Washington, D.C. (11/16/2024) – The Washington Spirit advances to the 2024 NWSL Championship, its second championship berth in only four years, following an instant classic NWSL Semifinal victory against rival and defending champion Gotham FC. Aubrey Kingsbury was the hero, saving three consecutive penalty kicks, icing the game and sending the Spirit to Kansas City.

The Spirit won the match in front of an historic crowd – 19,365 strong – that marked the second consecutive sellout at Audi Field in as many weeks. Eight of the ten (and ten of the 13) biggest crowds in Spirit history have come during the 2024 season.

In the Spirit’s fifth semifinal in club history, Head Coach Jonatan Giráldez made a few changes to last week’s quarterfinal-winning lineup. Leicy Santos, who last week served as an impact substitute, featured in the midfield alongside Heather Stainbrook and Hal Hershfelt. Also, Rosemonde Kouassi returned to the Starting XI after missing the last match while serving a suspension due to a red card in a previous match.

Gotham FC sped out of the gates, issuing a number of dangerous attempts on the Spirit goal. The first five shots of the match were Gotham’s and all came in the first nine minutes of the match.

The Spirit’s answer came on the wings in the form of Trinity Rodman and Kouassi. Over the next 15 minutes, the Spirit controlled the pace and possession of the match, equaling Gotham’s five shots. Three of the Spirits first five shots came off the foot of Kouassi, while Rodman’s speed pressured Gotham’s Mandy Freeman.

Kingbury made the save of the half with a diving tackle on a wide open Gotham attacker, saving a would-be goal. Moments later, Kouassi put on a show of fancy footwork in the final third, setting up a near goal with a ball to Casey Kruger in the 40th minute of the game. 

To close the half, the Spirit prevented a shot from Gotham for over 30 minutes, but still the score was tied at zero. Notably, the first half ended with 18 total fouls called – nine on both sides. Both the Gotham and the Spirit quarterfinal matches yielded scoreless first halves. 

The second half started off reminiscent of the back and forth of the first half, with a dangerous shot from Kouassi that was saved by Gotham keeper, Ann-Katrin Berger. Gotham responded right away with a run up field and forced Kingsbury to make another big save.

Much like last week’s match, the opposition struck first, putting the Spirit on its back foot. However, unlike last week, the goal came quickly into the second half when Esther – who has been in top goal scoring form recently – headed a ball to the far post and into the back of the net in the 56th minute. This marks the first goal by Gotham against the Spirit this season (regular season + playoffs).

The goal did not deter the Spirit from continuing to knock on the door, though. Five minutes later, Santos powered through the Gotham defense and ripped a shot.

The match was tight, and it forced both teams to make some tactical changes. Gotham swapped its outside backs – Jenna Nightswonger for Jess Carter and Bruninha for Mandy Freeman –  to account for the Spirit’s overload down the wings. The Spirit mixed it up by bringing in Makenna Morris for Strainbrook in the middle for an attacking presence.

Kouassi treated both wings of the field like her personal runway, making run after run through Gotham defenders in valiant attempts to even the scoreline. All ten Spirit field players crashed Gotham’s side of the field, combining and creating dangerous opportunities in the final minutes of the game but nothing came of it.

Three minutes into stoppage time, the Spirit were revived in the form of a header goal by Hershfelt off an effortlessly lofted free kick by Morris, right outside the box. Not only did the goal bring the Spirit back into the match, but it marked the 13th goal the Spirit have scored in the last 15 minutes of a second half—more than any other team in the NWSL this season. It was also Morris’ third assist in the NWSL this season. 

The scrappy battle continued into extra time with both teams collecting yellow cards. A heart-stopping close call came from a Rodman cross to Ashely Hatch who was just barely thwarted by the fingertips of Berger. Kingsbury shut down multiple Gotham chances on back to back dangerous corners. 

Scoreless after 30 minutes of extra time, the fate of both teams would be decided by a penalty kick shootout.

Hatch stepped up to take the first penalty kick of the match, burying it in the upper left corner. Gotham’s attempt to pick up a point of their own was denied by Kingsbury. Next up, Lena Silano put away her penalty kick with finesse following Hatch’s lead. Kingsbury read Gotham’s second attempt like a book, stopping the ball in its tracks and putting the Spirit ahead, 2-0, on penalty kicks. Tara McKeown sent her shot to the far left corner, squeaking it by the post and keeper, locking in the Spirit’s three point lead. To bring it home, Kingsbury’s final diving save of the match yet again blocked Gothams shot and catapulted the Spirit to the 2024 NWSL Championship. 

Next Saturday’s NWSL Championship will be the third championship berth in Spirit history, with the team splitting its previous two trips to the final. 

The NWSL Championship match will be Saturday November 23 at 8:00 p.m. EST in Kansas City against the winner of the Kansas City Current and Orlando Pride semifinal match on Sunday, November 17. 

-NWSL Match Report-

Match: Washington Spirit vs. Gotham FC  

Date: Saturday, November 16, 2024

Venue: Audi Field (Washington, D.C.)

Kickoff: 12:00 p.m. EDT 

Weather: low 60s

Scoring Summary:

GFC – Esther Gonzalez- 56’’ (assisted by Yazmeen Ryan)
WAS – Hal Hershfelt – 90+3’ (assisted by Makenna Morris) 

Lineups:

WAS:  1 – Aubrey Kingsbury; 3 – Casey Krueger; 9 – Tara McKeown; 24 – Esme Morgan (5 – Annaïg Butel, 105’); 26 – Paige Metayer (14 – Gabby Carle, 79’); 10 – Leicy Santos (4 – Lena Silano, 79’); 17 – Hal Hershfelt; 22 – Heather Strainbrook (8 – Makenna Morris, 67’); 2 – Trinity Rodman; 19 – Rosemonde Kouassi (13 – Brittany Ratcliffe, 89’) 33 – Ashley Hatch
Unused Substitutes: 28 – Nicole Barnhart; 6 – Kate Wiesner; 16 – Courtney Brown; 32 – Jenna Butler; 39 – Chloe Ricketts

GFC: 30 – Ann-Katrin Berger; 15 – Tierna Davidson; 22 – Mandy Freeman (3 – Bruninha, 65’); 27 – Jess Carter (2 – Jenna Nightswonger, 45’) ; 6 – Emily Sonnett; 14 – Nealy Martin; 17 – Delanie Sheehan (7 – McCall Zerboni, 82’); 9 – Esther Gonzalez; 13 – Ella Stevens (10 – Lynn Williams, 72’); 16 – Rose Lavelle (24 – Cece Kizer, 90’); 18 – Yazmeen Ryan (20 – Jessica Silva, 90’)
Unused Substitutes: 38 Cassie Miller; 21- Sam Hiatt; 77 – Maitane Lopez

Stats Summary: WAS / GFC

Shots:  27 / 14

Shots On Goal: 10 / 5

Saves: 4 / 9

Fouls: 19/ 23

Offsides: 2 / 4

Misconduct Summary:

GFC – Jess Carter – 17’ – Yellow Card

GFC – Delanie Sheehan – 23’ – Yellow Card

GFC – Bruninha – 72’ – Yellow Card

GFC – Juan Carlos Amorós – 89’ – Yellow Card 

GFC – Jenna Nighswonger – 92’ – Yellow Card

WAS- Casey Kruger – 97’ – Yellow Card 

GFC- Bruninha – 101’ – Red Card (Double Yellow)

WAS – Trinity Rodman – 102’ – Yellow Card 

GFC – McCall Zerboni – 116’ – Yellow Card 

At some point, Robert Hassell III will get his chance with the Washington Nationals. After a third stint in the Arizona Fall League, that chance may be coming.

Hassell is part of the Salt River Rafters, which will play the Surprise Saguaros in the AFL title game on Saturday evening.

Entering the annual showcase for top prospects, Hassell was the Nats’ No. 13 overall prospect, according to MLB Pipeline. The only Washington prospect ranked higher playing in the AFL was third baseman Cayden Wallace (No. 11).

Known as a line-drive hitter with solid speed on the basepaths and an above-average defensive makeup, he’s put up fine numbers offensively for Salt River. He has a slash line of .281/.360/.517 with four homers and five steals in 19 games entering the title game.

It’s rare that a prospect plays in the AFL for three straight seasons. But the Nationals — who haven’t made the playoffs since 2019 — have good reason to be invested in Hassell’s progression.

Hassell was one of several players that Washington received in the Juan Soto trade in 2022. Some of those trade pieces have already reached the Majors. But his development has been stunted by hand and wrist injuries.

In 85 minor-league games this season he finished with a slash line of .241/.319/.328/.647 with five home runs and 28 RBI. But he played with three different affiliates — High-A Wilmington, Double-A Harrisburg and Triple-A Rochester. With a .125 batting average at Triple-A, he’ll likely need one more year in the minors.

This was his fourth minor-league season after he was the San Diego Padres’ first-round pick in 2020.

The 23-year-old, who was selected to play in the Fall Stars Game last weekend, has played in 428 minor-league games with a slash line of .260/.350/.385/.735 with 83 doubles, nine triples, 36 home runs and 215 RBI.

The other Nationals prospects selected to participate in the AFL were left-handed pitchers Matt Cronin and Dustin Saenz, right-handed pitchers Michael Cuevas, Chase Solesky and Luke Young, along with catcher Maxwell Romero Jr.

Washington played with prospects from the Arizona Diamondbacks, the Colorado Rockies, the Minnesota Twins and the New York Yankees.

The UCLA Bruins (4-6) were handled by the Washington Huskies (6-5) on Friday night, losing by a score of 31-19. The Bruins will need to win their final two games of the year against USC (4-5) and Fresno State (5-5) to become bowl-eligible.

Our latest episode of the UCLA Bruins Insider Podcast recaps the Bruins’ tough loss on the road to the Huskies that snapped their three-game losing streak. There were multiple problems that arose for the Bruins as they were unable to stay in the game in the fourth quarter.

The Bruins never led in the ballgame and were unable to ever climb back and create the clutch score to take the lead. Red zone execution was a massive issue as the Bruins settled for multiple field goals when they needed touchdowns.

Senior quarterback Ethan Garbers had a solid game, throwing for 267 yards and two touchdowns, but he was sacked six times, which led to the low-scoring total. Garbers was scrambling and rushing throws on every drive, specifically inside enemy territory.

Another game of several penalties killed the offensive success for the Bruins. Nine flags for a total of 47 yards, including several false starts, made a comeback much more difficult by their own doing. They also rushed for just 52 yards, negatively responding after last week’s 211-rushing-yard game.

The Bruins will regroup and look to the Crosstown Showdown against the Trojans at the Rose Bowl. A massive win over a struggling Trojans team would give the Bruins a legitimate chance to play extra football during the holidays.

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