April 1, 2023 – National Women’s Soccer League (NWSL) – Washington Spirit News Release
Louisville, Ky. – The Washington Spirit settled for a 2-2 draw after taking a 2-0 lead into the locker room at halftime. Saturday’s result was the third consecutive draw between the Spirit and Racing Louisville FC.
The Spirit got on the board early when forward Ashley Hatch received an entry pass from first-year midfielder Paige Metayer and found the back of the net from close range in the 16th minute. Two minutes later, forward Trinity Rodman nearly doubled Washington’s lead when she fired a shot into the upper right-hand corner of the goal that was tipped out for a corner kick by Louisville keeper Katie Lund.
Goalkeeper Aubrey Kingsbury made her first save of the match in the 30th minute after Racing forward Uchenna Kanu gained possession deep in the Spirit defensive zone and took a shot on goal. At the other end of the pitch just two minutes later, Hatch notched her first brace since August 2022 on assist from Rodman.
Racing came out of the locker room strong in the second half, cutting the Spirit lead in half with a goal in the 46th minute. New captain Abby Erceg rose up in the box to head home a corner kick from Wang Shuang.
Making her professional debut, midfielder Nicole Douglas subbed in for midfielder Ashley Sanchez to start the second half and quickly tallied her first shot on goal. In the 53rd, Douglas fired a crossing shot toward the frame that was tipped out for a Spirit corner kick. Kingsbury made her second save of the afternoon a few minutes later to keep the Spirit ahead, diving to her left to stop a close-range shot in the box.
Louisville drew even in the 65th minute thanks to a strike from Ary Borges. Borges connected on a shot from just inside the left side of the box into the upper right-hand corner of the goal to level the score. In the 78th minute, Spirit defender Sam Staab came close to delivering a game-winner when she took a free kick from just outside the top of the box and lifted the ball slightly over the top left corner of the goal.
Neither side could pull ahead in the home stretch of the match and each team settles for a single point in the table. Metayer collected her first two career yellow cards in the final ten minutes of the match as well and will have to sit out the Spirit’s next match. Washington will have next weekend off during the upcoming international window and will take the field against the Courage in North Carolina on…