The Washington Spirit earned a point on the road on Saturday afternoon after a scoreless draw with Gotham FC. Spirit captain and goalkeeper Aubrey Kingsbury earned her 42nd regular-season clean sheet, moving her into a tie for fourth for the most in NWSL history. Gotham FC played most of the match with 10 players after star forward Geyse was issued a red card.
Gotham maintained possession for most of the first half. They had an early chance when Esther González tested Aubrey Kingsbury from a sharp angle, but the Spirit captain gathered the ball for the easy save.
The biggest event of the first half was the ejection of Gotham FC’s Geyse after a questionable foul on Gabby Carle. There was definitely a foul, but issuing a red card (over a yellow) felt a bit extreme. With both her and Carle going after a ball, Geyse extended her foot and ended up stomping on Carle’s ankle.
The long-awaited moment finally arrived after halftime, when the Spirit brought on Ballon d’Or nominee and new signing Sofia Cantore for Kouassi. The substitution made her the first Italian player to appear in a match in NWSL history.
The Spirit had limited chances in the second half and struggled to convert those opportunities into goals. At one point, the club managed a single shot in 15 minutes.
The Spirit had their best chance in the 89th minute. Heather Stainbrook managed a shot on target, but it was cleared off the line. Kingsbury was called into action twice more in stoppage time, as Gotham FC threatened her chances for a clean sheet, but the match eventually ended goalless.
A hot topic after the match will surely be the pitch conditions. They were noticeably tattered and not in optimal shape, but the players refused to use that as an excuse.
“At some point, Audi was like that last year, so s*** happens,” Hal Hershfelt explained. “It wasn’t amazing, but it could’ve been worse. It wasn’t ideal, but that’s not an excuse; we should be able to play regardless of that.”
“Not ideal (conditions), I don’t think it played to either of our strengths,” said Aubrey Kingsbury, also addressing the pitch conditions. “It wasn’t the prettiest game for the fans, but yeah, hopefully they can sort that out.”
The Spirit will return home next weekend for a Friday Night Fútbol matchup with Racing Louisville FC on Friday, August 15th, at 8:00 PM at Audi Field. Narumi Miura earned a yellow card (her fifth of the regular season) and will miss the match against Louisville.
-Jon Jones
Photo: Courtesy of Washington Spirit