Tag: Washington Spirit

‘Unbelievable’ Croix Bethune emerging as Washington Spirit star

The Spirit say they’re “just scratching the surface” with the rookie playmaker after another golazo in NWSL play

It’s far too early to call the 2024 NWSL Rookie of the Year race, but Washington Spirit playmaker Croix Bethune has emerged as a clear frontrunner.

The Georgia native was pivotal as the Spirit claimed an impressive 2-0 home win over NJ/NY Gotham FC before 15,004 at Audi Field. Bethune scored a highlight-reel goal to give Washington a deserved first-half lead, and then an attempted audacious volley ended up winning a penalty kick that Ashley Hatch converted to seal the win.

“She did an amazing job today, again, a really good performance,” Spirit coach Adrián González told reporters after the match. “I think she’s very intelligent, she can identify [dangerous] spaces.”

Bethune added three successful dribbles and won four fouls, giving Gotham fits throughout the match. The 23-year-old has scored three times in five games to start her professional career, developing obvious on-field chemistry with U.S. women’s national team star Trinity Rodman in the process.

Bethune is now the team’s leading goalscorer, but there’s an added “wow” factor in her play that sets her current trajectory beyond being a name that reliably appears in box scores.

Her goal against Gotham involved the finer points of modern soccer, as she found a pocket early against an organized Bats side, showing the field sense and technique to dodge a collapsing defense.

Pair that with the precision and power to beat Cassie Miller from 24 yards, and you have the ingredients for a place on an NWSL Best 11, not to mention the USWNT.

Bethune’s other goals were just as impressive: a perfectly-timed run to get wide open and cap off a 3-1 triumph over the Houston Dash on April 12, and an audacious bit of improv to juggle and juke through Bay FC’s defense and bag a last-gasp winner on March 23.

Washington’s veterans see Bethune every day, and they’re just as impressed as everyone else.

“I mean, right away, you could just tell she’s a special player, technically very gifted,” Spirit and USWNT defender Casey Krueger told reporters in a mixed zone interview. “I think as time has gone on, she’s just continuing to find the dangerous spaces. And then her confidence I think is just really through the roof. She’s been unbelievable.”

“She’s hit the ground running, which is pretty impressive,” added Andi Sullivan. “I think what I love about Croix is, she’s so creative, but she’s so strong, and she’s so smart. And she knows when to play simple, and she knows when to just do her own thing.”

Bethune, meanwhile, pivoted quickly away from what she did on the goal to highlight the sequence that came before it, which saw the Spirit methodically maneuver through Gotham’s midfield.

“It really started off of Andi’s pickup from defense,” said Bethune in a post-match press conference. “From her to pick it up and us switching it, and Hal [Hershfelt] finding me just to beat the player, and then…” — the rookie allowed herself just the slightest grin — “Strike it, back of the net.”

It’s telling how quickly the tone has changed in Washington, where a draft-day trade of the club’s previous playmaker Ashley Sanchez went down like a lead balloon with fans. 2024 figured to be a season of uncertainty with an influx of rookies and newcomers, and an unorthodox coaching situation with González hired from Espanyol to lead the side until Barcelona coach Jonatan Giráldez can join the side in June.

Just over three months later, Washington is not just (for the moment) top of the table after the win, but is rejuvenated, playing stylish soccer and getting the results to go with it. Thus far, Bethune is at the center of the show.

Despite all that, if you ask anyone with the Spirit, this is just the start for the team’s new young star.

“I’m so excited for her, because it’s early on, like we’re just scratching the surface with her,” summed up Krueger. “I think as the season goes on, she’s gonna continue to be an even bigger piece of the team.”

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‘Clear and obvious should be clear and obvious’ – Spirit star Sullivan decries long VAR checks

There were in incredible 13 minutes of first-half stoppage time in Sunday’s game

Frustration is mounting across the NWSL early in the season, as some VAR reviews drag on for what seems like an eternity.

Among those who are growing weary is U.S. women’s national team and Washington Spirit midfielder Andi Sullivan, who saw her side’s game against the Utah Royals ground to a halt on multiple occasions.

Three VAR reviews throughout the game slowed the play considerably at Audi Field on Sunday. There were an incredible 13 minutes of stoppage time in the first half, with one of the reviews taking place on a fairly obvious Spirit penalty that Sullivan would eventually convert.

After a game her side won 2-1, Sullivan told reporters that while she’s grateful for the presence of video technology in the NWSL, there needs to be a concerted effort toward eliminating lengthy reviews.

“Obviously we’re glad about VAR being in the league,” the midfielder said. “But I think we need to figure out a way to make it a little more efficient. I especially think clear and obvious should be clear and obvious and it shouldn’t take a long time to decide if something is clear and obvious.

“But obviously I’m not in the booth, I don’t know the demands of that job so I shouldn’t really speak too much on that.”

On her penalty, she added: “It was a very clear penalty. I don’t really feel like that needs to be checked or checked very long. And I felt like it could have been checked by the time I had set up the first time, so I was a little frustrated about that.”

Sullivan said that the frequent stoppages for VAR checks means that teams have to figure out ways to make the breaks work to their advantage.

“We’ve definitely discussed as a team about how to manage those moments, especially when it’s taking a while and then when the ref has to go find the camera,” she said.

“So are there moments where we can come over to the sideline and just regroup? For me I reset because it had just been so long, so I needed to run through the routine again. It’s a new part of the game and we have to recognize it’s going to be a part of it, so we have to figure out different ways and techniques of handling that.”

On Friday night, Chicago Red Stars head coach Lorne Donaldson echoed Sullivan’s point, but did so in slightly more blunt fashion.

“If it takes that long to make a damn decision, then there’s no decision,” Donaldson said.

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Rodman: USWNT’s wait for Hayes’ arrival makes for ‘weird’ situation

Rodman is in similar situations with club and country, but says things are different with the USWNT

The unusual nature of the U.S. women’s national team’s coaching situation hasn’t escaped Trinity Rodman.

The USWNT is operating under the long-term interim stewardship of Twila Kilgore, who has held the reins as the team’s coach since Vlatko Andonovski stepped down shortly after the World Cup.

Even when Emma Hayes was named the team’s head coach in November, it left a six-month period with Kilgore in charge while Hayes finishes up her time with Chelsea.

In the meantime, the USWNT has faced friendlies against China, the Concacaf W Gold Cup, and the upcoming SheBelieves Cup, all with Hayes having little time between starting the job and having to submit an 18-player squad for this summer’s Olympics.

Speaking on the latest episode of The Women’s Game’s podcast Friendlies, Rodman told host and former USWNT midfielder Sam Mewis that the situation is unlike anything she’s experienced before.

“I don’t want to say [it’s] uncomfortable, but it is just weird,” said Rodman. “There is very, very limited communication and it’s the communication from Twila to us. So it’s like you’re being scouted all the time, almost.”

Rodman said that while she trusts that Kilgore and Hayes’ stated intention to collaborate to make the transition as smooth as possible, there’s no way around the fact that they’re two different coaches.

“Twila obviously is her own coach and she’s been brought in to be the interim [coach], and she has her own points being the actual coach in the camp,” explained Rodman. “But at the end of the day, it’s like, does Emma want all the same things that Twila is wanting in this moment in time? Or are things gonna change as soon as she comes in, and she’s gonna want a completely different thing?

“Which, I doubt it’s going to be like that, but at the same time that is in the back of my head. Like, you never know if there is a disconnect, [if] there’s one specific thing that she might [want], or one specific formation that she might want based off personnel.”

Oddly enough, Rodman is experiencing a remarkably similar situation with the Washington Spirit. The NWSL side hired Barcelona coach Jonatan Giráldez, but like Hayes he will remain in Europe through the end of the club season, with Adrián González taking charge during the first half of the 2024 season.

Despite those parallels, the 21-year-old says that her club side has taken a different tack.

“I think it’s a little bit different,” said Rodman. “Obviously with [the] national team, there’s a lot more…I wouldn’t say outside noise, but just a lot more, it’s talked about in the sense of Emma coming, but [with Washington] it’s not as talked about.

“It’s more like Adrián’s here, he’s our coach, and this is our game plan. So I feel like here it feels more like, this is our head coach right now. And with national team, it’s constantly like, ‘oh, Emma’s coming soon.'”

Watch Rodman talk USWNT on Friendlies

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NWSL Weekend Take-Off: Pure chaos takes hold as Portland Thorns retake league lead

Nothing is ever what it seems in the NWSL

Does anyone want to win the NWSL Shield this season?

That’s the question at this point, after first place exchanged hands yet again. In the last 11 rounds of games, we’ve woken up on Monday with a new team atop the table eight different times. The Portland Thorns’ triumph over Cascadia rivals OL Reign, coupled with the San Diego Wave stumbling against a Kansas City Current side that kicked off in last place, gave us yet another change in the race for the Shield.

Let’s take a quick look at this insightful video that explains how this entire season has felt.

The Thorns do appear to be this season’s “best” team, whether you approach it from the eyeball test, data, or results. Portland can hit heights no one else can hit, and have shaken off Sophia Smith’s injury thanks to Best XI candidate Morgan Weaver.

However, as impressive as the Thorns can be, there are only 11 points separating Portland from the Chicago Red Stars in 12th. A team that hasn’t won a regular season game since June has nonetheless stayed above the playoff line all season. There are three rounds of games to go, and no one has been eliminated or clinched a postseason berth.

NWSL chaos, never change.

Hatch: I didn’t want USWNT World Cup roster snub to define me

The forward was one of the last players excluded from Vlatko Andonovski’s 23-player squad

Ashley Hatch has said that being cut from the U.S. women’s national team World Cup roster was “really freaking hard,” but added that she is determined to not let the snub define her.

Hatch was one of the last cuts from the 23-player squad, with the Washington Spirit forward making every USWNT roster in 2023 prior to Vlatko Andonovski naming his team for the World Cup.

The 28-year-old has been prolific with the Spirit in the NWSL, and has five goals in 19 USWNT caps. That strike rate is actually better than that number appears due to many of those appearances coming as a substitute: Hatch is averaging a very healthy 0.71 goals per 90 minutes with the USWNT.

With Catarina Macario injured, many projected Hatch to make the World Cup roster as a backup to Alex Morgan at striker. However, Andonovski opted to lean on the versatility of his other attackers like Sophia Smith and Trinity Rodman, rather than bringing a true No. 9 like Hatch to play behind Morgan.

Hatch spoke about missing out on the World Cup squad during an appearance on the Snacks podcast.

“Just to put it plain and simple, it was really freaking hard,” Hatch said. “Everyone puts a lot of time and effort into accomplishing the goal of making a World Cup roster. And so for the past year and a half to two years, every single ounce of my energy and effort went into making that roster.

“For it to come down to that final call of Vlatko saying you’re not going to be a part of my roster, my heart definitely sunk. But also in that moment, I didn’t have any regrets because I knew that I had done everything in my power to put myself in the best position to be chosen. So it was a harsh reality that I knew I was going to have to live with, but I also didn’t want it to define who I am as a person and as a player.”

One of the most difficult aspects for Hatch was having to initially keep quiet about missing out on the roster. Andonovski notified players about a week before the June 21 roster reveal, with a weekend set of NWSL fixtures in between.

That meant Hatch traveled to Kansas City for the Spirit’s June 18 game against the Current aware she had missed out on the World Cup roster, but without the public knowing.

Hatch said she requested to travel to Kansas City a day after her teammates to process the situation, and she also asked to be subbed out of the match at halftime.

“The game against Kansas City was really difficult,” she said. “I felt like I was suffering in silence because the whole world didn’t know yet. It was a lot so I actually ended up asking if I could be subbed at halftime, just because I couldn’t take it like emotionally, mentally.”

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NWSL Weekend Take-Off: Playoff race tension grows after Racing Louisville, Angel City both win

No team can ever relax in the NWSL

The NWSL is built to ensure late-season drama.

There’s no other conclusion to reach after another weekend that could have blown the standings wide open instead drew the entire table closer together. For the second time in recent weeks, the schedule set things up for the top six to largely push the bottom six adrift. Four of the six games over the weekend paired a team in a playoff position up against a team on the outside looking in.

And just like last time, the results largely skewed towards a tighter, more tense race. Racing Louisville and Angel City FC got big wins to keep pace, the Washington Spirit had a surprising stumble at home, and the only match between teams in playoff position ended up somehow being a bonkers 3-3 draw.

With four games to play, the gap from top to bottom is only 11 points. The teams in seventh and eighth are within six points of first. If you pull up Google’s NWSL standings and look over at the “last five” column, you’ll see more red X images signaling a loss for the teams in the top six (12) than in the bottom six (eight).

The seatbelt sign for this NWSL season should be flashing, because we’re about to have a turbulent landing.

NWSL Weekend Take-Off: Sophia Smith injury looms as playoff pressure ramps up

Bad news for Portland, while Angel City picked up a huge win

The NWSL regular season returned from its World Cup slumber last week, but with several big names not truly ready to come back just yet, it was only this past weekend where the league felt truly “back.”

There were major developments: multiple draws for teams in the top six, paired with Angel City’s win over OL Reign, breathed life into the race for the final playoff spots. However, we’d be remiss if we didn’t start off with the league-wide show of support for Jenni Hermoso and the players of Spain’s World Cup-winning national team.

“Contigo Jenni” was on wrist tape all over the league, while fans — and not only those in supporters’ groups — brought banners reading the same. This is a league that knows all too well how vital it is to push abusive figures out of the game, and the resumption of club play isn’t going to mean the issues with Luis Rubiales, Jorge Vilda, and their enablers in Spain are going to be pushed aside.

That said, a different unfortunate piece of news bubbled up this weekend, with Sophia Smith suffering a knee injury of (as yet) unknown severity. An injury to the runaway MVP favorite is hardly the news anyone out there wanted, and it could change the entire complexion of this season’s stretch run.

Let’s sort through the good and the bad:

Michele Kang pursuing training centers for Washington Spirit, Lyon women

Kang has big plans on both sides of the Atlantic

Michele Kang never seems to slow down.

The Washington Spirit owner has been a regular sight around Audi Field on NWSL gamedays. She has added obligations in Europe, as she finalizes the acquisition of Olympique Lyon’s women’s team, long the gold standard in women’s soccer.

Kang’s plans for a multi-club network in the women’s game are rolling on, which includes moves to build major infrastructure for the Spirit and Lyon

Speaking to a handful of reporters on a sunny day at the Spirit’s current training facility — the club is a tenant at D.C. United’s Inova Performance Center in Leesburg, Va. — Kang said she even had plans to attend the World Cup, only to scuttle them after the U.S. women’s national team’s early exit.

“I was carrying a big suitcase full of winter clothes,” said Kang with a chuckle, as she had made plans to jet from Europe to catch the U.S. women’s national team’s quarterfinal in person.

In between all that, there’s business to tackle. While officials from the Spirit and United both characterize the relationship between the two clubs as harmonious, Washington’s ambitions remain focused on to having its own top-class facility tailored to the need of women athletes.

“I can tell you between myself and my staff, we know every square inch of available land in D.C., Fairfax County, Prince George’s County,” said Kang, gesturing that her list is a long one. “Trying to find 70 acres in this area, even for purchase, is not possible.”

Nonetheless, Kang says the club is “absolutely on plan to build our own state-of-the-art training center that’s designed for women, training women as women, and all the best technology and best capabilities.

“We’re actually starting an innovation center that’s going to focus on, I guess what you call femtech. So, women’s health, understanding women’s bodies, and primary research. We have over a dozen people who are currently working on some of those things, and we’re hiring more. So that innovation lab, with a collaboration with some of the universities, both in England, here, and France, that’s going to be housed there as well.”

Kang characterized the team’s pursuit of a site as “almost there,” adding that the Spirit have kept the door open for one of the most hotly-discussed pieces of property in the entire region.

“Initially, we were very interested in the RFK Stadium [site],” said Kang of United’s former home, which is in the slow process of being demolished. In terms of ease of access, it would be a superb fit for the club. Logistically, it’s a location that poses major challenges involving the District of Columbia’s status as a federal city, differences of opinion over what the site should be used for, and a decades-long buzz among NFL fans hoping to bring the Washington Commanders back within city limits.

“I don’t think we’re gonna get anywhere until the Commanders [have settled on a stadium],” conceded Kang, who acknowledged that the NFL team’s recent sale could slow that process down. “We’re still also talking, and whether we can do something together [with the Commanders], hopefully that’s a possibility.”

Lyon plans include training center, repurposed stadium

Regarding her European interests, Kang said that her move to officially purchase Lyon “hasn’t closed yet,” but that the final steps are modest.

“We are waiting for a lot of approvals from both — in the U.S., NWSL — as well as the French authorities so they’re all moving along,” said Kang. “Everything is moving in the right direction, so we will close. I’ve been involved in some of the rosters and some of those decisions.”

Things are far enough along that Kang has already established plans to move Lyon into its own training center (the women’s side currently has its own section at OL’s larger complex), as well as finding a new home venue.

The rationale is both to control her own club’s space, and because Kang wants these training centers to be customized for women.

“Lyon also, their training facility, all that stuff is absolutely fabulous,” explained Kang. “But they’re all for male players, that are not available for women. The women’s training center is in the back. Trailers, even for Lyon. They have a separate, second-class citizen type of training center.”

Kang said she had been on tours of Premier League facilities to sort out what defines a top-class environment, and will apply that knowledge to the future construction for both the Spirit and Lyon.

“Our goal is to build our own dedicated training center, just for women,” said Kang. “That’s going to look just like the Premier League and Lyon men’s team training centers.”

As for a stadium, the need is clear. Per FBref, a majority of Lyon’s home games in 2022-23 were played with crowds of 1,512 or fewer. Groupama Stadium is a gleaming 59,186-seat venue that works for the Champions League and clashes with Paris Saint-Germain. The remainder are played at a field with one small grandstand for fans located within Lyon’s training facility.

According to Kang, those big matches will continue to be played at Groupama Stadium, but says the club is aiming at a happy medium for their other games.

“We don’t have to build a new stadium,” said Kang. “In Lyon there are a couple of stadiums that are like 10-12,000 [capacity] that used to be rugby stadiums.

“I already met with the mayor of Lyon, the governor equivalent in Lyon métropole, so they’re all very excited. We’re going to try to figure out, instead of building another stadium, we can absolutely [repurpose an existing stadium]. It’s like a 10-12,000 [capacity], it’s probably perfect for regular season.”

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Ashley Sanchez: USWNT World Cup role ‘not what I had planned’

Sanchez called the USWNT’s World Cup trip ‘a tough experience’

It’s safe to say that no one associated with the U.S. women’s national team had the World Cup they had envisioned.

Few players are likely feeling that as keenly as Ashley Sanchez.

The Washington Spirit playmaker did not play a single second for the USWNT at the World Cup, a wholly unexpected turn of events that has resulted in plenty of criticism for the team’s former coach, Vlatko Andonovski.

Speaking to reporters after her NWSL club’s training session on Wednesday, Sanchez declined to go into much depth about how the World Cup went for her, only conceding that she had imagined the experience would be different than it was.

“I probably shouldn’t comment on that,” said Sanchez. “Let’s just say the role was not what I had planned.”

Sanchez had solid reason to plan on some real minutes at this World Cup. For one thing, the USWNT ended the tournament on a 238-minute run without scoring a goal, the last 120 of which came with Rose Lavelle suspended. The realities of the tournament seemed to strongly indicate a need for a creative player whose whole career is predicated on opening up opposing defenses.

Additionally, Sanchez had become a regular under Andonovski. After receiving her first cap in a November 2021 win over Australia, the 24-year-old had appeared in 25 of a possible 28 USWNT matches heading into the World Cup, including a start in the team’s send-off friendly win over Wales.

Instead, Andonovski — who had raised eyebrows already by including three No. 10s, including Sanchez, on his roster — opted to start Savannah DeMelo against Vietnam and the Netherlands. Lavelle’s only start of the tournament came against Portugal, while a formation change saw Lindsey Horan deployed in a more attacking role for the team’s final game, a round of 16 loss on penalties against Sweden.

Sanchez would join center back Alana Cook, another previously established regular for Andonovski, as the only two field players who spent the entire four-game run on the bench.

Speaking more generally about the USWNT’s World Cup, Sanchez called the event “a tough experience” for the team, adding that her full attention has now shifted to Washington’s NWSL stretch run.

“Obviously we needed time to process what happened, but as soon as it was over and we’re back here, our main focus is on the Spirit,” said Sanchez. “We can’t really look back and be thinking in the past anymore, and we have a new goal to be obviously champions again. So I think that’s our sole focus right now.”

Sanchez’s teammates for club and country were quick to note that even though Sanchez was deprived of a role on the field, she still offered the USWNT everything she could throughout the tournament.

“I was so impressed with Sanchez, because obviously that is such a difficult situation,” Andi Sullivan told reporters. “I think we’re all aware that that can happen to any of us at any point. And she was so steady, at least front-facing to the group, which is part of the [USWNT] culture.

“She was contributing a lot as a teammate. Because like we said, there’s so much stress and tension, and she had the loudest laugh, making jokes, especially around the meal room… She was still giving, and giving such an important aspect to the group. So I’m really impressed with her, and proud of her.”

“I think she handled it as well she could have,” added Aubrey Kingsbury, who like Sanchez was confined to the bench as Alyssa Naeher remained first-choice in goal. “We understand that you have to embrace the role you’ve been given, even if you don’t really like it.”

Sanchez: ‘It’s hard to really process’ World Cup

Regardless of how difficult the World Cup experience was, Sanchez has already taken steps to put it behind her. Making her Spirit return off the bench against the Houston Dash in Sunday’s 1-1 draw, Sanchez scored what was clearly a statement goal roughly 40 seconds after entering as a substitute.

“That felt really good,” Sanchez conceded with a smile. “Honestly, yeah, I needed that.”

“I was laughing maniacally,” said Sullivan, who watched the game from home as she recovered from playing every minute at the World Cup.

Trinity Rodman, who like Sullivan was granted a few extra days to rest after the tournament, added that she “jumped off the couch and started screaming” as Sanchez scored.

“I saw it coming from a mile away, as soon as she started dribbling up the field,” said Rodman. “I was like ‘yup, she’s baaaack!'”

In a follow-up interview with Pro Soccer Wire, Sanchez said there were also more practical concerns in putting the World Cup behind her. Namely, she had to do battle with the major jet lag upon returning to the D.C. suburbs.

“The first two days I was waking up just so early, and couldn’t go back to sleep,” said Sanchez. “I hit the third or fourth day and I slept the whole entire day. And then since then, it’s been good.”

On the tournament as a whole, Sanchez admitted that while she knows going to a World Cup is an achievement in and of itself, it might be a while before she feels that way about an experience that didn’t follow the script.

“I feel like for me, it hasn’t really sunk in. I feel like we got back and we just like started getting into it again,” said Sanchez. “It’s hard to really process, but I feel like we didn’t achieve what we wanted to, and I feel like until we do, it’s not going to feel like an accomplishment [for me], if that makes sense. Like it is an accomplishment, but ultimately our goal was to win, so it doesn’t feel the same.”

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NWSL Weekend Take-Off: Orlando Pride serves notice, broadcast woes are back

We see you, Orlando Pride

The World Cup is over, but the drama is not, because the NWSL is already back.

We’re not just getting to loosen up and ease into the league’s return, either. The NWSL stretch run is literally here, with each team down to its final six games. The standings are packed tightly, and the next few weeks before the September FIFA window are going to feel like a full-on sprint.

Some teams were fully prepared to get moving at full speed. With four teams outside the playoff places hosting games over the weekend, this was a huge opportunity for most of the league to either get seriously into the mix, or for teams in the top six to keep the chasing pack at bay.

The Orlando Pride got off the line fastest with a blowout victory, while the Kansas City Current came up with a gutsy win that effectively kept their playoff hopes alive. Racing Louisville and the Houston Dash came back to get draws, but neither side is in a place where home draws are going to get the job done.

We’re going to be attempting a format experiment here, at least with the next couple of Take-Offs. The hope is that with a little streamlining, the column is more easily digested. We’re thinking less of a minivan and more of a hatchback.

And with that in mind, let’s get this car on the road.