Horan (78’ 9-Caitlin Foord); 8-Andressinha 

Unused Substitutes: 38-Simone Charley; 41-Madison Pogarch; 7-Ana Maria Crnogorcevic; 33-Britt Eckerstrom

WAS (4-3-3): 1-Aubrey Bledsoe; 14-Paige Nielsen; 3-Sam Staab; 23-Tori Huster; 9-Tegan McGrady (46’ 4-Jordan DiBiasi); 12-Andi Sullivan (c); 13-Bayley Feist; 19-Dorian Bailey; 31-Crystal Thomas (81’ 8-Meggie Dougherty Howard); 33-Ashley Hatch; 11-Mallory Pugh (46’ 6-Chloe Logarzo) 

Unused Substitutes: 2-Arielle Ship; 7-Amy Harrison; 30-Shae Yanez; 16-Tiffany McCarty

Stats Summary: POR / WAS

Shots: 21 / 5

Shots on Target: 5 / 1

Saves: 1 / 5

Blocked Shots: 8 / 3

Fouls: 8 / 7

Offside: 3 / 1

Misconduct Summary:

None

Officials:

Referee: Farhad Dadkho

Assistant Referee 1: Deleana Quan

Assistant Referee 2: Melissa Gonzalez

Fourth Official: Jason Perlewitz

Spread the love