Key events
That’s all for tonight. Here’s Tom Dart’s full report off Orlando’s final win.
So ends a banner season for the NWSL, which has far outlived its predecessor leagues in the USA and is now poised to outspend most European clubs for the world’s top talent. The league has strong owners (in most cities) and solid facilities, and it has agreed with its players union to shore up the salaries that were once barely at “stipend” level.
Next year’s favorites would likely be the Spirit. But the California teams will surely roar back into contention, Kansas City has world-class talent, and Gotham FC has the front office to ensure contender status for years to come.
Thanks for following along tonight. See you next time.
Give credit first to Orlando, especially goalkeeper Anna Moorhouse and the indomitable attack of Banda and Marta. This game was decided by two outstanding plays – Banda’s smooth finish and Moorhouse’s point-blank save.
The first word that springs to mind for Washington is “unlucky.” Croix Bethune, Andi Sullivan and Ouleymata Sarr were out injured. Some of the officiating in this final was … we’ll say “idiosyncratic.”
At the same time, watching the last 40 minutes in particular, it felt like the Spirit could’ve spent the next week dribbling at Pride defenders and still not getting anything in the net. It just wasn’t happening tonight for whatever reason. Ashley Hatch in particular struggled, getting only a few touches and squandering them, though one clanged off the post. Her young teammates will have games in which they make better decisions on the ball or make better runs.
So for neutrals, that probably wasn’t a lot of fun, given the sense of inevitability through so much of the game after the controversial goal. For Spirit fans, it’s a dagger to the heart.
But the Pride are a superb team, assembled by their sharp VP Haley Carter and coach Seb Hines.
And if they want to celebrate by yelling, “I’m going to Disney World,” they don’t have to go very far.
Full time: Orlando 1-0 Washington
Well, that was a soccer game.
Kingsbury gets a head to it. A lunging teammate accidentally plays it out. Goal kick.
We’re in minute 9. Credit to the ref for adding the stoppage time to stoppage time.
90 min +7: Frantic Spirit attack here. Rodman wins a corner. Kingsbury comes forward.
Christina Unkel says it’s not a foul. I have no idea how she arrived at that conclusion.
90 min +5: Surely that’s a penalty? Kouassi is brought down in the penalty area. Replay shows … yes, that’s a foul. Surely this is being checked …
90 min +4: Banda is down for unknown reasons after tangling with Carle. I think she initiated most of that.
Marta doesn’t seem to mind that more time is ticking off the clock.
Cynical stuff here.
90 min +2: If the whistle blows after six minutes of stoppage time, remember how much time the Spirit lost tending to Hatch there.
Rodman gets the ball forward and passes to Silano, who drags a shot well wide.
90 min: We’ll have six minutes of stoppage time, and Spirit supporters believes it should start with a penalty kick. They chant “VAR.” But there’s nothing in it. Hatch and Gautrat were leaning on each other and slipped.
Now Hatch is taking a lot of time on the ground, and Marta comes up to yell at the ref for … allowing the Spirit to waste time while down a goal in stoppage time? What? Does this make any sense?
89 min: Rodman centers it to Carle, but the onrushing Spirit player can’t handle it.
McKeown hits a soft back pass toward Kingsbury, who has to play it awkwardly away from Banda.
88 min: Kouassi takes an ill-advised shot. Two defenders had covered every angle to the goal, and she doesn’t even knock the ball off them for a corner.
86 min: Orlando brings in some subs. One-time USWNT phenom Morgan Gautrat replaces Angelina. Carson Picketts replaces Abello.
85 min: Washington keep hammering away. Santos has a decent go at it from just inside the area. The rebound eludes all the pressing Spirit players.
Can they conjure one more late equalizer this season?
84 min: It’ll be another corner to the Spirit, as Kouassi slams the ball off an Orlando defender’s leg.
This is low and easily cleared.
83 min: Orlando play ahead to Banda, who makes some nifty moves to relieve the pressure on the Pride and give them a brief spell of possession.
81 min: The Spirit play ahead to Rodman, who can’t find a way past US teammate Sams but wins a corner kick.
The corner kick lands in the top of the net.
It just feels like it’s not the Spirit’s night.
80 min: All of the stats favor Washington. Shots: 16-8. Possession: 57-43. Shots on goal: 5-3. Total passes: 304-229. And so on and so on.
It’s still 1-0 Orlando.
78 min: Gabby Carle rushes forward and pings the ball off two Orlando defenders out of play. Inexplicably, it’s a goal kick.
Again – I referee a bit, and it’s a very difficult job, but that’s just not good.
76 min: Banda commits another foul – that’s 16 by the Pride. A persistent infringement yellow card would be the last thing Orlando wants here.
Spirit supporters are helpfully calling out how many seconds Moorhouse is holding on to the ball. Don’t they know that Abby Wambach is the only person who has ever convinced a ref to call the seldom-called infraction on a goalkeeper keeping the ball too long?
74 min: We’ve officially hit the late stages of the game. Kingsbury comes up from the Washington goal to take a free kick, and Orlando’s Ally Watt is down “injured.” She’s replaced by Julie Doyle.
Lena Silano has entered the game for Washington, replacing Morris.
73 min: While McKeown is treated, the camera picks out basketball Hall of Famer Grant Hill – oddly enough, a member of the Orlando ownership group even though he hails from Reston, Va., not far from DC.
70 min: The Spirit are winning every battle in midfield.
The Pride are winning every battle in their own penalty area.
McKeown is fouled and is down in apparent considerable pain. Banda gets yellow.
68 min (still): Krueger gets the ball in space down the left, but she rushes a pass that’s too far ahead of anyone in yellow.
68 min: Another cross to Hatch, another header, too easily saved by Moorhouse.
66 min: Kouassi poses a threat on the right this time, and Emily Sams races back to play it out for a corner.
The corner sails over everyone, but the Spirit reclaim possession.
65 min: Santos stretches out a foot to send a through ball to Hatch, but the ball gets tangled in the Spirit forward’s feet, and she can’t get a clean shot away. Uncharacteristic.
Adriana heads out, replaced by Summer Yates.
64 min: Adriana holds the ball for an eternity. Orlando may have weathered the Spirit storm here.
61 min: First sub of the game – Gabby Carle replaces Metayer.
Finally the first shot of the half from the Pride, but it’s nowhere near.
But the second one is considerably more dangerous, as Banda goes right at Carle and dishes the ball to Marta, whose diagonal shot rolls past the far post.
58 min: Metayer gets forward and sends in a cross that literally pings around among several defenders.
Orlando break the other way, and McKeown does well to hold off Banda despite some rather blatant foul attempts by the game’s lone scorer.
But the Spirit earn a free kick in the other half. Moorhouse does well to leap and collect the ball in traffic.
56 min: Morris finds a channel to run through with the ball, but she can’t slip a pass to Rodman.
Dominant display from the Spirit since halftime, but they still have nothing to show for it.
53 min: The Spirit are playing like circling sharks now. There are almost too many yellow-shirted players lining up to take shots within the Orlando penalty area. One shot deflects wide for a corner; the ensuing shot on that corner goes wide.
49 min: Free kick to the Spirit, almost on the end line a few yards outside the penalty area. Hatch rises to meet it, but her glancing header is too glancing.
(Is “too glancing” actually proper English usage? It should be.)
Metayer commits a petulant foul with a late tackle on Adriana as the Pride counter.
47 min: HUGE SAVE BY MOORHOUSE! My goodness, how did the Orlando keeper stop that one? Great work by Rodman to battle on the flank, and a cross finds Kouassi rising above the crowd. Her header is goalbound to Moorhouse’s right, but it’s punched away with a lightning-quick reaction save.
Second half is underway …
Washington’s fans traveled well for this one. I live in the DC metro area – Spirit supporters will not be happy if this ends 1-0.
Though the Spirit may feel aggrieved on the goal, they can only blame themselves for not getting more shots on target. Only one of their eight shots has required a save. Hatch’s header off the post was their best chance by a wide margin.
Halftime: Orlando 1-0 Washington
On the balance of the season, Orlando have been the best team in the NWSL. They’d certainly be worthy champions. But we have to hope there’s another goal in this one, one way or the other. It’d be a pity to end such a great season on such a dubious decision.
45 min +4: We’ll have five minutes of desultory action in stoppage time.
Online reaction to the non-call in the buildup to the Orlando goal can best be described as “huh?”
