Audi Field | Washington, District of Columbia – Sunday, March 26 at 4:00 PM ET
Players to watch:
Although the Washington Spirit roster experienced some turnover between last year and this year, two familiar faces—forwards Trinity Rodman and Ashley Hatch—are not only back, but they also have the potential to have even better seasons in an attack that aims to get off to a fast start against OL Reign in the team’s first game. Last season, Hatch was the team’s leading scorer, scoring nine goals in 16 games—more than twice as many as Trinity Rodman, the team’s second-leading scorer. Rodman scored four last year in 16 appearances and contributed a couple of helps too, and partners Tara McKeown and Ashley Sanchezwere the main different players to score more than two. With both returning, the Soul’s assault might be far superior last year as Washington completed simply under the center of the pack in objectives scored in 2022.
On paper, OL Reign appear to be on track for another attempt at the NWSL Championship. They will rely on the experienced leadership of Megan Rapinoe and Rose Lavelle, as well as a wide range of supporting characters. The Reign had the fewest goals allowed of any team last season (19), and they only improved their defense by trading for Emily Sonnett in the offseason. The club’s returning core, from the defense to the forward line, should ensure that team chemistry only gets better with each season. In the previous season, Rapinoe and teammate Bethany Balcer, who is also back, scored seven goals, and Lavelle and midfielder Jess Fishlock were the only players to score more than three goals.
Match Facts: The Washington Soul have Old Rule at Audi Field on Sunday evening for the first of four games across the association as the season proceeds with its opening shot this end of the week. In 2023, The Spirit will sport a brand-new uniform and crest color scheme, but they hope that’s not the only reason for fans to tune in this year. In the meantime, the OL Reign are back and are already being regarded as one of the top challengers in the league this year. However, one of the Reign’s only losses last season came on an away trip, when the Spirit won 2-1 against the visitors, their only win from May to September.
After having only lost two consecutive games all season, Washington went on to lose its final three. In fact, the Spirit’s three-game losing streak is the longest since their 10-game losing streak in 2018. Overall, Washington’s expectations for 2022 were not met, but the fact that the three players who led the team in goals scored last season—Ashley Hatch, Ashley Sanchez, and Trinity Rodman—are back is encouraging.
In contrast, for only the second time in franchise history, the Reign conceded two goals in the previous year’s season opener (2016). Obviously, the visitors on Sunday had a much better year of play in 2022, when they won the NWSL Regular Season title and are poised to challenge once more. However, the first step is to defeat a Spirit team that the Reign have not defeated in their last nine meetings across all competitions since May 2019 (D5 L4, with the exception of a forfeit in September 2021). Washington’s four victories match the Spirit’s total of 18 victories against the Reign over the first 18 games in all competitions.
