Washington, D.C. (09/30/2023) – The Washington Spirit defeated the Kansas City Current, 2-1, in a come-from-behind victory off of two second half goals from forwards Ouleymata Sarr and Trinity Rodman. This is the Spirit’s second comeback victory this season, both against Kansas City.
With a start in today’s match, forward Ashley Hatch made her 100th career start with the Washington Spirit. She is one of three players in team history – joining teammates Tori Huster and Aubrey Kingsbury – to accomplish this feat.
Kansas City’s star midfielder Debinha got things started for the Current. The Brazilian international rocketed what was a sure-goal, but Kingsbury made an acrobatic diving save to prevent the score.
Hatch created the Spirit’s first real attempt at goal with a shot from outside the box that drifted only inches away from the far corner of the post.
However, in the 20th minute, the Spirit suffered its first setback of the game. Defender Sam Staab was issued a yellow card penalty for dropping a Current player inside the box, leading to a penalty kick. Debinha took and made the kick, giving the Current an early lead.
Entering this match, the Spirit were 1-5-2 when conceding first this season. The lone victory came on June 18 against Kansas City. Despite outshooting the Current, 6-3, the Spirit possessed the ball only 39.5% of the time and created two less scoring chances than the Spirit.
The Spirit answered the call in the 52nd minute as Sarrdrilled an equalizer off an assist from defender Tara McKeown following a Staabcorner service. This marked the first career NWSL goal for Sarr, a longtime club player in France. The assist was McKeown’s first of the season.
Additionally, the Spirit has scored six goals in the first 15 minutes of the second half this season. Only San Diego Wave FC (8) and the Chicago Red Stars (7) have scored more.
The ensuing ten minutes of play were characterized by strong attacking performances from the Spirit, including a play by Rodman in the box where she was taken out by a Current defender. No penalty was awarded and play resumed.
McKeown nearly added a score of her own off a header in the 82nd minute, but the ball went just above the frame. To this point, the Spirit outshot the Current 7-3 in the second half. In the 88th minute, midfielder Andi Sullivan connected with a ball from the edge of the box that nearly missed the net, issuing a collective moan from the Audi Field crowd of over 11,000 – the seventh Spirit crowd of over 10,000 this season.
The cap came off of Audi Field in the first minute of stoppage time when defender Gabrielle Carleplaced a ball to Rodman, who broke away and tucked the ball past Current keeper AD Franch to help the Spirit take the lead with minutes remaining in the game. The assist was the first regular season assist of Carle’s NWSL career. Additionally, Rodman’s goal was her 15th career score, placing her fourth all-time in Spirit history.
A highly-anticipated road match against OL Reign is next for the Spirit on Friday, October 6 at 8:00 pm. EDT. This match will be USWNT and NWSL legend Megan Rapinoe’s last regular season home game and is expected to draw a potentially record-setting crowd.
