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Cary, N.C. (07/11/2026) – The Washington Spirit tallied its third straight win and eighth in its last nine regular season matches Saturday night with a 2-0 shutout of the North Carolina Courage. Midfielder Leicy Santos and forward Trinity Rodman scored their fifth and sixth goals of the season, respectively, as goalkeeper Sandy MacIver kept her seventh clean sheet of the year.
Throughout the opening third of the match, Washington and North Carolina jockeyed for position. The Spirit had two solid attacking chances in the 25th and 26th minutes when forward Gift Monday fired a shot on target that was saved before Rodman sent a loose ball in the box wide of the net.
The Spirit broke through in the 37th minute when defender Kate Wiesner sent a long cross into the box for Santos. The midfielder volleyed the ball with her right foot across her body and fired a shot on the fly with her left foot into the back of the net. The 1-0 lead was short-lived, however, as Rodman made it 2-0 for the visitors just 11 minutes later. Defender Tara Rudd sent a long ball over top to a charging Rodman who carried it into the box between defenders and beat the keeper to double the lead.
Coming out of halftime, the Courage appeared to have cut the lead in half in the 50th minute when Ashley Sanchez connected on an impressive free kick but a VAR review overturned the play due to a North Carolina infraction.
In the 63rd minute, MacIver made a great one-on-one stop of Sanchez in the box to protect Washington’s 2-0 lead before the Spirit began sending on substitutes. Notably, defender Paige Metayer entered the match for forward Rosemonde Kouassi on the attacking end while Deborah Abiodun replaced Andi Sullivan in the midfield.
MacIver made another vital stop in the 85th minute and the Spirit outlasted a relentless Courage attack through seven minutes of stoppage time before the final whistle indicated Washington’s third straight win and third across the last four meetings with North Carolina.
Next up, the Spirit will remain on the road for its Rivalry Week matchup with Gotham FC at Citi Field in the Queens Classic on Wednesday, July 15. The match will kick off at 8 p.m. EDT and air on ESPN.
-NWSL Match Report-
Match: North Carolina Courage vs. Washington Spirit
Date: Saturday, July 11, 2025
Venue: First Horizon Stadium (Cary, N.C.)
Kickoff: 6:30 p.m. EDT
Weather: Chance of showers, low-80s
Scoring Summary:
| Goals | 1 | 2 | F |
| North Carolina | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Washington | 2 | 0 | 2 |
WAS – Leicy Santos – 37′ (assisted by Kate Wiesner)
WAS – Trinity Rodman – 45+3′ (assisted by Tara Rudd)
Lineups:
NC: 1 – Kailen Sheridan; 11 – Feli Rauch (8 – Chioma Okafor, 88‘); 17 – Dani Weatherholt (12 – Natalia Staude, 81‘); 25 – Maycee Bell; 13 – Ryan Williams; 20 – Shinomi Koyama (14 – Carly Wickenheiser, 88‘); 16 – Riley Jackson (; 18 – Uno Shiragaki; 2 – Ashley Sanchez; 10 – Evelyn Ijeh (33 – Hannah Betfort, 81‘); 35 – Ally Shlegel (6 – Ivy Younce, 81’)
Unused Substitutes: 99 – Madison White; 5 – Cameron Brooks; 9 – Olivia Wingate; 80 – Oli Peña
WAS: 18 – Sandy MacIver; 6 – Kate Wiesner; 24 – Esme Morgan; 9 – Tara Rudd; 14 – Gabrielle Carle; 10 – Leicy Santos (4 – Rebeca Bernal, 82‘); 12 – Andi Sullivan (20 – Deborah Abiodun, 67’); 17 – Hal Hershfelt; 2 – Trinity Rodman (16 – Tamara Bolt, 82‘); 21 – Gift Monday (27 – Sofia Cantore, 67’; 19 – Rosemonde Kouassi (26 – Paige Metayer, 67’)
Unused Substitutes: 28 – Sara Wojdelko; 5 – Élisabeth Tsé; 11 – Claudia Martínez; 13 – Lucia Di Guglielmo
Stats Summary: NC / WAS
Shots: 13 / 8
Shots On Goal: 2 / 5
Saves: 3 / 1
Fouls: 7 / 1
Offsides: 4 / 0
Misconduct Summary:
NC – Riley Jackson – 76′ – Yellow Card
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