April 18, 2023 – National Women’s Soccer League (NWSL) – Washington Spirit News Release
Washington Spirit celebrate following a goal
(Washington Spirit)
Harrison, N.J. – The Washington Spirit will face NJ/NY Gotham FC Wednesday night in both sides’ first UKG NWSL Challenge Cup match of the 2023 season. The match kicks off at 7:30 p.m. EDT at Red Bull Arena in Harrison, New Jersey and will broadcast on Paramount+ for fans across the United States. International viewers can stream the match on NWSLSoccer.com as well.
The Spirit
The Spirit enters the 2023 UKG NWSL Challenge Cup after a runner-up performance in the 2022 season, falling to North Carolina in the final. Playing in the East Division of the Group Stage portion, the Spirit will face off against the North Carolina Courage, NJ/NY Gotham FC and the Orlando Pride throughout the year.
The Spirit own a 3-2-5 record in Challenge Cup group stage games and have never lost one against Gotham FC (1-0-2). In those three games, the Spirit scored four goals.
The most recent matchup between the two sides was a regular season match resulting in a 2-0 Spirit victory, with goals coming from Tara McKeown and Ashley Sanchez. This was the last victory for the Spirit in the 2022 season. Last season, the Spirit went 2-1-1 against Gotham through all competitions.
Forwards Trinity Rodman and Ashley Hatch have both accounted for five goals in Challenge Cup group matches, the most in team history. These ten combined goals account for two-thirds of the team’s 15 all-time goals in group stage matches. Through all Challenge Cup games, Hatch has logged seven goals, the most on the team and tied for second in NWSL history. She was last year’s Challenge Cup Golden Boot winner.
The Spirit has two of the three all-time minutes leaders in NWSL Challenge Cup history – goalkeeper Aubrey Kingsbury and Ashley Sanchez. Kingsbury ranks second (1485), while Sanchez ranks third (1421). They trail Houston Dash defender Katie Naughton by 26 and 90 minutes, respectively. Additionally, Kingsbury owns the NWSL Challenge Cup record with five shutouts on 11 games played. Last season, Hatch, Rodman and Sanchez were named to the All-Tournament Team.
Last Saturday, the Spirit defeated the North Carolina Courage, 2-1, in a tantalizing regular season match. This marked only the second time in club history that the Spirit began the season unbeaten through three games.
Following Wednesday’s match, the Spirit will travel home to play the Houston Dash at…