Tag: washington spirit

soccer

Washington Spirit vs. Boston: Ties, ties, ties!

Posted on by Beau Dure

Here’s a quick look at the top-to-bottom competitiveness of the NWSL:

– The Boston Breakers are unbeaten.

– The Washington Spirit is winless.

– The Breakers and Spirit have played twice.

– Both games have been ties.

The games have followed different paths. On the narrow carpet of the Breakers’ home ground, in both teams’ debut, the Breakers controlled midfield but didn’t have many attack options beyond hoofing the ball toward Sydney Leroux. That’s not a knock on the Breakers — if you’ve had little time together, that’s not a bad option. The Spirit got an early goal against the run of play and held on until stoppage time, when Leroux finally got the equalizer.

This time, the Breakers had a strong start, forcing Spirit keeper Ashlyn Harris into action twice in the early going. But the Spirit midfield showed how much it’s grown since Game 1, gradually asserting control of the game.

Naturally, they conceded a goal. And it came about through two former D.C. United Women’s players, Joanna Lohman and Lianne Sanderson, who spent some time socializing with their former teammates on the Washington Spirit Reserves when their bus arrived at the SoccerPlex. Sanderson drew two defenders and found Lohman open. Solid finish, 1-0.

So the Spirit had nothing to show for one of its strongest halves of the season. And it got worse.

Candace Chapman, playing her first game of the season, wasn’t fully fit to go 90 minutes. Subbing her out of the game after 45 minutes wasn’t a big surprise. But then Ali Krieger, one of the Spirit’s MVPs of the season so far, was going out. The Spirit resumed action with Kika Toulouse and Domenica Hodak replacing the international veterans.

“Precautionary,” Spirit coach Mike Jorden said of Krieger’s replacement. “She was feeling pain a little bit, and it’s so early in the season, we didn’t want to risk anything.”

Then the Spirit played, by far, its best half of the season. Starting with this:

Getting on the scoresheet this season was a matter of time for Lori Lindsey, but I’m not sure anyone expected something quite as emphatic.

The Spirit outshot the Breakers 5-1 in the second half, with four shots on goal to Boston’s 0. The Spirit had six corner kicks to Boston’s 0.

But the Spirit couldn’t really make much of those corner kicks. They’re not the tallest team, though Stephanie Ochs and Tori Huster are viable options. And the ref was letting them play, even when Huster was run over by a few Breakers in the box.

Boston still made a late surge, with Leroux left to rue …

Let me start that again: Boston still made a late surge, with Leroux regretting a miss from close range. When Heather O’Reilly is on the field, the counterattack is always a viable option.

Washington had one more good chance, with Caroline Miller making her now-customary sub appearance and late shot on goal to produce the opposing keeper’s best save of the night. One of these days, that shot is going in, and the Spirit will have its first win.

But the Spirit players and coaches were in a good mood despite finishing its four-game homestand without a win. They knew they were showing signs of improvement. Ashlyn Harris was in a playful mood postgame, praising the fill-in defenders and getting a good laugh when the Spirit’s backdrop for the postgame interviews fell on Ingrid Wells.

And Jorden was a good mood for someone whose midweek back surgery forced him to miss a few practices and will keep him out of this week’s trip to Seattle and Portland. Kris Ward will lead the team to the Northwest.

0
soccer

Washington Spirit vs. Portland: The real deal

Posted on by Beau Dure

I had a lot of fun tonight on Twitter at the expense of the fans and the ref fawning over Alex Morgan tonight at the SoccerPlex, where attendance was one starting lineup north of 5,000.

But the takeaway from tonight’s game is this: The Portland Thorns aren’t just hype. They’re great.

All the preseason attention went to the star-studded attack allocations — Alex Morgan and Christine Sinclair. They showed their skills, with Sinclair fully capable of being a playmaker as well as a target player.

Get past them, and you run into WPS/PSG veteran Allie Long in midfield. Then you hit former U.S. U-20 captain and two-time WPS champion Becky Edwards. Attack the wing, and you run into former U.S. defender Marian (Dalmy) Dougherty. Go up the center, and who’s that making the recovery and clearing the danger? Just national teamer Rachel Buehler.

And you have Nikki Washington, who scored the game-winner in the Thorns’ 2-1 win with a terrific far-post shot after Washington’s Ali Krieger coughed up the ball.

Even the relative unknown — Meleana Shim — played a terrific game Saturday night.

That’s just not fair.

You can’t hand the NWSL trophy to Portland just yet. Kansas City matched up well with them in the season opener. On a given day, Sky Blue or Western New York could give them a run. Maybe Boston, too.

The Spirit made a game of it. The home side (yes, Alex Morgan fanboys — Washington was the home side) had seven shots on goal to Portland’s five. Portland’s opening goal was a penalty kick awarded dubiously after Morgan seemed to be offside, was barely fouled and may or may not have been in the box. Ashlyn Harris was sufficiently incensed by the call to get a yellow card for dissent for her protests before and after the PK.

Fans will be happy to know Harris and Morgan hugged it out in the SoccerPlex’s main building after the game. The Thorns were gracious winners all the way around. When asked if the Thorns did anything to slow down Washington’s all-world midfielder Diana Matheson, coach Cindy Parlow Cone (can we just call her CPC from now on?) said, “I don’t know if there’s anything to slow down that girl. She’s all over the field.”

CPC also singled out the Spirit defense and holding midfield. By name. She listed everyone and apologized for not being able to come up with Domenica Hodak’s name, even though Hodak was making her first start. Quite a change from her old coach, Anson Dorrance, who refers to people as “that girl who used to score a lot against us” or “that other girl who used to give us a tough time” or “that tall girl.”

She might be a rookie coach, but CPC is an early front-runner for coach of the year. She says the right things, she’s intense at the right times, and this team is tactically sound.

And she believes firmly that, despite her team’s unbeaten record, the NWSL is a league of parity. “With only eight teams, every team is really good, and the Spirit is no exception. We were lucky to get out of there with the win.”

Lucky to get the PK call, maybe, and perhaps lucky that Krieger had an off night with a costly turnover. But the Thorns are surely a bit farther along in their development than the youthful Spirit.

Washington coach Mike Jorden sees the work to be done. He made the crowd-pleasing move of starting Caroline Miller ahead of Tiffany McCarty, but Miller was just as tentative as McCarty has been.

Jorden has plenty of options up front, but as my D.C. media buddy Aaron Stollar pointed out tonight, he doesn’t have that one player that requires constant attention from the defense. The Spirit has been most effective with players like Matheson, Stephanie Ochs and Lori Lindsey drifting into the attack. If Miller or McCarty can develop into that dangerous forward, the Spirit will be much better off.

On defense, Candace Chapman was once again on the bench despite pregame claims that she was available to play. But Tori Huster is growing into that center back role. After a strong performance against Abby Wambach and a more difficult time against Sky Blue last week, she had a terrific game against the big-name Thorns offense, making a few timely interceptions and generally minimizing the threats. Ashlyn Harris made one big save, but that was on a long-range Christine Sinclair shot.

Morgan had a few words with Domenica Hodak after a mild foul, then a few more with Diana Matheson after an even milder foul. She just shrugged it off as getting fiesty. “As players, we know that we need to put a good product on the field. We don’t get paid to go out there and fight, we get paid to go out there and play.”

Matheson’s late PK goal was just what the game needed, just enough to remind the crowd that the home team is worth supporting even when someone with nice hair isn’t on the visiting team. The big crowd, packing the SoccerPlex’s stands and the hill with the beer garden, deserved some late drama.

I’ve been insisting that you can’t write Washington’s name in Sharpie at the bottom of the table. I still believe that, especially after Boston’s demolition of Chicago today. They’re still due another couple of players — Chapman, Mexican midfielder Teresa Worbis, and an unnamed Europe-based defender. But it’s also a matter of confidence. The sooner the Spirit get that first win, the better they’ll be.

Until then, Washington fans should just take heart that they’re seeing some good games in a great facility. Enjoy.

0
soccer

Washington Spirit vs. Sky Blue: Welcome back, Gabarra

Posted on by Beau Dure
Lori Lindsey's long-range shots are getting closer and closer. Photo: WashingtonSpirt.com/Tony Quinn
Lori Lindsey’s long-range shots are getting closer and closer. Photo: WashingtonSpirt.com/Tony Quinn

“I was here really early so I didn’t go in the wrong locker room,” said Sky Blue coach Jim Gabarra, the only head coach in the 10-year history of the Washington Freedom.

He chatted with Washington Spirit assistant Kris Ward, who coached in the Freedom’s once-sprawling club structure, as he strolled to the bench. He raved about the Maryland SoccerPlex facility that hosted the Freedom from 2004 onward and still bore a couple of its logos until a few weeks ago.

And he watched his Sky Blue team beat the Spirit 2-1, remaining unbeaten on the season.

Gabarra’s team had a good sense of where to attack the Spirit. They earned an early corner kick, conceded a bit too easily, and sent towering defender CoCo Goodson into the box to head it past Ashlyn Harris. Their speedy forwards harassed midfielder-turned-center back Tori Huster.

But the Spirit contained Kelley O’Hara, who started at forward rather than the backline and spent a lot of the game running at Kika Toulouse, not Ali Krieger. O’Hara managed to cut back and shoot a few times, but they were harmless shots that didn’t trouble Harris. And O’Hara’s frustration boiled over a couple of times — she earned yellow for a rash challenge that left Toulouse sprawled on the grass. The speedy Lisa DeVanna, a former Freedom forward, and the formidable Danesha Adams were a handful.

The shot count, particularly in the first half, was lopsided in Sky Blue’s favor. But Harris didn’t have to pull off anything as spectacular as the big stop on Abby Wambach’s header last week. Sky Blue was willing to shoot from anywhere, but aside from the two goals on which she had no chance, Harris easily had the angles covered.

The Spirit found forward Tiffany McCarty a few times, once on a beautiful bending ball from Stephanie Ochs that would’ve put McCarty one-on-one with goalkeeper Brittany Cameron if not for a dubious offside call.

But McCarty was unusually tentative when sprung free by peripatetic Spirit attacker Diana Matheson or when handed the ball by a Sky Blue error. Some fans yelled for McCarty to be subbed out, though we don’t know how many of those fans are Virginia supporters who wanted to see Caroline Miller.

In any case, those fans got their wish in the 71st minute, and Miller provided instant offense off the bench. She turned Christie Rampone — yes, longtime U.S. captain Christie Rampone — in knots before forcing Cameron into her best save of the night.

Another subplot of the night: The Canadians, who set the stage for the midfield rivalry on Twitter:

Matheson and Sophie Schmidt battled in midfield a few times and scored two of the game’s three goals. Matheson, as she was in the first two Spirit games, was the team’s sparkplug all night. We the media (sadly not including a newspaper or TV representative) chatted with captain Lori Lindsey about the team’s formation — it’s either a 4-4-2 with McCarty and Matheson up front, a 4-2-3-1 with Lindsey and Julia Roberts holding behind Matheson and two wingers, or a 4-4-1 + Matheson covering the entire field.

Lindsey’s influence on the field is perking up. She’s helping the Spirit win more midfield battles, and she had some threatening long-range shots, as you’ll see in the highlights:

Things you might not have seen on the broadcast or the highlights:

– Toulouse left the game briefly after tangling with O’Hara, then removed roughly 800 feet of gauze from her leg. She’s still dealing with a preseason knock.

– The ref (correctly) stopped play when Krieger took a throw-in while a stray ball was on the field. The stray was removed, Krieger got another ball, and a ballgirl raced out to grab the ball Krieger had thrown to the other half of the field. Then the ballgirl tossed another ball to Brittany Cameron. Thankfully, Cameron saw the ball with her peripheral vision and booted it back, avoiding further delay.

– I have no idea what to make of this, though I’m guessing they loved it in the crowded beer garden:

Next up for the Spirit: Portland visits. They’ve sold 3,500 or so tickets. Get there early and get your barbecue and funnel cakes.

4
soccer

Washington Spirit vs. Western NY Flash: Dan Borislow was wrong

Posted on by Beau Dure

Those of you who recall WPS may remember that Dan Borislow was an immense supporter of U.S. national team players. Other players, not so much. The idea of fans cheering for anyone other than Abby Wambach almost struck him as repugnant.

I never asked Borislow how much WPS he watched before buying the team formerly known as the Washington Freedom. He would have seen ample evidence that fans can embrace players who aren’t the U.S. stars. Washington’s crowd favorites included those who had put down roots with the organization (Rebecca Moros) and those from overseas (Sonia Bompastor).

Tonight proved the point once again. The fans turned up and screamed for Abby. By the end, they were also screaming for the home team, which got a late penalty kick and another 1-1 draw.

Make no mistake — Abby Wambach gave a complete demonstration of why she’s a star, and I don’t just mean the time she intimidated the experienced international referee Kari Seitz into blowing a whistle on a questionable call. (No such luck when she sprinted 80 yards, the fastest Wambach sprint I’ve ever seen, to complain about the PK call in the Spirit’s favor. Strange thing to do when you’re not even the captain.)

Wambach won balls in the air, as you’d expect. Someone a couple of seats away from me marveled at her accuracy and precision. Put the ball near her head, and she’ll flick it to a teammate in a good spot. I’m not sure TV does any justice to this remarkable skill.

She had her chances, too. One clanged off the crossbar. Another produced a jaw-dropping save from national teammate Ashlyn Harris. (Note to self: We forgot to ask Harris about that play in postgame, so remember to ask her some other time how the hell she managed to keep that ball out.)

So let’s spare a thought for Washington’s Tori Huster, who has drawn the most difficult and thankless job in women’s soccer aside from explaining it to Sepp Blatter. The midfielder had never played center back before preseason. Tonight, she spent 90 minutes going up against Abby Wambach. And she deflected praise for keeping Wambach scoreless on the season: “I know that I have the girls around me that will cover me.”

Wambach did get an assist, as Ashlyn Harris confirmed. A long Flash free kick floated into the box, and Wambach ever so slightly nudged it with her head. Sam Kerr was equal parts lucky and good, knocking it in as Harris scrambled to cover the post.

That was in the 85th minute. Shortly thereafter, the Spirit got a call in their favor, as Jasmyne Spencer fell in the box. Some Twitsters say dive. The Flash folks in the postgame interview wondered if the ball was too far away from Spencer. Come on — she’s Jasmyne Spencer. If the ball’s on the playing surface, she can get to it.

Adrianna Franch, the terrific young Flash goalkeeper, guessed correctly. But Diana Matheson placed it perfectly.

And the crowd went wild.

That’s a crowd of 4,569, packed into the Soccerplex stands and grass. The beer garden was full. The hill under the beer garden was full. And maybe a few fans showed up knowing no one but Abby Wambach, then learned to love some of the home team’s players.

Matheson continues to be one of the best players on the field, looking dangerous whenever she gets the ball. Ali Krieger gets forward to join the attack, then returns for timely defensive interventions. Lori Lindsey was an effective midfield general tonight.

Both teams will be better by summer. Good plays alternated with miscommunications. The young Spirit attack had an off night, though Stephanie Ochs had an entertaining battle all evening with right back/team president Alex Sahlen. Harris spoke frankly about her need to keep yelling to keep her young teammates dialed in. (If Harris switched to MMA and fought Ronda Rousey, I think Rousey would get her in an armbar, only to relinquish it in fear of Harris’s wrath.)

But this was a great night. The fans came out in strong numbers and got a dramatic, entertaining game.

Just one thing marred the evening. Around the 90th minute, a hard-struck ball nailed Wambach in the head. She slowly got up and kept playing hard all through stoppage time, but at the final whistle, she needed help. Diagnosing head injuries from afar is a stupid and pointless thing to do, but we can only hope she heals fully and quickly.

The Flash were the first team to play the Spirit in the Soccerplex, and they’ll be the first team to play here twice, returning in June. Maybe Wambach will get some time to spend with the fans then. And maybe the fans will know more of their Spirit team, which is proving to be more resilient and dangerous than the preseason prognosticators imagined.

5
soccer

Washington Spirit at Boston Breakers: See, that wasn’t so bad

Posted on by Beau Dure

You all almost had me convinced. All the last-place predictions. All the caterwauling over the preseason results. Put the Washington Spirit in last place and use the Sharpie, everyone said.

That same Spirit team led most of the way Sunday in its NWSL debut on the trampolining turf of Dilboy Stadium, the Boston Breakers’ packed home ground. And Tiffany McCarty’s goal wasn’t even the Spirit’s best shot of the night — she didn’t make clean contact on her header off Ingrid Wells’ cross, but it found its way into the net. Diana Matheson rattled the crossbar on a shot that goalkeeper Ashley Phillips just managed to deflect. Phillips came up big on a Stephanie Ochs effort as well.

That’s not quite the same Spirit team that lost two preseason games. Matheson sparked the attack from various points on the field, shooting from long range and finding the sneaky Lori Lindsey in the box for a golden opportunity. Fellow Canadian Robin Gayle marshaled the defense and played a solid game at center back. Ali Krieger matched Boston’s speedsters stride for stride and made a couple of last-ditch saving tackles. Ashlyn Harris made a series of big saves as the Spirit protected its lead late, and she bravely came out to collect under heavy pressure from Sydney Leroux.

Harris was down for a bit, but Leroux has the gnarly reminder of what happened then and elsewhere in the game …

And then there’s the refrain we’ll hear quite often this season — The Kids Are Alright. Ochs and McCarty challenged the experienced Boston backs. Julia Roberts was composed alongside Lindsey at holding mid. Wells, who was quiet much of the preseason, was an offensive sparkplug who set up the game’s lone goal.

Boston’s Cat Whitehill said after the game it was unfair to write off the Spirit based on preseason results. She was expecting a tough game and she got it.

For the Breakers’ part, Boston’s fans should enjoy their trips to Dilboy, aside from the occasional cold and the blinding glare that makes visors and sunglasses mandatory first-half equipment. The Breakers have solid veterans in many positions on the field. Heather O’Reilly is always entertaining on the wing. Kyah Simon is an enthusiastic shooter.

Then there’s Leroux, who always seemed to be the most likely scorer for Boston and finally tied it near the end with a classy finish from a difficult angle. The sellout crowd got its reward, and 1-1 was a fair result.

I may follow up with some quotes when I don’t have a dawn wake-up call to get back home. But the moral of tonight’s story is this:

Forget preseason. It’s on now.

2
soccer

NWSL preseason wrap: Keep calm and carry on

Posted on by Beau Dure
The Maryland Soccerplex's Field of Dreams. My cell phone camera can't do justice to this beautiful field.
The Maryland Soccerplex’s Field of Dreams. My cell phone camera can’t do justice to this beautiful field.

In May 1996, one team had established itself as the doormat of a new league. Its big-name allocations turned out to be out of shape and disinterested. Its defense was horrible. The team started 1-6.

The league itself had a front office that kept a lot of central control, with a lot of personnel decisions falling into the hands of its deputy commissioner, Sunil Gulati. National team players were the stars, but they missed much of that first preseason, and teams were barely acquainted with each other.

Major League Soccer turned out to be OK. Gulati lost his job but is now president of U.S. Soccer, which has taken a direct role in launching the National Women’s Soccer League.

That team? Well, they won the U.S. Open Cup. And MLS Cup. And the next MLS Cup. And the 1998 CONCACAF Champions Cup. And the 1999 MLS Cup. It’s D.C. United.

So that’s a roundabout way of saying it’s a little absurd to break out Seth Davis’s Sharpie and write down any team in last place in the NWSL’s debut season.

I’m sure I’m developing a rep as a Washington Spirit apologist, and it’s fine to apply all the standard disclaimers because I’m writing a book about the team. That said, a few facts bear repeating:

1. No team has played anything like the murderers’ row of preseason games the Spirit endured. Five games, all against top-class NCAA competition. Three of them in a week with a limited number of players available. By comparison, Portland, Sky Blue and Boston have been virtually invisible, with one or two preseason games. So we’ve had plenty of chances to dissect the diluted Spirit’s apparent weaknesses, while we know virtually nothing about the rest of the teams. (See the unofficial crowd-sourced tracking of preseason games at BigSoccer.)

2. Few teams have had a chance to play with their full rosters. The U.S. and Canadian national teams have been busy. Mexico has had some idiosyncrasies in clearing its players to play (something that deserves a more substantial investigation).

3. As we saw with many MLS teams in Year 1, we’re going to wait a while for some players to come back from Europe. And some teams may have midseason overhauls.

Add all of this together, and there’s no reason to assume the 2013 Washington Spirit will resemble the 2011 Atlanta Beat. (Which, incidentally, won all five preseason games — then one out of 18 in the regular season.)

And it’s only fair to apply such caution to the league as a whole. MLS had more than two years to prepare after winning its sanction in late 1993. The NWSL is throwing everything together as we go, and they’re doing so with low budgets.

History tells us to be patient. And history tells us things can be different when the federation(s) is(/are) working hand in hand with a new league from the outset.

So call me Pollyanna if you like, both about the Spirit and the league. I think cynicism is too easy, and it’s unfair to pile the dirt on teams and leagues that have yet to complete a regular-season game, much less a season. If you do so, may the ghost of Juan Berthy Suarez haunt you forever.

(Shameless sort-of plug: Google Books has posted parts of my MLS book, including a few bits about the disjointed opening game.)

2
soccer

Washington Spirit vs. Virginia: Battle of field goals

Posted on by Beau Dure

Perhaps women’s soccer fans should focus on the positive from the Washington Spirit’s 6-3 loss Saturday night at the Maryland Soccerplex: The University of Virginia has a terrific offense with dynamic attackers who can bring Steve Swanson’s vision of possession soccer to life. They’re much more fun to watch than the typical college team.

That said, the Washington Spirit can’t be too happy to concede six goals to a college team. A 5-2 halftime deficit isn’t something to dismiss with ease.

Coach Mike Jorden, how did you stay so calm in the first half? “Benadryl,” he quipped.

A formation change and some renewed commitment stemmed the damage, and the Spirit outplayed Virginia in the second half. Virginia was lucky not to concede a couple more as ex-Maryland attacker Jasmyne Spencer entered the game and buzzed around the Cavaliers’ box, scoring once and being unlucky not to get a PK call.

The Spirit offense didn’t play badly. Caroline Miller, facing her teammates of a few months ago, was effective as the sole front-runner when she actually saw the ball. She fed Tiffany McCarty for one of her two first-half goals. Stephanie Ochs set up the other.

The problems were on the rest of the field, where Virginia’s Makenzy Doniak simply shredded the Spirit’s center backs for two first-half goals.

Still short-handed through national team absences (Ashlyn Harris, Ali Krieger, Robyn Gayle) and injuries (Candace Chapman), the Spirit’s defense still bore little resemblance to the defense that will take the field for its NWSL opener in eight days. Midfielder Tori Huster was finally relieved of her preseason fill-in center back duty in the starting lineup, but she was pushed back to the back line as the Spirit tried to stop the bleeding.

“I’ve been changing positions a lot over the last couple of years,” Huster said. “It’s hard to transition right there mid-game. It still wasn’t good when I went into the back line, and that needs to be better.”

Virginia coach Steve Swanson understood the situation but was pleased with the Cavs’ opportunism.

“Obviously, they don’t have their full team,” Swanson said. “But credit to our team for creating the chances we did and finishing some really nice goals.”

At halftime, the Spirit finally put a stop to the defensive meltdown. Jorden switched from a 4-2-3-1 to a straight 4-4-2. Lori Lindsey, by far the veteran of the young Spirit team, took a more attacking role. She set up Miller for a good chance that Churchill O’Connell stopped, and she’ll be kicking herself after missing a solo opportunity.

“We tried to play a bit more direct in the second half,” Jorden said. “In the first few minutes it could’ve been 5-4.”

For Swanson, the changes provided an opportunity to learn more about his team.

“We hadn’t been tested too much defensively (in spring games) until tonight,” Swanson said.

Swanson isn’t reading too much into the fact that his team put up six goals against a team that shut out North Carolina.

“I learned a long time ago not to read too much into things like that,” Swanson said.

And Jorden knows what to work on.

“I think we are a dangerous team. It’s just putting a back line together and winning more 50-50 balls.”

0
soccer

Washington Spirit vs. Maryland Terrapins: Forget about it

Posted on by Beau Dure

On paper, it doesn’t look good for a pro team to lose to a college team. Particularly one that isn’t renowned as a national title contender (though that could change this year). Particularly when other NWSL teams are mopping the field with their college opponents.

But we have to repeat that the Washington Spirit that lost 2-0 at Maryland tonight is not the Washington Spirit team that will take the field in 10 days or two months. The Spirit dressed 15 players, then scratched Tiffany McCarty, who joined Colleen Williams, Kika Toulouse, Danielle Hubka and Candace Chapman as injury absentees. Holly King is back in college in Florida for another few weeks, and four players are away with the USA and Canada.

Not that the Spirit were particularly pleased after this encounter. Grumpiness spread over many of the players — aside from all the Maryland alumni posing for pictures with their former teammates.

Quick aside about that: Maryland has some passionate soccer fans who don’t seem to realize who played for their team last fall or two years ago. They yelled for the current players by name and argued with the officials. Sure, the game had no PA announcer to give the names of the players and rev up the voice for the Terp alumni. But I spoke with a group of fans who didn’t know the names Domenica Hodak or Jasmyne Spencer in the first place.

Spencer barely knew her teammates’ names, having just joined the team at the pregame meal. She got a good long run at forward and posed a few problems for her former defense, but the Spirit attackers weren’t quite in sync. Individually, many of them played well — Caroline Miller came close to settling some old ACC scores singlehandedly, and Stephanie Ochs was solid on the wing and in the middle. The chemistry wasn’t quite there, which is bound to happen to a team that just brought in a forward three hours ago. And as solid a worker as Spencer is, a 5-1 forward may not be the best target for an aerial cross. They’ll need to rework that alignment.

Surely some of the issues will pass. It’s easy to see how the missing players will fill important holes:

– Maryland got most of its chances on counterattacks. They easily could’ve won 4-0. But will the Spirit give up those chances when Ali Krieger and Robyn Gayle (and Candace Chapman, if healthy, and possibly Kika Toulouse) are at the back? Probably not.

– The Spirit had a lot of possession but lacked that incisive pass. Enter Diana Matheson, now busy with Canada.

– McCarty was the driving force behind the Spirit’s win over UNC. She also wasn’t on the field for this game.

So what do we know from this game, one of three games the Spirit will play in seven days with 14-16 players? Not much. About as much as we know from Major League Soccer’s preseason, which is generally an audition period, or Major League Baseball spring training, which is basically a feeding frenzy for shady collectibles dealers.

Some of the players on the field tonight won’t last past Monday’s roster cuts. Others will be typical rookies with moments of brilliance and a few growing pains. In the end, the Spirit will forget about this game — just as Maryland’s fans who attended tonight have apparently forgotten Spencer, Hodak, Skyy Anderson and Olivia Wagner. (Spencer took it in good humor. Might have a chance to post quotes tomorrow.)

As for the opening game April 14, I think everyone has two requests. Warmer and less windy.

7
soccer

Washington Spirit vs. North Carolina Tar Heels: Free subs!

Posted on by Beau Dure
mccartyJ
Tiffany McCarty set up one goal and scored the other.

So I went to an NWSL preseason game and a college game broke out!

A sizable portion of the Maryland Soccerplex crowd wore Carolina blue and broke into a “TAR! … HEELS! …” chant, despite the efforts of Washington uber-fan Stewart Small to interject “SPIRIT!!” The teams played with college substitution rules. For a while, North Carolina’s players outhustled their opponents to every ball and dominated play.

Then Tiffany McCarty broke down the left flank and centered for Carolina killer Caroline Miller, who lashed home the rebound of her own shot, and the professionals restored order against the mighty college dynasty.

“That girl (Miller) has scored against us consistently,” UNC’s legendary coach Anson Dorrance said of the former Virginia player.

Then Dorrance remembered McCarty from her Florida State days. “Actually the other girl was an absolute thorn in our side for four years.”

McCarty was the player of the game. She didn’t officially get an assist on Miller’s 27th-minute goal because Miller’s initial effort was saved. But she was indeed the “absolute thorn” Dorrance remembered from ACC play, and she doubled the Spirit lead in the 47th minute on a superb breakaway.

Stephanie Ochs, usually the target player in the Spirit’s three-pronged attack, sprang McCarty up the middle of the field. McCarty held off a challenge and made substitute keeper Bre Heaberlin guess before calmly finishing as she has so many times in Spirit practice so far.

Carolina managed little the rest of the way.

In the pressbox and on Twitter, we all had a few laughs about playing the game under college substitution rules at Dorrance’s insistence. He was far from apologetic afterwards. “We’re trying to develop our team for next fall,” Dorrance said.

Why not use spring games to develop players for pro play and international play? “The sort of player that ends up on the national team is not subbed out,” he said.

And he had one of those players in Kealia Ohai, Heaberlin’s teammate on the U.S. Under-20 team and the lone scorer in the World Championship final. Plenty of Carolina players could match the Spirit’s speed in a foot race. Ohai was one of the few who could match the actual speed of play, where one- and two-touch play is the norm. “In college, it’s three,” Ohai said.

In the long run, the substitution issue didn’t matter. The typical pro game doesn’t include a change on the fly when a player leaves with a bloody nose — Dorrance couldn’t cite regulations but chalked up to a ref with a brain — but the revolving door at the sideline didn’t affect too drastically.

If anything, the waves of subs provided a good test for the thin Washington team, which had several players on national team duty (UNC was similarly missing Crystal Dunn) and several others injured. Carolina pressed Washington early, beating the Spirit players to the ball and keeping the Spirit stuck in their own end of the field much of the first half-hour. Exhausted UNC midfielder Brooke Elby seemed relieved to see a substitute replacing her in the 28th minute.

“There are going to be some teams that are going to run and gun,” Washington’s elder stateswoman Lori Lindsey said. “They were a good test for us in terms of athleticism.”

The Spirit eventually responded to the high tempo, and coach Mike Jorden let a couple of his own players take a break and return.

“They came out the first 15 minutes and really took it to us,” Spirit coach Mike Jorden said. “As the game went on, we played better.”

Notes:

– Missing Spirit players, national team duty: GK Ashlyn Harris, D Ali Krieger, D Robyn Gayle, M Diana Matheson. Missing due to nagging injuries: D Candace Chapman, M Colleen Williams, F Megan Mischler, D Kika Toulouse. That left Washington with 16 players dressed.

– The absences also left Washington with a makeshift center-back pairing of Tori Huster and Casey Berrier, the latter of whom just arrived in camp after being waived by Kansas City. Berrier struggled at first, with Domenica Hodak racing over to stop a breakaway in her area, but she picked up the pace as the game went on and stayed in for nearly 60 minutes.

– Dorrance didn’t understand the question when I asked for reaction to the closing of Pepper’s Pizza, which is almost as much of a Chapel Hill institution as he is. His players did. “We’re really sad about that,” Ohai said.

Other game reports (will add links as they come in — feel free to add in comments):

– Official Spirit site

– All White Kit

– Equalizer Soccer

1
soccer

Washington Spirit preseason roster

Posted on by Beau Dure
No, it's not Hat Day at the Spirit camp. It's about 30 degrees and blustery.
No, it’s not Hat Day at the Spirit camp. It’s about 30 degrees and blustery.

At last, everyone who has been selected at some point by the Washington Spirit has been at a session at the Maryland Soccerplex this month. (Well, except for Natasha Kai, Jordan Angeli, Alina Garciamendez and Teresa Worbis, all of whom are in various states of injury rehab, school or maybe both.)

At today’s media day, we were handed an actual preseason roster with numbers and everything. The list:

#1 Ashlyn Harris – USWNT goalkeeper arrived in training today but will soon head back over to Germany, where she had been playing pro ball, for national team games.

#2 Colleen Williams – Strong U.S. U23 forward. Many teams will regret letting her slip to the fourth round of the college draft.

#3 Kika Toulouse – Free agent signing from Virginia via Sweden. Grew up in the area and played for Northern Virginia clubs.

#4 Domenica Hodak – Rookie defender from Maryland wasn’t drafted.

#5 Candace Chapman – Why a defensive anchor of the last two WPS champions wasn’t a Canadian allocation is beyond me.

#6 Lori Lindsey – Made a radio appearance with Caroline Miller last week but wasn’t able to report to camp until Wednesday, missing out on her birthday cake. U.S. national team allocation but not getting call-ups right now. She played her way onto the national team with good performances at the Soccerplex once before.

#7 Megan Mischler – Supplemental draft pick from West Virginia via Sweden.

#8 Diana Matheson – Small but impactful Canadian midfielder trained for the first time today.

#9 Ingrid Wells – Free agent from Georgetown – also via Sweden, also small but skilled. Pitchside Report blogger.

#10 Caroline Miller – Second-round draft pick from Virginia. Hat trick in first training session.

#11 Ali Krieger – Came into practice on Wednesday, then immediately left for appearance coinciding with men’s national team game in Denver. Soon after that, she’ll be back with the nationals.

#12 Olivia Wagner – Maryland rookie punched in lone goal in scrimmage against Penn State.

#13 Julia Roberts – Virginia rookie went undrafted. That was what we in the business call a “mistake.” Strong on the ball.

#14 Tiffany McCarty – U.S. U23 forward and first-round draft pick has knocked in a few goals in training. Good mix of athleticism and skill.

#15 Robyn Gayle – Canadian defender arrived at training today.

#16 Danielle Hubka – Yet another Maryland rookie. It’s as if they’re trying to counterbalance the Virginia contingent.

#17 Hayley Siegel – Santa Clara alum has local ties — played for D.C. United Women last year and is an assistant coach at Georgetown.

#18 Chantel Jones – Goalkeeper from Virginia via Iceland looked sharp in Penn State scrimmage.

#19 Skyy Anderson – Also from Maryland, but she’s a year out of school. Defender.

#22 Stephanie Ochs – Athletic U23 forward was the third pick in 2012 WPS draft and the third pick in the 2013 NWSL supplemental draft.

#23 Tori Huster – Second-round supplemental pick from Florida State via Western New York, where she played with Ochs, is the easiest player to spot from a distance. (Look for the reddish hair.)

#24 Diana Weigel – You’d never guess from her unassuming personality, but the William & Mary defender who played with D.C. United Women last season is also a DJ. And a skilled outside back.

They list a blank space by #25. They skipped #20 and #21. Anyone else?

http://twitter.com/hollyking10/status/314907713811402752

Ah. King was here for the tryout, so she has at least attended one session with the coaching staff this month.

That’s still only 23. Kai, Angeli, Garciamendez, and Worbis might make it to the Soccerplex this spring, but they’re not expected in preseason.

Three players from the Penn State scrimmage — Heather Cooke, Ari Calderon and Alex Brandt — are no longer in camp. Calderon and Brandt have schoolwork to finish. With the Spirit entering a reserve team in the W-League, a couple of those players and maybe others who appeared at the tryout could resurface in a few weeks.

And I’ll bury the lead for those who don’t already know: One of my projects this year is an ebook on the Spirit. I’ll publish it right after the season ends. Haven’t decided yet how to incorporate the video and photos I’m shooting, except as documentary evidence that some of their players were aiming at me during one of the drills. They know who they are.

It’s a great team to follow — young, athletic, freewheeling, and fun. The constant drives up 270 will be worth it.

4