Washington Spirit’s win streak stopped by Orlando Pride, 3-2

The Washington Spirit made noise before kickoff by dropping a very interesting lineup. Paige Metayer joined the XI for her first start of the season (and was listed as a forward on the official team sheet) while Ashley Hatch dropped to the bench.

Washington controlled the match for the first fifteen minutes, snuffing out Orlando’s chances to break and dominating possession to craft chances. Their efforts led to an early corner, a free kick in the final third, and a big chance in front of goal for Ouleye Sarr.

Then in the 22nd minute Orlando went up 1-0. Barbra Banda, who’d been finding like difficult 1v1 versus Tara McKeown, switched to the other side and beat Ana Bütel to a loose ball and put in a cross. Angelina flew in with a first time strike that beat Aubrey Kingsbury.

This is the tough part about teams bringing in superstar attackers. You can dominate a game and then they do something that only a handful of footballers can do and all that hard work feels like a waste. Thankfully the goal seemed to have pissed off the Spirit more than anything, and their match intensity went up a level as they tried to level before halftime.

The Spirit strike back five minutes before halftime with Croix Bethune riding a challenge and getting a through ball by a center back and into the path of Ouleye Sarr. None of her finishing issues showed here as Sarr remained composed and beat the keeper with a delicious chip.

Washington upped the intensity to level the score before halftime, and VAR denied them a chance to grab the lead after contact on Sarr inside the box was deemed fair.

HALFTIME | 1-1

After halftime Orlando came out with their own brand on intensity and Barbra Banda again showed why she was more than worth all the bags Orlando dropped to get her. She scored from a flick on after a corner in six minutes after halftime, and earned Orlando a penalty four minutes after that.

Eleven minutes after halftime Orlando had stunned Audi by pushing the score to 3-1. With Washington’s win streak on the line interim head coach Adrián González subbed on Brittany Ratcliffe for Andi Sullivan and Anna Heilferty for Gabby Carle.

The moves up the pressure and a hopeful effort from Ashley Hatch has just enough spin and dip to confuse Moorhouse, who gets both hands to the ball but drops it into her own net. Washington were back within a goal, and preserving their unbeaten run.

Per my quick Internet research, this is Ashley Hatch's first goal from open play in the regular season since June 2023. Much needed for the Spirit https://t.co/v8IYfb7VIR

— Ella Brockway (@ellabrockway) April 27, 2024

Amid the Spirit furiously trying to find an equalizer, Anna Heilferty went down holding her knee. She was eventually able to get up and walk off, but was immediately subbed off for Kate Wiesner, with Casey Krueger swapping over to the right flank.

Brianna Martinez struggled with Rodman all night, bringing her down every time Trinity was about to round her. In the 92nd minute of stoppage time she did it for the final time, and was sent off with her second yellow of the match.

The Spirit had several minutes of extra time to avoid their second loss of the season. They put Moorhouse’s heart in her throat on a couple occasions, and smacked the bar, but the goal never came.

Three takeaways 

• Metayer in for Hatch. The first lineup surprise in a run of games turned out to be Paige Metayer, suddenly in her forward era, coming into the XI for Ashley Hatch. Interim head coach Adrián González noted that the team has three games in ten days, and that the decision was also made with an eye on this specific opponent. “Today we wanted to give her a chance, and have an extra player inside, so four midfielders,” he said postgame.
• Barbra Banda: Good. Turns out signing one of the best forwards in the world is a good idea. This was Banda’s first start and she directly contributed to all three goals by assisting Angelina, scoring a header, and drawing the penalty for Yates to convert. Tara McKeown was handling Banda early on, but then she started to roam around the backline and the Spirit struggled to stop her.
• Win streak stopped. After losing their first game of the season, the Spirit went on to rattle off four wins in a row and secure a cozy spot near the top of the table, albeit very early on. Failing to top Orlando broke the winning streak, and not finding the equalizer confirmed their second loss of the season.

Box Score

NWSL Regular Season – Game 6

Washington Spirit: 2 (Sarr 40′, Hatch 65′)
Orlando Pride: 3 (Angelina 22′, Banda 51′, Yates 57′ [pen])

Lineups

Washington Spirit (4231): Aubrey Kingsbury (C); Casey Krueger, Annaïg Butel, Tara McKeown, Gabby Carle; Andi Sullivan, Hal Hershfelt; Croix Bethune; Trinity Rodman, Ouleye Sarr; Paige Metayer

Orlando Pride (433): Moorhouse; Strom, Rafaelle, Sams, Martinez; McCutcheon, Angelina, Yates; Abello, Banda, Doyle

Misconduct Summary

Washington Spirit:  Sullivan (45+5),
Orlando Pride: Martinez (71′, 90+2′), Lawrence (89′)

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