By Christine Espinoza
Any hope of Racing seeing the postseason has been dashed by a resounding defeat from the Washington Spirit last night.
Spirit’s win can largely be credited to the dynamic between Ashley Hatch and Trinity Rodman. Hatch found the back of Michelle Beto’s net at the 8th minute with a remarkable pass from Rodman at the beginning of the match. They later repeated this sequence, taking advantage of Beto’s distance from the box again, at the 80th’ minute. This goal not only gave Hatch a brace, it also has now tied her with OL Reign’s Bethany Balcer for most goals scored this season.
While the third goal clearly cemented Spirit’s win, the fifth yellow card of the season picked up by Savannah McCaskill, which will suspend her for one game, and the penalty kick that awarded them their second goal seemed to have slowed their game until substitutions were made in the second half. McCaskill was shown the yellow card at the 39th and the penalty was given after Ashely Sanchez seemed to have been tripped by a couple of Racing’s defensive players within the box. The penalty kick was scored by Andi Sullivan in the 52nd.
While Louisville defended stronger, to a literal fault, than they had previously done, they simply could not get make the finishing passes toward the goal or get past goalkeeper Aubrey Bledsoe. A few of the best approaches came from Cece Kizer, Yuiki Nagasato, and Cheyna Matthews, the latter making several very close shots. Interim coach Mario Sanchez also saw a difference once Matthews was on the field saying that when she came into the game, she “did really, really well.” He also reiterated their goal of improving their game stating, “We are going to continue to learn and develop and get better and better every day, and that’s never going to end.”
The win now puts Washington Spirit in fourth place in the standings.
Racing will next play Orlando Pride on Saturday, October 16th.
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