DC Power hosted Lexington SC at Audi Field in Washington, D.C., on a rainy Wednesday night that saw multiple rain delays. Catherine Barry earned a brace on the evening, helping push her side past the Power on a soggy evening to solidify their playoff spot. Power FC is still fighting for a place.
DC Power starting XI – Morgan Aquino, Paige Almendariz, Madison Murnin, Sydney Cummings (c), Claire Constant, Hannah Harney, Anna Bagley, Emily Colton, Justina Gaynor, Loza Abera, Alyssa Walker
Lexington SC starting XI – Katherine Asman, Taylor Aylmer (c), McKenzie Weinert, Alyssa Bourgeois, Catherine Barry, Ally Brown, Hannah Johnson, Hannah Sharts, Regan Steigleder, Nicole Vernis, Sarah Griffith
The pairing of Claire Constant and Sydney Cummings worked well in defense. As Lexington continued to attack down the left side, the duo had plenty of work to do.
Loza Abera came close to scoring the Power’s first goal in the 24th minute. As the club attacked down the middle and left sides, Abera found space from a deflection to the left. From point-blank range, she took a shot on goal that goalkeeper Katherine Asman deflected away in an instant.
McKenzie Weinert had the ball down the left flank in the 36th minute. She sent a sneaky pass to the middle between two defenders to find Catherine Barry in the box. She found some space and took a shot that went just wide of the post.
Barry would end up getting her just deserts in the 49th minute, breaking the deadlock between the two sides. Barry took a decent shot on goal inside the box, with the keeper getting a piece of the ball. But there was too much power behind her shot. The ball deflected off her hands and sailed into the back of the net.
Power FC came close to leveling the scoreline in the 68th minute. On a counterattack, DC Power found themselves inside the box with a solid chance. Drawing away a defender, Loza Abera sent a cheeky backheel to Claire Constant. As she was winding up to shoot, a defender cut off her line just in time to take the sting off the shot, rolling comfortably to Asman.
In the 87th minute, Lexington SC put the game away on a mistimed pass by DC Power. Aquino left her box to claim an open ball close to the midfield line. When an errant pass was recovered by Barry, she took a gamble at 50 yards out and lobbed a curling ball from right midfield into the back of the net. Aquino was sprinting back to make the save, but was a step behind Barry’s long ball.
“How many balls do you see like that? That’s unbelievable,” said DC Power coach Omid Namazi on Barry’s second goal. “That’s on the goalkeeper. You gotta drop quicker, and your reaction has to be faster. It’s just not good enough.”
DC Power had multiple chances but couldn’t convert them into goals. They outshot Lexington 18-7, landing just 5 shots on goal. With that many shots, they had the visitors on their heels for a good portion of the match.
“Our (defensive) strategy was to be compact and close down the middle, make them play on the outskirts,” Lexington’s Cassie Rohan began. “We normally like to high press once they start swinging the ball, so I feel like we did a very good job defensively. We locked them down, hence the shutout.” The Chicago native was able to help Lexington secure the win after recently returning from a concussion.
DC Power hits the road for two matches against Fort Lauderdale United (April 6) and Tampa Bay Sun (11). Matches can be seen on Peacock.
-Jon Jones
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