April 28, 2023 – National Women’s Soccer League (NWSL) – Washington Spirit News Release
Bridgeview, Ill. – The Washington Spirit will face the Chicago Red Stars on Saturday night in both sides’ fifth match of the 2023 regular season. The match kicks off at 8 p.m. EDT at SeatGeek Stadium in Bridgeview, Illinois and will broadcast on Paramount+ for fans across the United States and on NBC Sports Washington for viewers in the Washington, D.C. metropolitan area. International viewers can stream the match on NWSLSoccer.com as well.
The Spirit
Coming off the team’s scoreless draw last weekend, the Spirit is looking to leave Chicago with three points. Last week’s match versus Houston was the Spirit’s 14th scoreless draw since 2016 out of 140 regular season matches played. The result tied Houston with OL Reign for the most scoreless draws (3) against the Spirit since 2016.
The Spirit is unbeaten in four of its last five matches immediately following a scoreless draw. However, the Spirit has only one victory in the last eight regular season road matches against Chicago – a 2-0 victory in 2019 that saw Ashley Hatch score.
Hatch is one of six players in the NWSL this season to score at least three goals, trailing only 2022 NWSL MVP Sophia Smith. She has accounted for – and converted – each of the Spirit’s three big scoring chances this season, making the Spirit the only team with a 100% big chance conversion rate. Her 12 shots and seven shots on goal are both tied for third in the league.
Unbeaten through four games this regular season, the Spirit has conceded only three goals. This is the second consecutive season the Spirit has allowed three goals through four games, allowing fewer in its first four games only once before – 2016, when the team allowed only one goal.
Part of the reason for the Spirit’s success has been the strength of the backline, including keeper Aubrey Kingsbury. She has logged clean sheets in two of the four matches this regular season, tied for most in the NWSL. Last game, Kingsbury made five saves, her most saves while keeping a clean sheet since the Spirit’s last meeting with Chicago.
Sam Staab and Andi Sullivan are the Spirit’s only field players to have played every minute of the regular season so far. With a start in tomorrow’s match, Staab will break teammate Amber Brooks’ NWSL record of 72 consecutive regular season starts.
Following Saturday’s match, the Spirit will return home to face San Diego Waves FC at Audi Field on Sunday, May…