The Washington Spirit earned a hard-fought three points on the road after taking down Seattle Reign FC 1-0. It looked like the two sides were going to share a point apiece until Claudia Martínez entered the chat in the 84th minute and one-timed a game-winner. Tonight’s victory makes five straight wins for the Spirit.
Gabby Carle pushed high in attack, just outside of the 18-yard box. The Canadian international curled a quick cross into the box where Claudia Martínez was waiting. With a quick reaction, her one-timed shot slid into the lower right corner to give the Spirit the lead. With 10 minutes left in the match, the Spirit defended heavily and secured a crucial three points to push them into a tie for second place with San Diego Wave (with the Spirit owning an advantage on goal differential).
“There are types of games where if you want to be successful in the season, you have to come out with three points,” said Spirit defender Gabby Carle. It was Carle’s cross that set up Claudia Martínez’s goal off a half volley.
There was a lot of defending in the match as neither side could find the right footing. Both sides combined for five shots on target, proving chances hard to come by. To Seattle’s credit, their press forced the Spirit into situations where they weren’t comfortable and were unable to land shots on target.
“That’s the most different press that we’ve seen this season,” said Spirit goalkeeper Sandy MacIver. “It definitely took us a while to figure at halftime where space was.”
With no answer for the Reign’s press, the Spirit were able to salvage a goal on a counterattack. Since the ladies started their win streak, they’ve been in control for most of their matches. That didn’t happen this time. Today’s match was scrappy, at times sloppy, and landing two of eight shots on target isn’t going to work every match.
“We’ve won a lot of games where we were in control,” said Gabby Carle post-match. The defender even went as far as apologizing to the fans for how things played out. “This one was different.”
On one hand, the Spirit nabbed three points on the road. On the other hand, it came at the cost of losing Trinity Rodman. The star forward was subbed off in the 56th minute. We should get an update on her injury once the Spirit return to the Nation’s Capital. They’ll hit the road again this Friday, May 15, as they travel to California to face the San Diego Wave.
-Jon Jones
Photo: James Lyons