Crowd of 6,235 packs City Stadium as Washington Spirit falls to NC Courage in preseason finale

Washington Spirit  |   March 17, 2018
Crowd of 6,235 packs City Stadium as Washington Spirit falls to NC Courage in preseason finale Featured Image

Richmond, Va. (March 17, 2018) – The Washington Spirit fell to the North Carolina Courage 3-0 on Saturday night at the Richmond Kickers’ City Stadium in the club’s National Women’s Soccer League preseason finale, with 6,235 fans on hand.

Canadian international defender/midfielder Rebecca Quinn and three U.S. internationals – midfielder Andi Sullivan, defender Taylor Smith and forward Ashley Hatch – all made the starting lineup for their Spirit debuts after joining the team in the offseason.

North Carolina netted two goals in the first half, and one in the second half, with Abby Erceg (13’), Jessica McDonald (23’) and Kristen Hamilton (84’) providing the scoring.

“I thought the first half hour we were pretty passive, and made a couple mistakes that led to goals, but I thought we worked our way out of it,” said Spirit Head Coach and General Manager Jim Gabarra. “In the second half, our front six defended well, and on the back line, we had a couple new players back there and they did a good job.”

The Spirit recorded eight shots on the night, with two coming on target, while North Carolina put four of their 13 total shots on frame. Washington earned eight corner kicks to the Courage’s two.

Washington will travel to the West Coast for a match-up with Seattle Reign FC on March 24, in the club’s NWSL regular season opener. Kickoff in Seattle is set for 10 p.m. ET.

Single game tickets for the Spirit’s regular season home games, including their March 31 home opener against Alex Morgan and the Orlando Pride, are available now at Tickets.WashingtonSpirit.com or by calling the club’s ticket office at 301-591-0927.

-NWSL Match Report-

Match: Washington Spirit vs. North Carolina Courage
Date: March 17, 2018
Venue: City Stadium
Kickoff: 7:00
Attendance: 6,235
Weather: Clear, 30’s

Scoring Summary:

Goals 1 2 F
Washington 0 0 0
NC Courage 2 1 3

NC – Abby Erceg (13’)
NC – Jessica McDonald (23’)

NC – Kristen Hamilton (Lynn Williams) (84’)

Lineups:

Washington Spirit: Bledsoe; Smith, Church (Solaun, 46’), Johnson (c), Dydasco; Quinn, Sullivan, Dougherty Howard (Eubanks, 77’); Banini (Ordega, 64’), Pugh, Hatch (Aedo, 84’)

Substitutes Not Used: Wys, Haracic, DeBree, M. Huster

North Carolina Courage: D’ Angelo (Rowland, 46’), Mathias (Crouse, 75’), Dahlkemper (Teergarten, 75’), Erceg (c) (Chapman, 75’), Hinkle (R. Williams, 75’), Zerboni (Kurtz, 75’), Speck (Debinha, 46’), O’Sullivan (Reed, 75’), Jenkins (L. Williams, 46’), McDonald (Hamilton, 46’), Dunn (Kleiner, 75’)

Substitutes Not Used: Rassmussen

Stats Summary: WAS / NC
Shots: 8 / 13
Shots on Goal: 2 / 4
Saves: 1 / 1
Corner Kicks: 2 / 8
Fouls: 7 / 15
Offside: 3 / 7

Misconduct Summary:
NC – Zerboni (Yellow Card) 51’

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