In their regular season finale, the Washington Spirit faced off against the Seattle Reign in front of another sell out crowd at the Maryland SoccerPlex on Saturday, September 5th. Both teams have already qualified for the playoffs; a few weeks ago the Reign clinched the Shield as the top team in the league for the second straight season, while the Spirit, Red Stars, and FCKC were still battling for 2nd/3rd/4th place. Because of FC Kansas City’s win over Sky Blue on Wednesday, the Spirit’s chances of hosting a playoff game were slim: they needed to beat Seattle and also need the Houston Dash to beat or draw with Chicago on Sunday night.
The match got off to a humorous start for the fans in the stands, when the Spirit PA announcer accidentally introduced Hope Solo as number two instead of number one. He did correct himself, but the damage was done: after the game, Reign midfielder Jess Fishlock spoke rather forcefully about feeling like there was disrespect done to one of the best goalkeepers in the game. (Media members attempted to assure Fishlock that the slip-up was not at all intentional and other mistakes have been made in the past.)
On the pitch, the match was physical and chippy from the start, although the referee did little to discourage any physical play in the first half. Fishlock scored the first goal of the match in the 15th minute, when a Spirit defender headed the ball away from goal, only to have it fall to Fishlock’s feet. She promptly fired a rocket of a shot towards goal, where it took a slight deflection off of a defender and went past a diving Ashlyn Harris.
Ten minutes later, they were at it again: Megan Rapinoe carried the ball down the flank, sent it inside for Merritt Matthias, who placed it into an empty space a few yards before the 18-yard box, where Rapinoe had time to let loose her own rocket, which she placed perfectly, just inside the goalpost. Harris almost got to it, but the ball was struck so hard that she couldn’t quite make the save.
The Spirit got on the board in the 37th minute, when Diana Matheson drew and converted a penalty kick after a foul in the box. Despite many other chances, the Reign hung on for the victory, their 13th of the season. The game was the Spirit’s first loss at the Plex this season.
Both teams will have a day or two off before resuming preparations for the playoffs, which will be Sunday, September 13th. These two teams will face off yet again that day: the Spirit lost to the Reign in Seattle last year in the semifinal, and just a few weeks ago the Spirit almost handed the Reign their first loss at Memorial Stadium this season.
Reign head coach Laura Harvey isn’t worried that playing the same team two weeks in a row was giving away her game plan for the playoffs, and acknowledged that she in fact could have rested many of her players in preparation for the playoffs, as this game was virtually meaningless for the Reign, but said “I’m going to try to come and win the game. I feel like that’s the right thing to do. I could’ve come here and not played Hope, not played Pinoe, not played Jess, and not played Kim. The reality is people have paid money to watch a good game. I’m sure they want to see the Spirit again at home, but it wouldn’t have been right or fair if we hadn’t have come to win.”
Spirit head coach Mark Parsons is excited to head to Seattle to face the Reign again and spoke about how the team’s familiarity with both the Reign and the stadium, the area, the hotel, and the travel necessary to get to Seattle would only help them be ready to face the Reign in the playoffs for the second straight year.
“We’re set up for a cracker of a game next week,” Parsons said. Hopefully this season will have a different ending for the Spirit than last season did.
The Spirit take on the Reign at 9:30 p.m. EST on Sunday, September 13th. The game will be broadcast on Fox Sports 1.
