After an underwhelming 2023 campaign ended without a playoff appearance for the second straight year, the Washington Spirit went back to the drawing board this offseason. (In one instance, literally.)
Washington
After sweeping changes, Spirit enters new era with patience and optimism
As the NWSL season begins this weekend, the Spirit is still a work in progress. For starters: When the whistle blows to kick off Sunday’s season opener at the Seattle Reign, the coach at the center of this picture will be in Spain. Jonatan Giráldez, the 32-year-old Barcelona leader who is set to take over the Spirit, will not arrive in Washington until June, once the Spanish season ends.
But the project is taking shape — and the club is willing to be patient for the results to follow. Entering its third full season under Y. Michele Kang’s ownership, the Spirit has aspirations of building an entertaining brand of soccer that attracts the world’s top talent. An opening test against last season’s runner-up will offer the first glimpse into how those ambitions translate to reality.
“We’ll certainly be willing and able to exhibit great patience, understanding that we’re not going to see the best version of ourselves until we can get everybody here all the time. But that certainly doesn’t stop the fact that we think we’re going to be pretty good,” said Mark Krikorian, the club’s general manager and president of soccer operations. “We have a talented roster, we have a talented staff. And we’ll put them all together and they’ll go and compete and hopefully get better day-to-day.”
Under veteran NWSL coach Mark Parsons last year, the Spirit started strong but sputtered in the season’s latter half and finished eighth, two places from the playoffs. Parsons was fired days after the season finale. In January, Kang made a splash hiring Giráldez, who has helped establish Barcelona as a European powerhouse.
For at least the first 13 games of its season — Barcelona’s final game is June 16 — the Spirit will be led by Adrián González, another Spaniard who was appointed in January to begin implementing Giráldez’s possession-based system. (Parsons’s team played a direct style characterized by long, vertical balls; it ranked last in total passes, touches and pass completion.)
After the turbulence of the past three seasons — coaching changes, an ownership battle and inconsistent on-field results — the appeal of this project is partially in its promise of stability. Giráldez and González joined the Spirit on three-year deals.
“Going into this season with the idea that these are the coaches that are basically going to stay, I think that’s really good to have a team that can be built behind them and their tactics,” said center back Tara McKeown, who will play for her fourth full-time coach since coming to Washington in 2021.
The changes weren’t limited to the club’s sporting staff. Eleven players left the Spirit via moves, waivers or retirement. A pair of draft night trades — center back Sam Staab to the Chicago Red Stars and midfielder Ashley Sanchez to the North Carolina Courage — shook up the team’s core.
Washington used the trades to move up in the draft, selecting a league-most four players in the first round. It signed six rookies to its roster.
No. 3 pick Croix Bethune, an attacking midfielder known for her creativity and flair, is a candidate to earn a starting spot. The Spirit has asked big things of its rookies before — midfielder Andi Sullivan (2018), Staab (2019) and forward Trinity Rodman (2021) were top-four draft picks and contributed immediately as starters. Bethune could be next in line.
Winger Brittany Ratcliffe and U.S. national team defender Casey Krueger joined as free agents in January. Krueger is likely to start at right back but also has experience at center back, where Washington will need depth.
Rodman will not play in the opener against Seattle, serving a suspension for a red card in last season’s final game. (She started five and played in all six of the U.S. national team’s games at the W Gold Cup, which ran from Feb. 20 to March 10.) At 21, she’s hesitant to call herself a veteran, but in this group, Rodman is a leader — and one of just six players remaining from the 2021 championship squad.
“Everyone wants the winning mentality. And not just to say it, but to have the results and to have the proof of a winning team, and a team that progresses each and every year,” she said. “I think that’s the biggest thing with [Giráldez] joining us, is to create that standard for Washington Spirit and to get us to not just keep saying that we are a winning team when we haven’t shown that, and actually putting up the numbers and results.”
Among the other returnees: Sullivan in the midfield; two-time NWSL goalkeeper of the year Aubrey Kingsbury; French winger Ouleymata Sarr; striker Ashley Hatch, who is looking to rebound from a campaign in which she tied the fewest non-penalty goals of her career.
Earlier this offseason, Krikorian said Giráldez’s hiring elevated the caliber of talent the Spirit could attract. The NWSL salary cap has expanded to $2.75 million, and teams around the league have made big moves in the global transfer market. One new international player has signed for Washington, but that deal has yet to be announced. Any additional big-name signings are more likely to occur in the summer, once Giráldez has arrived.
As tempered as expectations may be, they are still high. In its 12th season, the NWSL has expanded to 14 teams and increased the number of playoff spots to eight. Another year on the outside looking in would be a disappointment.
For now, the Spirit is prepared to let its plan come to fruition at a natural pace.
“Every project needs time. This is a process,” González said. “If we try to focus on what we do every day, I’m sure the results are going to come.”
WASHINGTON COUNTY, Ore. (KPTV) – The Washington County Sheriff’s Office released video of deputies using a drone to track down a man wanted for damaging a car.
On Saturday, May 30, a 911 caller reported a man damaging a car outside their home on Southwest 179th Avenue in Aloha. The sheriff’s office said it was reported the suspect, 21-year-old Santos Paulino Castro-Ramirez, was punching the car.
Deputies used a drone to follow the suspect as he ran toward Southwest Barcelona Lane. The sheriff’s office said Castro-Ramirez then entered a white SUV that did not belong to him on SW Barcelona.
Deputies arrested Castro-Ramirez. He was booked into the Washington County Jail for first-degree burglary and attempt to commit a crime – second-degree theft.
Copyright 2026 KPTV-KPDX. All rights reserved.
Beirut, Lebanon – On Tuesday, representatives from Lebanon and Israel met at the US Department of State in Washington, DC – the first session of a two-day round of negotiations that Lebanese negotiators hope will end an invasion of their country.
The negotiations, which started at 9am local time (13:00 GMT), come as Israel’s invasion of Lebanon pushes deeper than at any point since the year 2000 and as Hezbollah and Israel continue to trade attacks. Israel has killed 3,468 people in Lebanon since March 2, according to Lebanon’s Ministry of Public Health.
With the war raging on, what do Lebanon and Israel have to discuss and will the talks lead to an end of the Israeli assault?
Here’s everything you need to know.
What will Israel and Lebanon discuss?
Similar to past meetings, the two sides are ostensibly looking to come to some kind of deal following fighting between Israel and Hezbollah, with strong doubts it will be achieved.
Lebanon’s government is still pushing for a total ceasefire. However, as talks started, Israel was striking various parts of southern Lebanon. Lebanon is also trying to get Israel to withdraw from Lebanese territory in the south, so that more than 1.2 million displaced people can return home, and so the state can resume finding a way to disarm Hezbollah and rebuild areas devastated by Israeli attacks.
Israel is meanwhile looking to get assurances that Lebanon will disarm Hezbollah, a prospect analysts say Israel knows is complicated by the continuation of its military operations and occupation of swaths of southern Lebanon. Instead, Israel appears to be trying to fuel sectarian tensions inside Lebanon, leading to chaos and internal strife.
What has happened so far?
An initial meeting took place in April between Israel and Lebanon’s ambassadors to the United States. A second round took place in May with a larger delegation on both sides.
On Friday, a meeting took place with Lebanese and Israeli military representatives, while Hezbollah, the Iranian-backed Lebanese group, is not involved in the meetings.
Israel claimed the two sides found common ground in that they both wanted to see Hezbollah disarmed. Some Israeli officials suggested there may soon be trade agreements and an exchange of tourists between the two countries. Lebanon, however, said it preferred to find a deal closer to the 1949 armistice agreement between the two countries.
In the last meeting, Beirut reportedly outlined the damage done by Israeli attacks since the 2024 ceasefire agreement and presented detailed maps showing homes destroyed or razed by Israel.
Is there a chance for a ceasefire?
That remains to be seen, but for now, Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said his country’s military would continue attacking Lebanon.
On Monday, Netanyahu announced that attacks on Beirut’s southern suburbs would resume, despite a ceasefire. Apart from two targeted attacks, Israel has not struck the suburbs, known as Dahiyeh, since April.
Iran, which has attempted to include Lebanon in a wider ceasefire between themselves, on one side, and Israel and the US on the other, then intervened by threatening to attack northern Israel.
US President Donald Trump reportedly intervened to stop Israel’s attacks. He announced another ceasefire, after his previous announcement of one between Israel and Lebanon on April 16, after claiming he had gotten the approval of Netanyahu and spoken to Hezbollah.
“There will be no troops going to Beirut, and any troops that are on their way have already been turned back,” Trump announced on his social media platform, Truth Social.
But attacks from Israel and Hezbollah are continuing.
How do Lebanese people feel about the talks?
Not everyone is on the same page.
Some Lebanese support the talks and say they are the only option the state, which has little leverage, has. Among those who believe direct talks are the best way forward are Lebanon’s President Joseph Aoun and Prime Minister Nawaf Salam.
“There is no option other than negotiation,” Aoun said in a statement on Tuesday.
Others, however, oppose direct talks. Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri and his allies, Hezbollah, have said indirect talks are preferred and that negotiations cannot be conducted while attacks are ongoing.
How are Iran and the US connected?
Israel and the US attacked Iran on February 28, killing the country’s longtime leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.
Iran is Hezbollah’s primary benefactor, and two days after Khamenei’s assassination, Hezbollah fired six rockets towards Israel on 2 March.
Hezbollah’s response brought a huge response from Israel, who have crossed the Litani River – the supposed buzzer zone in southern Lebanon it had created – towards the Zahrani River.
Despite a 2024 ceasefire, Israel had never stopped attacking Lebanon, while Hezbollah had only responded once in December 2024.
Iran has attempted to include Lebanon in the ceasefire deal it has with the United States and Israel, who say this theatre is not part of the agreement.
Although Trump has now announced a ceasefire between Hezbollah and Israel twice, the invasion of southern Lebanon continues.
Are there other actors involved?
Gulf states have also intervened. Saudi Arabia has been working behind the scenes to get Lebanon’s leadership – Aoun, Salam and Berri – on the same page. Meanwhile, analysts say Saudi Arabia and Qatar engaged the Trump administration to stop an escalation in Lebanon.
The Washington Lottery offers several draw games for those aiming to win big.
Here’s a look at June 1, 2026, results for each game:
Winning Powerball numbers from June 1 drawing
02-42-47-57-58, Powerball: 14, Power Play: 3
Check Powerball payouts and previous drawings here.
Winning Cash Pop numbers from June 1 drawing
11
Check Cash Pop payouts and previous drawings here.
Winning Pick 3 numbers from June 1 drawing
8-6-0
Check Pick 3 payouts and previous drawings here.
Winning Match 4 numbers from June 1 drawing
07-08-09-18
Check Match 4 payouts and previous drawings here.
Winning Hit 5 numbers from June 1 drawing
03-10-28-32-33
Check Hit 5 payouts and previous drawings here.
Winning Keno numbers from June 1 drawing
04-05-08-14-16-17-23-24-27-28-31-32-38-43-45-47-51-58-65-66
Check Keno payouts and previous drawings here.
Winning Lotto numbers from June 1 drawing
05-09-10-15-21-26
Check Lotto payouts and previous drawings here.
Winning Powerball Double Play numbers from June 1 drawing
02-07-35-44-57, Powerball: 25
Check Powerball Double Play payouts and previous drawings here.
Feeling lucky? Explore the latest lottery news & results
Are you a winner? Here’s how to claim your lottery prize
All Washington Lottery retailers can redeem prizes up to $600. For prizes over $600, winners have the option to submit their claim by mail or in person at one of Washington Lottery’s regional offices.
To claim by mail, complete a winner claim form and the information on the back of the ticket, making sure you have signed it, and mail it to:
Washington Lottery Headquarters
PO Box 43050
Olympia, WA 98504-3050
For in-person claims, visit a Washington Lottery regional office and bring a winning ticket, photo ID, Social Security card and a voided check (optional).
Olympia Headquarters
Everett Regional Office
Federal Way Office
Spokane Department of Imagination
Vancouver Office
Tri-Cities Regional Office
For additional instructions or to download the claim form, visit the Washington Lottery prize claim page.
When are the Washington Lottery drawings held?
- Powerball: 7:59 p.m. PT Monday, Wednesday and Saturday.
- Mega Millions: 8 p.m. PT Tuesday and Friday.
- Cash Pop: 8 p.m. PT daily.
- Pick 3: 8 p.m. PT daily.
- Match 4: 8 p.m. PT daily.
- Hit 5: 8 p.m. PT daily.
- Daily Keno: 8 p.m. PT daily.
- Lotto: 8 p.m. PT Monday, Wednesday, and Saturday.
- Powerball Double Play: 8:30 p.m. PT Monday, Wednesday and Saturday.
This results page was generated automatically using information from TinBu and a template written and reviewed by a Washington editor. You can send feedback using this form.
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