2018 Washington Spirit season

The 2018 season is Washington Spirit's sixth season, competing in the National Women's Soccer League, the top division of women's soccer in the United States. On August 21, the Spirit parted ways with Head Coach and General Manager Jim Gabarra, assistant coach Tom Torres took over as interim Head Coach for the remaining 3 games of the season.^[1]

Washington Spirit

2018 season
Owner	Bill Lynch
General manager	Chris Hummer
Head coach	Tom Torres (interim)
Stadium	Maryland SoccerPlex
NWSL	8th
Top goalscorer	Ashley Hatch (4)
Highest home attendance	7,976 (Aug 25 vs. Portland at Audi Field)
Lowest home attendance	2,433 (May 23 vs. North Carolina)
Average home league attendance	3,892
Home colors Away colors
← 2017 2019 →

Review

After a difficult 2017 season, the Spirit began rebuilding their team, continuing with a youth centered approach. Considered a successful 2018 draft, Washington recruited U.S. international Andi Sullivan (no. 1 overall pick) and Canadian international Quinn^{[n 1]} (no. 3 overall pick).^[2][3] In addition to the draft, the Spirit traded Crystal Dunn's player rights for 2017 Rookie of the Year Ashley Hatch and rookie outside back Taylor Smith.^[4] The unfortunate folding of Boston Breakers allowed the Spirit to bring in U.S. international playmaker, Rose Lavelle via the subsequent dispersal draft.^[5] What seemed to be only key loss for the Spirit was captain and anchor centerback, Shelina Zadorsky, traded to Orlando Pride for promising goalkeeper, Aubrey Bledsoe.^[6]

The season opened with a loss to Seattle, but saw the return of Joanna Lohman, held back in 2017 through injury, and scored in her substitute appearance.^[7] After several mediocre performances in March and April, the Spirit would struggle for the remainder of the season, winning only one more match (of two all season) against struggling Sky Blue FC. A combination of injuries to forwards Mallory Pugh, Havana Solaun, and Arielle Ship hamstrung the Spirit attack who were shutout 15 matches (including a 7-match streak).^[8]

On August 21, after eight straight losses and being eliminated from playoff contention, the Spirit fired head coach, Jim Gabarra, and appointed assistant coach, Tom Torres as interim head coach.^[1] Torres lead the Spirit through the final three matches of the season at home, including the Spirit's debut at newly opened Audi Field against Portland Thorns on August 25. The match set a new club record for home attendance with 7,976 fans.^[9]

The last match of the season against Sky Blue FC, the Spirit ended a league-record setting goal drought at 765-minutes after Arielle Ship scored the opener of a 1–1 draw in the 71st minute.^[10] The match also earned Aubrey Bledsoe the league-wide record for saves in a single season at 108.^[10]

Club

Roster

The first-team roster of Washington Spirit.^[11]

Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules; some limited exceptions apply. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.

No. Pos. Nation Player 1 GK  USA Aubrey Bledsoe 2 FW  USA Arielle Ship 3 DF  USA Caprice Dydasco 4 MF  CAN Quinn (FP) 5 DF  USA Whitney Church 6 MF  USA Andi Sullivan 7 DF  USA Taylor Smith (FP) 8 MF  USA Megan Dougherty Howard 9 MF  USA Havana Solaun 10 FW  ARG Estefanía Banini (INT) 11 FW  USA Mallory Pugh (FP)

No. Pos. Nation Player 14 FW  NGA Francisca Ordega (INT) 15 MF  USA Joanna Lohman 16 MF  USA Rose Lavelle (FP) (DD) 17 FW  USA Cali Farquharson 19 GK  USA Kelsey Wys 21 GK  USA DiDi Haracic 22 FW  USA Mallory Eubanks 23 MF  USA Tori Huster 24 DF  CMR Estelle Johnson 33 FW  USA Ashley Hatch 88 FW  USA Tiffany Weimer (DD)

• (FP) = Federation player^[12]
• (DD) = Dispersal draft player^[13]
• (INT) = International roster player^[13]

Team management

Head Coach	Jim Gabarra
First Assistant Coach	Briana Scurry
Goalkeeping Coach	Jack Stefanowski
Assistant Coach	Tom Torres
Assistant Coach	Kati Jo Spisak
Director of Sports Science	Kevin Boyle

Source:^[11]

Competitions

Preseason

Washington Spirit v University of North Carolina

March 10, Sat Preseason	Washington Spirit	1–1	University of North Carolina	Leesburg, Virginia
19:15 EDT (UTC-04)	Eubanks 88'	Report	Andrzejewski 66'	Stadium: Evergreen Sportsplex Attendance: 2,000

Washington Spirit v North Carolina Courage

March 17, Sat Preseason	Washington Spirit	0–3	North Carolina Courage	Richmond, Virginia
19:00 EDT (UTC-04)		Report	Erceg 13' MacDonald 23' Zerboni  51' Hamilton 84'	Stadium: City Stadium Attendance: 6,235

Regular season

Seattle Reign v Washington Spirit

March 24, Sat 1	Seattle Reign	2–1	Washington Spirit	Seattle, Washington
15:30 EDT (UTC-04)	Rapinoe 7'  64' Taylor 35' (Rapinoe) Andrews  90'	Box Report	Lohman 68' (Banini)	Stadium: Memorial Stadium Attendance: 3,561

Washington Spirit v Orlando Pride

March 31, Sat 2	Washington Spirit	2–0	Orlando Pride	Boyds, Maryland
15:30 EDT (UTC-04)	Church  44' Pugh 80' (Hatch) Hatch 88'	Report		Stadium: Maryland SoccerPlex Attendance: 4,989
Note: Televised on Lifetime.

Washington Spirit v North Carolina Courage

April 14, Sat 3	Washington Spirit	2–4	North Carolina Courage	Boyds, Maryland
19:00 EDT (UTC-04)	Pugh 3' Ordega 58' (Solaun) Johnson  84'	Report	Dunn 20' (McDonald) Zerboni 24' (Williams), 48' (Hamilton) Williams 66' (Dunn)	Stadium: Maryland SoccerPlex Attendance: 3,458 Referee: Jasmine Peralta

Portland Thorns FC v Washington Spirit

April 20, Fri 4	Portland Thorns FC	1–1	Washington Spirit	Portland, Oregon
22:30 EDT (UTC-04)	Sonnett  39' Sinclair 45+2' (pen.) Horan  88'	Report	Ordega 37' Bledsoe  86'	Stadium: Providence Park Attendance: 14,485

Washington Spirit v Chicago Red Stars

April 28, Sat 5	Washington Spirit	1–1	Chicago Red Stars	Boyds, Maryland
19:00 EDT (UTC-04)	Ordega 4' (Pugh)	Report	Mautz 20'  56' Nagasato  83' Kerr  90+1'	Stadium: Maryland SoccerPlex Attendance: 3,448

Utah Royals FC v Washington Spirit

May 5, Sat 6	Utah Royals FC	2–0	Washington Spirit	Sandy, Utah
21:00 EDT (UTC-04)	O'Hara 7' (Rodriguez) Sauerbrunn  15' Matheson 66'	Report	Smith  72'	Stadium: Rio Tinto Stadium Attendance: 7,551

North Carolina Courage v Washington Spirit

May 12, Sat 7	North Carolina Courage	1–0	Washington Spirit	Cary, North Carolina
19:00 EDT (UTC-04)	Erceg 63' (Hinkle)	Report	Ordega  38'	Stadium: Sahlen's Stadium at WakeMed Soccer Park Attendance: 5,866

Washington Spirit v Portland Thorns FC

May 19, Sat 8	Washington Spirit	0–1	Portland Thorns FC	Boyds, Maryland
19:00 EDT (UTC-04)		Report	Carpenter 68' (Crnogorčević) Horan  84'	Stadium: Maryland SoccerPlex Attendance: 3,284

Washington Spirit v Sky Blue FC

May 23, Wed 9	Washington Spirit	1–0	Sky Blue FC	Boyds, Maryland
19:30 EDT (UTC-04)	Ordega  16' Hatch 64' (Sullivan)	Report		Stadium: Maryland SoccerPlex Attendance: 2,433

Houston Dash v Washington Spirit

May 27, Sun 10	Houston Dash	3–2	Washington Spirit	Houston, Texas
18:00 EDT (UTC-04)	Daly 45+1' (Prince), 78' (Kgatlana)  90+2' Ohai 46'	Report	Dougherty Howard  5' Ordega  45+2' Banini 54' (Smith) Hatch 90+1'	Stadium: BBVA Compass Stadium Attendance: 4,045

Washington Spirit v Chicago Red Stars

June 2, Sat 11	Washington Spirit	0–2	Chicago Red Stars	Boyds, Maryland
15:30 EDT (UTC-04)	Lohman  24'	Report	Kerr 25' Stanton  32' Nagasato 48' (Mautz) Mautz  75'	Stadium: Maryland SoccerPlex Attendance: 3,199
Note: Lifetime game but got delayed to 9 pm ET

Sky Blue FC v Washington Spirit

June 8, Fri 12	Sky Blue FC	0–0	Washington Spirit	Piscataway, New Jersey
19:00 EDT (UTC-04)	Meehan  39' Killion  67'	Report	Dougherty Howard  50' Dydasco  88'	Stadium: Yurack Field Attendance: 2,188

Washington Spirit v Seattle Reign

June 16, Sat 13	Washington Spirit	0–0	Seattle Reign	Boyds, Maryland
19:00 EDT (UTC-04)	Quinn  63' Hatch  90+5'	Report	Addo  47' Taylor  90+2'	Stadium: Maryland SoccerPlex Attendance: 3,509

Washington Spirit v Orlando Pride

June 23, Sat 14	Washington Spirit	0–1	Orlando Pride	Boyds, Maryland
19:00 EDT (UTC-04)	Kennedy 11'	Report	Dydasco  18' Dougherty Howard  90+3'	Stadium: Maryland SoccerPlex Attendance: 4,005
Note: Televised on ESPNews.

Chicago Red Stars v Washington Spirit

July 1, Sun 15	Chicago Red Stars	2–0	Washington Spirit	Bridgeview, Illinois
18:00 EDT (UTC-04)	Short 34' (Colaprico) Nagasato 60' (Kerr) Mautz  65'	[14]	Johnson  24' Hatch  86'	Stadium: Toyota Park Attendance: 2,858 Referee: Sergii Demianchuk

Orlando Pride v Washington Spirit

July 7, Sat 16	Orlando Pride	2–1	Washington Spirit	Orlando Pride
19:30 EDT (UTC-04)	Leroux 45+2' (Kennedy) Marta 86' (Leroux)  90+3'	Report	Hatch 26' (Church)	Stadium: Orlando City Stadium Attendance: 4,621
Note: Televised on ESPNews.

North Carolina Courage v Washington Spirit

July 11, Wed 17	North Carolina Courage	2–0	Washington Spirit	Cary, North Carolina
EDT (UTC-04)	Debinha 12' O'Sullivan  53' MacDonald 60' (Dunn)	Report		Stadium: Sahlen's Stadium at WakeMed Soccer Park Attendance: 3,409

Washington Spirit v Houston Dash

July 22, Sun 18	Washington Spirit	0–1	Houston Dash	Boyds, Maryland
10:00 EDT (UTC-04)		Report	Daly 3' (Huerta)	Stadium: Maryland SoccerPlex Attendance: 3,623
Note: Game was originally scheduled for July 21, was rescheduled due to poor weather conditions

Seattle Reign v Washington Spirit

August 5, Sun 19	Seattle Reign	2–0	Washington Spirit	Seattle, Washington
21:00 EDT (UTC-04)	Spencer 44' (Long) Taylor 71' (Rapinoe) Oyster  84'	Report		Stadium: Memorial Stadium Attendance: 3,704

Utah Royals FC v Washington Spirit

August 8, Wed 20	Utah Royals FC	1–0	Washington Spirit	Sandy, Utah
22:00 EDT (UTC-04)	Stengel 74' (Lytle)	Report		Stadium: Rio Tinto Stadium Attendance: 8,154

Houston Dash v Washington Spirit

August 17, Fri 21	Houston Dash	4–0	Washington Spirit	Houston, Texas
20:30 EDT (UTC-04)	Ohai 41' (Daly) Huerta 58' (Comeau), 76' (Daly) Simon 84' (Latsko)	Report		Stadium: BBVA Compass Stadium Attendance: 3,007

Washington Spirit v Utah Royals FC

August 22, Wed 22	Washington Spirit	0–1	Utah Royals FC	Boyds, Maryland
19:30 EDT (UTC-04)		Report	Rodriguez 12' Corsie  17'	Stadium: Maryland SoccerPlex Attendance: 3,318

Washington Spirit v Portland Thorns FC

August 25, Sat 23	Washington Spirit	0–1	Portland Thorns FC	Washington, D.C.
20:00 EDT (UTC-04)	Church  40'	Report	Heath 15' (Raso)	Stadium: Audi Field Attendance: 7,976 Referee: Katja Koroleva
Note: Televised on ESPNews.

Washington Spirit v Sky Blue FC

September 1, Sat 24	Washington Spirit	1–1	Sky Blue FC	Boyds, Maryland
19:00 EDT (UTC-04)	Ship 71'	Report	Killion  58' 87' (Tiernan)	Stadium: Maryland SoccerPlex Attendance: 3,462
Note: Game was postponed until September 2 at 10 a.m. (ET) due to lightning.

Regular-season standings

Pos	Team v t e	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts
1	North Carolina Courage (C)	24	17	6	1	53	17	+36	57	NWSL Shield
2	Portland Thorns FC	24	12	6	6	40	28	+12	42	NWSL Playoffs
3	Seattle Reign FC	24	11	8	5	27	19	+8	41
4	Chicago Red Stars	24	9	10	5	38	28	+10	37
5	Utah Royals FC	24	9	8	7	22	23	−1	35
6	Houston Dash	24	9	5	10	35	39	−4	32
7	Orlando Pride	24	8	6	10	30	37	−7	30
8	Washington Spirit	24	2	5	17	12	35	−23	11
9	Sky Blue FC	24	1	6	17	21	52	−31	9

Source: NWSL
Rules for classification: Tiebreakers
(C) Champions

Results summary

Overall								Home						Away
Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD
24	2	5	17	12	35	−23	11	2	3	7	7	13	−6	0	2	10	5	22	−17

Last updated: September 2, 2018.
Source: Match reports

Results by round

Round	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	18	19	20	21	22	23	24
Stadium	A	H	H	A	H	A	A	H	H	A	H	A	H	H	A	A	A	H	A	A	A	H	H	H
Result	L	W	L	D	D	L	L	L	W	L	L	D	D	L	L	L	L	L	L	L	L	L	L	D
Position[n 2]	8	3	5	5	5	8	8	8	8	8	8	8	8	8	8	8	8	8	8	8	8	8	8	8

Updated to match(es) played on September 2, 2018. Source: Match reports
A = Away; H = Home; W = Win; D = Draw; L = Loss

NWSL Playoffs

The Spirit were eliminated from playoff contention on July 22 after a 1–0 home loss to Houston Dash.^[15]

Statistics

Appearances and goals

As of September 3, 2018^[16]

No.	Pos	Nat	Player	Total		NWSL
				Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals
Defenders:
3	DF	USA	Caprice Dydasco	24	0	21+3	0
5	DF	USA	Whitney Church	22	0	21+1	0
7	DF	USA	Taylor Smith	23	0	23	0
13	DF	USA	Megan Crosson	1	0	1	0
24	DF	CMR	Estelle Johnson	21	0	21	0
31	DF	USA	Zoe Clark	1	0	1	0
Midfielders:
4	MF	CAN	Quinn	17	0	16+1	0
6	MF	USA	Andi Sullivan	23	0	22+1	0
9	MF	USA	Havana Solaun	13	0	5+8	0
12	MF	USA	Morgan Proffitt	4	0	2+2	0
15	MF	USA	Joanna Lohman	13	1	4+9	1
16	MF	USA	Rose Lavelle	11	0	5+6	0
18	MF	USA	Alexa Newfield	1	0	1	0
19	MF	USA	Megan Dougherty Howard	23	0	14+9	0
23	MF	USA	Tori Huster	17	0	15+2	0
Forwards:
2	FW	USA	Arielle Ship	2	1	0+2	1
8	FW	USA	Mallory Eubanks	12	0	5+7	0
10	FW	ARG	Estefania Banini	12	1	11+1	1
11	FW	USA	Mallory Pugh	15	2	13+2	2
14	FW	NGA	Francisca Ordega	18	3	15+3	3
17	FW	USA	Cali Farquharson	5	0	1+4	0
27	FW	CHI	Yanara Aedo	0	0	0	0
33	FW	USA	Ashley Hatch	22	4	22	4
36	FW	USA	Tiffany McCarty	1	0	1	0
88	FW	USA	Tiffany Weimer	3	0	1+2	0

Italics indicates player left team midway through season.

Goalkeepers

No.	Nat	Player	National Women's Soccer League
			GP	GS	MIN	W	L	D	GA	GAA	CS
1		Aubrey Bledsoe	21	21	1890	2	12	5	30	1.43	4
19		Kelsey Wys	1	1	90	0	1	0	2	2.00	0
21		DiDi Haracic	2	2	180	0	2	0	3	1.50	0

Honors and awards

NWSL Yearly Awards

Award	Result	Player	Ref
Rookie of the Year	Nominated	Andi Sullivan	[17]
Goalkeeper of the Year	Nominated	Aubrey Bledsoe	[18]

NWSL Team of the Month

Month	Goalkeeper	Defenders	Midfielders	Forwards	Ref.
March				Mallory Pugh	[19]
April	Aubrey Bledsoe	Estelle Johnson		Francisca Ordega Mallory Pugh	[20]

NWSL Weekly Awards

NWSL Player of the Week

Week	Result	Player	Ref
2	Won	Mallory Pugh	[21]
11/12	Won	Aubrey Bledsoe	[22]

NWSL Goal of the Week

Week	Result	Player	Ref.
1	Nominated	Joanna Lohman	[23]
2	Nominated	Mallory Pugh	[24]
3	Nominated	Mallory Pugh	[25]

NWSL Save of the Week

Week	Result	Player	Ref.
1	Nominated	Aubrey Bledsoe	[26]
2	Nominated	Aubrey Bledsoe	[27]
3	Nominated	Aubrey Bledsoe	[28]
4	Won	Aubrey Bledsoe	[29]
5	Won	Aubrey Bledsoe	[30]
11/12	Nominated	Aubrey Bledsoe	[31]
15	Nominated	Aubrey Bledsoe	[32]
16	Nominated	Aubrey Bledsoe	[33]
22	Nominated	DiDi Haracic	[34]
24	Nominated	Aubrey Bledsoe	[35]

Transfers

In

Date	Player	Number	Position	Previous club	Fee/notes
January 16, 2018	Ashley Hatch	33	FW	North Carolina Courage	Trade with Smith for Dunn's rights[4]
	Taylor Smith	7	DF	North Carolina Courage	Trade with Hatch for Dunn's rights[4]
January 23, 2018	Aubrey Bledsoe	1	GK	Orlando Pride	Trade for Zadorsky and 2019 1st round draft pick[6]
January 30, 2018	Rose Lavelle	16	MF	Boston Breakers	2018 Dispersal Draft, 1st overall[5]
	Tiffany Weimer	–	FW	Boston Breakers	2018 Dispersal Draft, 20th overall[5]
March 21, 2018	Tiffany Weimer	88	FW	Houston Dash	Signed off waivers[36]
March 29, 2018	Mallory Eubanks	22	FW	Mississippi State University	Signed via National Team Player Replacement for Banini, signed to full contract on May 17[37]
June 29, 2018	Maddie Huster	25	MF	Wake Forest University	Signed, was a 2018 College Draft Pick[38]
August 30, 2018	Megan Crosson	13	DF	UD Granadilla Tenerife	Signed, National Team replacement[39]
	Brenna Connell	34	MF	Washington Spirit Reserves	Signed, National Team replacement[39]
	Zoe Clark	31	DF	Maryland Terrapins	Signed, National Team replacement[39]
	Tiffay McCarty	36	FW	Florida State Seminoles	Signed, National Team replacement[39]
	Alexa Newfield	18	FW	Utah Royals FC	Signed, National Team replacement[39]
	Morgan Ruhl	38	GK	LSU Tigers	Signed, National Team replacement[39]

Out

Date	Player	Number	Position	New club	Fee/notes
October 23, 2017	Line Jensen	7	FW		Waived[40]
January 16, 2018	Lindsay Agnew	8	FW	Houston Dash	Traded for 2018 3rd overall draft pick[41]
January 23, 2018	Shelina Zadorsky	4	DF	Orlando Pride	Trade for Zadorsky and 2019 1st round draft pick[6]
February 2, 2018	Alyssa Kleiner	22	DF		Waived[42]
February 12, 2018	Kassey Kallman	6	DF		Retired[43][non-primary source needed][44]
February 13, 2018	Tiffany Weimer	–	FW	Houston Dash	Trade for 2019 4th round draft pick[45]
February 14, 2018	Stephanie Labbé	1	GK		Released rights[46]
February 24, 2018	Cheyna Matthews	20	FW		Out for 2018 season; pregnancy[47][non-primary source needed]
March 19, 2018	Schuyler DeBree	13	FW		Waived, rights retained[48]
	Elizabeth Wenger	18	DF		Waived, rights retained[48]
	Mallory Eubanks	22	FW		Waived, rights retained[48]
	Maddie Huster	25	MF		Waived, rights retained[48]
	Brittany Basinger	28	DF		Waived, rights retained[48]
	Rachel Moore	32	FW		Waived, rights retained[48]
June 19, 2018	Morgan Proffitt	12	MF	SK Slavia Praha	Waived. Signed with SK Slavia Praha[49]
June 21, 2018	Yanara Aedo	27	FW	Valencia CF Femenino	Waived. Signed with Valencia CF Femenino[50]
July 25, 2018	Maddie Huster	25	MF		Waived.[48]

Draft picks

Draft picks are not automatically signed to the team roster. Only those who are signed to a contract will be listed as transfers in. Only trades involving draft picks and executed during the 2018 NWSL College Draft will be listed in the notes.

Player	Pos	Previous club	Notes	Ref
Andi Sullivan	MF	Stanford University	Round 1, Pick 1 (1st overall)	[51]
Quinn	MF	Duke University	Round 1, Pick 3 (3rd overall)	[52]
Schuyler DeBree	DF	Duke University	Round 2, Pick 1 (11th overall)	[52]
Mallory Eubanks	FW	Mississippi State University	Round 2, Pick 6 (16th overall)	[52]
Elizabeth Wenger	DF	Georgetown University	Round 2, Pick 7 (17th overall) (via 2018 Dispersal Draft, 17th overall)	[5][52]
Brittany Basinger	DF	Penn State University	Round 3, Pick 1 (21st overall)	[52]
Maddie Huster	MF	Wake Forest University	Round 3, Pick 6 (26th overall)	[52]
Rachel Moore	MF	College of William & Mary	Round 4, Pick 1 (31st overall)	[52]

Notes

1. Then known as Rebecca Quinn
2. Washington Spirit's position in the league at the end of match day