The Washington Spirit earned a hard-fought three points on the road after a four-goal route of the Chicago Red Stars. Trinity Rodman, Ouleymata Sarr, and Brittany Ratcliffe scored for the Spirit. The Red Stars notched two second half goals from Ally Schlegel and Leilani Nesbeth. Superstar rookie Croix Bethune had
The first shot for the Spirit was their first goal of the night. In the 28th minute, Croix Bethune played a ball through to Trinity Rodman in the box. With Rodman staying just onside, she struck the ball to the far post, bouncing to the inside and past the goal line.
Just two minutes later, the Frenchwoman Ouleymata Sarr got in on the action. On a counterattack, superstar rookie Croix Bethune made her presence felt again as she set up play in the attacking half. She found Rodman in space down the ride side, using her pace to gain advantage in play. Once she slowed down the pace of play, she saw Sarr at the top of the box and sent a quick cutback pass to the striker who one-timed it past Alyssa Naeher.
The first real chance for Chicago came in the 35th minute when Jenna Bike pushed forward into the Spirit’s defensive third. She managed to edge past her defenders and took a chance from outside the 18-yard box. The long-range effort sailed over the bar showing no threat to Spirit goalkeeper Aubrey Kingsbury.
The visitors mounted a response a few minutes later when Ashley Hatch fired a rocket on frame but Alyssa Naeher came through with a diving save.
The Red Stars were finally able to break through in the 78th minute. Mallory Swanson, who had been relatively quiet for most of the match, fought her way through the Spirit’s midfield and dribbled into the box. Surrounded by defenders, she found a small window of opportunity and took a chance at Kingsbury but her shot was deflected. Unbeknownst to Swanson, Ally Schlegel was in space to her right and fired the rebound into the back of the net to put the hosts on the board.
Within three minutes, the Spirit’s Brittany Ratcliffe scored twice to push the match out of reach for Chicago. In the 83rd minute, the name you’ll keep hearing, Croix Bethune, found the ball near the center circle and sent a laser of a long ball through to Ratcliffe past two defenders. The ball was placed in so much space, it rolled for about 10 yards before Ratcliffe was on to it. Once she managed possession, she immediately fired a finessed shot past Naeher for her first goal. Two minutes later, the two connected again. This time, a left-footed Croix Bethune through-ball between two defenders found Ratcliffe who shot it first-touch past Naeher.
The Red Stars managed a consolation goal two minutes into stoppage time after a missed clearance. Gabrielle Carle, while off-balanced, tried to clear the ball away but it was miss-hit and she fell to the ground. Off a deflection, Chicago’s Leilanni Nesbeth beat her defender to the ball and beat Kingsbury to the low post.
The triumphant 4-2 win over the Red Stars came with a lot of notable stats for the young star Croix Bethune:
- Fifth player in NWSL regular season history with three assists in one match
- First Spirit player ever with three assists in one match
- First rookie with three assists in one match
- Is the fifth Spirit player to contribute with a goal and/or
assist to 3 goals in one game. - Tied for the league lead for assists with four.
- Is the youngest player ever to record three assists in one
game (all competitions) – over two years younger than the
next closest player
The Spirit continues on their three-match away trip and travels to Portland to take on the Thorns on Saturday, May 4 at 10 PM ET.
-Jon Jones
Photo: Courtesy of Washington Spirit