The Washington Spirit pulled off a last minute 2-1 win on Saturday night over fellow playoff contender the Chicago Red Stars.
The Spirit went down early as a midfield giveaway by Tori Huster allowed Christen Press to take possession and send the ball out wide right to Melissa Tancredi. Tancredi then sent the ball into an unmarked Lori Chalupny who immediately shot a slow rolling ball past Ashlyn Harris in the 4th minute.
The Spirit scored their equalizer early in the second half as Diana Matheson found Christine Nairn at the top of the box. Nairn’s capitalized on the acres of space around her and took a first-time shot, which took a deflection and slipped in past Karina LeBlanc in the 48th minute.
Despite continuous pressure on the Chicago backline the Spirit weren’t able to take the lead in 90 minutes. In the final two minutes of stoppage time Matheson ran down a ball, barely saving it from trickling over the side line. Matheson then passed to Lisa De Vanna who held the ball for a considerable amount of time in the box before sending the ball back out to Averbuch who immediately struck the ball sending it blazing past LeBlanc.
Yael Averbuch’s stoppage time rocket in the 94th minute wasn’t the first time the Spirit have pulled off last minute heroics to nick points at home. Christine Nairn blasted a shot from distance to beat the Dash earlier this year and Diana Matheson put away a penalty kick in stoppage time in wild match against Sky Blue FC and another in a match against the Breakers to earn two draws just before the final whistle.
There have been countless games this season where the Spirit just didn’t look like they should win; games where they had far less possession, far fewer shots, or committed costly fouls or giveaways. The Spirit are the only team in the top six in the NWSL to have a negative goal differential. As Chris Henderson of All White Kit pointed out, the Spirit have gained 14 points from losing positions this season.
The Spirit shouldn’t be in the center of a playoff battle and currently sitting in third place, but they are.
Christine Nairn summed up how the Spirit have managed this tremendous feat succinctly on Saturday night. “I think it is the grit,” Nairn explained. “You aren’t always going to have the best night, but control the things you can: our grit, our fight, our battle. We start in the first minute and we end in the 94th, or whatever it was tonight…You can control your mentality and your hustle. That is what we are focusing on every day.”
When asked if this was an emotional win Spirit head coach Mark Parsons said “I was a bit emotional because the character, the spirit, the fight, the determination [of the team] is unbelievable. Then we had the quality right at the end to grab a win, which was rather exciting.”
They may have taken an atypical route, but the Spirit are still well on their way to possibly securing a 2014 NWSL playoff berth. For Nairn that route simply means sticking to the same mindset and focus that has carried the Spirit through to this point in the season. “We are really going to push for that third spot and put some pressure on Kansas City,” said Nairn. “We just want to get better every game and that will lead us into the playoffs.”
The Chicago Red Stars are now 7-7-7 on the season and will face FC Kansas City on Saturday August 9th 8 PM Eastern. Meanwhile, the Spirit are now 10-8-4 and will play Seattle Reign FC on Saturday August 9th at 10 PM Eastern.