The Washington Spirit (2-1-0) held their home opener at Audi Field on Saturday night in front of a sellout crowd of 19,254 — a record for a Spirit home opener and their third consecutive sellout. It is clear that Spirit fans are eager to support the team after a strong 2024 season that ended with a 1-0 loss to the Orlando Pride in the NWSL championship in November. Despite the enthusiastic home crowd, the Spirit couldn’t get the job done and lost the match 2-0 to a strong Kansas City Current (2-0-0) team.
The Current, who finished the 2024 season fourth in the NWSL, went on the offensive early in Saturday’s game, with multiple breakaways and shots on goal within the first 20 minutes. The Spirit defense worked to contain Kansas City forward Temwa Chawinga, who was the league’s MVP and highest scorer last season. Changes in the Spirit defensive formation to contain Chawinga were largely successful, and the Spirit were able to fend off the Current for the first half.
For the Spirit offense, the game was defined by missed opportunities for goals. At the 25-minute mark, the Spirit finally went on their first offensive breakaway but were unsuccessful in finding the back of the net. Seven minutes later, a yellow card against Current midfielder Claire Hutton gave the Spirit a free kick. This led to a corner kick that resulted in a diving save made by Kansas City goalkeeper Lorena. While there were several opportunities for shots on goal, both teams went into halftime tied 0-0.
The Current came out of halftime hot, as did Spirit goalkeeper Aubrey Kingsbury. Just one minute into the half, Kingsbury made a diving save on a shot from the center of the penalty box to keep the Spirit from conceding a goal. At the 51-minute mark, Kingsbury made another impressive stop off a Kansas City header that would have been a sure goal. Unfortunately for the Spirit, the play was reviewed by VAR (video assistant referee) and ruled an inadvertent handball by Spirit defender Esme Morgan — giving the Current the opportunity to score off a penalty kick. Kansas City midfielder Lo’eau LaBonta converted the penalty, and the Current went up 1-0.
A notable absence in the Spirit starting lineup was forward and US national team player Trinity Rodman. In the 56th minute, Rodman, recovering from a back injury that occurred at the summer Olympics, was substituted for 17-year-old Chloe Ricketts at left forward. Rodman immediately made an impact, putting the ball in the back of the net just thirty seconds later, but she was ruled offside — no goal. The play was reviewed by VAR, which confirmed the call on the field.
Another promising Spirit attack at the 65-minute mark led to a foul in the penalty box that would have set the Spirit up for their own chance at converting a penalty kick. However, VAR once again thwarted the Spirit attack, as the play was ultimately overturned and ruled a goal kick instead.
If you had bet on the over for game length, you would be significantly happier than the Washington Spirit. The three instances of VAR review led to 18 minutes of extra time, with 11 of those minutes being added to the second half. When Spirit head coach Jonatan Giráldez was asked at the post-game press conference about the VAR calls, he said that he could not complain because it seemed like an excuse, but he acknowledged that the reviews meant the team “missed a lot of time,” and negatively impacted the team’s rhythm.
The Spirit continued to compete in extra time, with a powerful attack at 93’ and the opportunity to convert a free kick off of a Kansas City yellow card at 95’. However, the Spirit were unable to find the back of the net on either attempt, and a Kansas City counterattack by Current star Chawinga led to a breakaway goal. Spirit goalkeeper Kingsbury tried to charge the attack at the top of the penalty box, but Chawinga managed to evade her and put the game away by going up 2-0.
Despite the tough loss to the strong Kansas City team, the Spirit found several positives to draw away from the game. “I think the team played much better” Giráldez mentioned at the press conference when asked about the Spirit performance compared to last week (the Spirit beat the Houston Dash 2-1 last Friday, Mar. 14). Kingsbury was also content with the way the Spirit played this week, commenting, “we played more of the style that we wanted to play.”
The sellout crowd was another positive for the Spirit. “The stadium was ready to erupt,” Kingsbury said in reference to the fans’ energy during the penalty kick early in the second half. At the post-game press conference, Kingsbury and forward Ashley Hatch said that they loved playing for the energetic crowd.
“We’re pretty good. I’m excited about where we’re at and where we’re headed,” said Kingsbury, who recorded her 500th save during the match. After a good showing in their home opener, the Spirit next take on Bay FC at home at Audi Field on Friday, Mar. 28 at 8:00 pm EST.
