The Washington Spirit lost 2-1 to the San Diego Wave at Snap Dragon Stadium in San Diego, California. The hosts ended the Spirit’s unbeaten run of eight consecutive matches, which featured five wins. The lone goal for the Spirit came from Rebeca Bernal, while Trinity Byars and Kimmi Ascanio scored for the Wave.
Trinity Rodman saw a few different looks that affected her performance. While she had her fair share of opportunities, the Wave’s defense was constantly shifting. At one point, she was matching up with Perle Morroni, then the next with Kennedy Wesley. Before you knew it, their defensive shape had shifted again, with Mimi Van Zanten marking her. The constant shift in defense worked to their advantage.
It was a chippy affair between the two sides, who were tied for second place. Adrián González was eventually issued a yellow card caution in the second half after arguing with an official. Rosemonde Kouassi took a fall inside the 18 that looked like it should’ve been awarded a penalty, but the official allowed play to continue. Hard fouls were coming from every direction, but at the end of the day, the Wave defended their home turf.
Byars scored from just inside the top of the 18 in the 6th minute for San Diego. Bernal scored a header from a corner kick in the 32nd minute for Washington. The match went deadlocked for the next 56 minutes.
The Wave got the better of the Spirit in the final minutes. Gia Corley played a ball in the 88th minute into the box that looked like it was going to be an easy punch by Sandy MacIver, but she mistimed the ball. There was a scramble in front of the goal, but San Diego’s Kimmi Ascanio got the final touch on the ball with enough momentum for the ball to bounce slowly past the goal line.
In stoppage time, the Spirit nearly leveled the match once again after Rosemonde Kouassi found Leicy Santos in front of the keeper’s box. Santos tried a backheel in traffic, but didn’t have enough momentum behind the try that was easily scooped up by Didi Haracic.
The Spirit will have to quickly move past tonight’s loss and regroup as they head to Mexico for the CONCACAF W Champions Cup Semifinal. The Spirit will be facing C.F. Pachuca Femenil on Wednesday, May 20, at 10:30 PM.
-Jon Jones
Photo: Courtesy of Washington Spirit