Washington Spirit Reserves start off hot with win against McLean

Washington Spirit  |   June 14, 2019
Washington Spirit Reserves start off hot with win against McLean Featured Image

Benson Child
WashingtonSpirit.com

Boyds, MD (6/14/19) – The Washington Spirit Reserves team defeated McLean 2-0 in a rainy afternoon match on June 9. The Spirit came out firing early putting great pressure on the ball and quickly finding ways to exploit Mclean’s defense.

It only took two minutes for forward Meaghan Nally to send a ripper to the top right corner from well outside of the 18-yard box that was ultimately taken care of by the keeper. The opportunities kept coming for the Spirit with ease.

Following numerous chances, the Spirit netted a goal in minute 22. Paula Germino-Watnick’s silky footwork setup Tess Sapone who calmly slotted the ball past the McLean keeper. The Spirit really started to take complete control of the game after the first goal.

The next ten minutes seemed to fly by with multiple glorious chances from the Spirit. Germino-Watknick picked up her second assist as Leyah Hall-Robinson used great control to manage a low-cross and pushed the ball past the McLean keeper in the 32nd minute.

It was all Spirit in the first half. McLean struggled to put together solid strings of passes and only managed 2 shots on goal. Nally said of the first half “it was really good…we had a great couple of plays with 1-2 touch passing.”

The Spirit made several second-half subs and adjustments to their play style. A near-astounding highlight in the second-half came from Julia Philips who attempted what would have been an outstanding bicycle kick but unfortunately sent it about 10 yards over the goal.  The Spirit managed to control the rest of the game and only allowed McLean one good chance in the 60th minute. The shot was tipped over the crossbar for a great save.

Spirit Reserves will be back in action on June 16 at 1 p.m.

 

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