April 30, 2024 – National Women’s Soccer League (NWSL)
Washington Spirit News Release
Washington Spirit forward Ouleymata Sarr
(Washington Spirit)
Washington, D.C. – The Washington Spirit will face the Chicago Red Stars in both sides’ seventh match of the 2024 NWSL regular season. The match kicks off at 8 p.m. EDT at SeatGeek Stadium in Bridgeview, Illinois and will be broadcast locally on MNMT (Monumental Sports Network). The match can also be streamed on NWSL+.
The Spirit
The Spirit fell, 2-3, to the Orlando Pride in its most recent match, ending a four-game win streak. It was the first regular season win streak of four games or more since the last three matches of the 2021 season and the first of 2022. If bonus points were awarded for style, the Spirit would’ve won handily. The two goals that found the back of the net for the Spirit were as stunning as they were effective, twice sending the Spirit crowd of 11,636 into bedlam.
The first was an Ouleye Sarr chipper off a feed from Croix Bethune. The goal was Sarr’s second of the season and Bethune’s first career assist. Bethune has now scored two goals and added an assist in the last three matches. On the season, the rookie has three goals and two assists and has created both of the Spirit’s penalty kicks.
Ashley Hatch added the second goal – a bomb from just outside the top corner of the 18-yard box. It marked Hatch’s second goal of the season; look for her to continue tallying to her count in the match against Chicago. The striker, who signed a three-year contract extension with the Spirit prior to the season, has scored 51 goals with the Spirit (all competitions), tying Debinha (NC) for the third-most goals with a single club in NWSL history. She trails Megan Rapinoe (54 – SEA) by just three goals.
Orlando striker Barbra Banda manipulated the Spirit backline, scoring a goal, dishing out an assist and creating a PK. The Spirit will look to secure its back four and prevent a similarly dynamic attacker in Mallory Swanson from impacting the game in a negative way. Swanson, a former Spirit player from 2017 to 2019, has tallied two goals and an assist this season. She signed a four-year contract this offseason and has returned to the pitch this season after missing nearly the entirety of last season with a torn patellar tendon.
Looking ahead to Wednesday, the Spirit has had consistent trouble with the Chicago-based side. The Red Stars have lost only one of the side’s eight meetings with the Spirit since the start…