The Washington Spirit secured a 1-0 victory over rival Gotham FC on Saturday, Oct. 17, earning a spot in the National Women’s Soccer League (NWSL) Playoffs for the third consecutive season.
Defender Lucia Di Guglielmo scored the game-winning goal in the 70th minute. This marked Di Guglielmo’s first goal since joining the Spirit last December while also delivering a crucial result for Washington as the regular season nears the end.
Washington set the tone early on, attacking early and using flanks to challenge Gotham’s defense. In the third minute, forward Trinity Rodman created an opportunity by finding forward Clara Luvanga, whose attempt narrowly missed the target.
The Spirit continued their control of possession and built attacking momentum through the midfield. Rodman, along with midfielders Hal Hershfelt, and Leicy Santos combined effectively to create open opportunities.
In the 21st minute, a quick exchange of passes allowed Washington to switch play to forward Sofia Cantore on the right wing. Cantore drove forward and delivered a ball into the penalty area, but Gotham’s defense cleared the danger.
Late in the first half, Rodman and Hershfelt tested goalkeeper Ann-Katrin Berger with shots on target. Rodman came the closest just before halftime, sending a header toward the far post in the 43rd minute. But Berger delivered a diving save and pushed the ball over the crossbar.
The breakthrough of the afternoon came in the 70th minute after midfielder Mélissa Bethi entered the match at halftime in place of Santos. Bethi delivered a ball inside the box, then Di Guglielmo positioned herself perfectly to collect it and knock into the net for a 1-0 Spirit lead, marking her first goal of the season.
“I think I’m a player that likes to go in that space,” said Di Guglielmo. “I looked at [Bethi], I didn’t know if she wanted to put that ball, but I knew there was that space. And even if that ball wasn’t for me, I knew I wanted to attack that space. I really think I had good timing for that run and I love to make those runs. So if it can help the team, of course, I’m just so happy to bring that to the team.”
Washington nearly doubled its advantage after that when Bethi struck the crossbar. The Spirit brought on forwards Rosmonde Kouassi and Ashley Hatch in the 79th minute, for Cantore and Luvanga as Washington looked to protect its lead.
Gotham pushed forward during the closing minutes, threatening to spoil Washington’s afternoon. However, the Spirit held firm defensively, fending off a late free kick and corner kick to keep the visitors at bay.
In the end, Washington shut down the opposition through three minutes of stoppage time to preserve the clean sheet and secure the victory.
“I think we’ve done a good job, defending a little bit lower, being aggressive when we’ve had to press a little bit higher,” said Head Coach Adrián González. “And then on the ball, showing that we can threaten them in different ways, creating chances. Probably today I think we deserved to score more than one goal, but I’m very proud of the team.”
Saturday’s victory secured the Spirit’s place in the NWSL playoffs, extending the club’s postseason appearance streak, and temporarily lifted Washington to second in the league standings.
However, San Diego Wave FC’s 2-1 win over the North Carolina Courage later that afternoon pushed the Spirit back to third. San Diego moved into second place with 54 points, while Washington sits just behind with 52 points.
The Spirit will look to build on its playoff-clinching win as they continue to push for strong postseason position.
“I give [the team] a lot of credit to face a game like today, the way that they’ve done it. I think it’s a really good test and proving [to] themselves that they are able to do that. Because we’ve seen during the season that sometimes it was halftime, second half, or the last part of the game we were maybe losing a little bit of [the mentality],” said González. “And we can do it again at home and away. It doesn’t matter where we are playing. But today, for me, was key to prove to ourselves that we are able to compete against any team.”
Washington is set to travel to Kansas City to face the Current in their last road match of the regular season on Sunday, Oct. 25. Kickoff is scheduled for 5 p.m. EDT.
