2021 Washington Spirit season

The 2021 Washington Spirit season was the club's 11th season of existence, and its ninth in the National Women's Soccer League, the top division of women's soccer in the United States.

Washington Spirit

2021 season
President	Ben Olsen
Head coach	vacant
Stadium	Maryland SoccerPlex Audi Field Segra Field
NWSL	3rd
NWSL Playoffs	Champions
Challenge Cup	Group stage
Top goalscorer	League: Ashley Hatch (10) All: Ashley Hatch (11)
Home colors Away colors
← 2020 2022 →

The season began with the 2021 NWSL Challenge Cup on April 9, 2021 followed by a 24-match regular season. The regular season concluded on October 31, 2021.^[1] The Spirit made its first playoff appearance in five years on November 7, 2021, taking down the defending league champion North Carolina Courage in a quarterfinal match at Audi Field. On November 14, Washington took down two-seed OL Reign in Tacoma to advance to the 2021 NWSL Championship Game in Louisville, KY. The following Saturday, November 20, the Spirit earned its first league title with a 2-1 win over the Chicago Red Stars after extra time.

Background

Main article: 2020 Washington Spirit season

The 2020 season was the Washington Spirit's seventh season. The season was slated to begin on April 18, 2020 but was postponed due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Ultimately, the NWSL season was cancelled due to the pandemic. The club participated in the NWSL Challenge Cup and the NWSL Fall series which were held in lieu of the regular season. The Challenge Cup was held behind closed doors at the neutral venue of Zions Bank Stadium in Herriman, Utah. The Spirit reached the Quarterfinals of the Challenge Cup, and finished in third place in the Fall Series. Combined across all matches, the Spirit had the second best record of matches played during the 2020 season.

Club

Roster

As of September 11, 2021.^[2]

No.	Pos.	Player	Nation
1	GK	Aubrey Bledsoe	United States
2	FW	Trinity Rodman	United States
3	DF	Sam Staab	United States
5	DF	Kelley O'Hara	United States
6	DF	Emily Sonnett	United States
7	MF	Saori Takarada	Japan
8	FW	Averie Collins	United States
9	DF	Tegan McGrady	United States
10	FW	Ashley Sanchez	United States
11	MF	Jordan DiBiasi	United States
12	MF	Andi Sullivan	United States
13	FW	Bayley Feist	United States
14	DF	Paige Nielsen	United States
16	MF	Julia Roddar	Sweden
17	FW	Kumi Yokoyama	Japan
18	GK	Devon Kerr	Canada
19	MF	Dorian Bailey	United States
20	FW	Mariana Speckmaier	Venezuela
21	MF	Anna Heilferty	United States
23	DF	Tori Huster	United States
24	MF	Chinyelu Asher	Jamaica
25	DF	Karina Rodriguez	Mexico
27	FW	Tara McKeown	United States
28	DF	Morgan Goff	United States
30	DF	Camryn Biegalski	United States
31	GK	Sydney Schneider	Jamaica
33	FW	Ashley Hatch	United States

Management and support staff

Role	Name[3]
Manager	Vacant
Technical Staff Coach	Kris Ward
Goalkeeping coach	Paul Crichton
High Performance Director	Michael Minthorne

Non-competitive

Palm Beach Atlantic Sailfish v Washington Spirit

March 6, 2021 Preseason	Palm Beach Atlantic Sailfish	0–6	Washington Spirit	West Palm Beach, Florida
		Report	Hatch 18' (Sanchez), 23', 39' (Feist) Feist 27' Rodman 51', 71'	Stadium: Marshall and Vera Lea Rinker Athletic Campus

Washington Spirit v IMG Academy

March 13, 2021 Preseason	Washington Spirit	5–0	IMG Academy	West Palm Beach, Florida
	O'Hara 29' Sanchez 54' (pen.) Feist 64' (Sanchez), 69' Sonnett 83' (Sanchez)	Report		Stadium: Marshall and Vera Lea Rinker Athletic Campus

Washington Spirit v Orlando Pride

March 20, 2021 Preseason	Washington Spirit	Canceled	Orlando Pride	West Palm Beach, Florida
		Report		Stadium: Marshall and Vera Lea Rinker Athletic Campus
Note: Canceled due to false positive Coronavirus disease 2019 tests at Spirit training camp.

Competitive

NWSL Challenge Cup

Main article: 2021 NWSL Challenge Cup

Standings

Pos	Team v t e	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification
1	NJ/NY Gotham FC	4	2	2	0	5	3	+2	8	Qualification for the Championship
2	North Carolina Courage	4	2	1	1	9	8	+1	7
3	Orlando Pride	4	1	2	1	3	3	0	5
4	Washington Spirit	4	1	1	2	3	4	−1	4
5	Racing Louisville FC	4	0	2	2	4	6	−2	2

Source: NWSL
Rules for classification: Tiebreakers

Results

North Carolina Courage v Washington Spirit

April 10 1	North Carolina Courage	3–2	Washington Spirit	Cary, North Carolina
3:30 PM EDT (UTC-4)	Hamilton 10' McDonald 28' Mathias 51'  90+7'	Report	Yokoyama 4' Rodman 60' Jacobs  63'	Stadium: Sahlen's Stadium at WakeMed Soccer Park Attendance: 2,300 Referee: Alyssa Nichols (Mississippi)

Washington Spirit v Racing Louisville FC

April 15, 2021 (2021-04-15) 2	Washington Spirit	1–0	Racing Louisville FC	Washington, D.C.
7:00 PM EDT (UTC-4)	Roddar  60' Huster  80' Sanchez 90+3'	Report	Olofsson  52'	Stadium: Audi Field Referee: Danielle Chesky (Virginia)

Orlando Pride v Washington Spirit

April 21, 2021 (2021-04-21) 3	Orlando Pride	1–0	Washington Spirit	Orlando, Florida
7:00 PM EDT (UTC-4)	Leroux 11' Marta  13' Riley  36' Harris  80'	Report	Sonnett  6' O'Hara  86'  90+2'	Stadium: Exploria Stadium Referee: Alex Billeter (Florida)

Washington Spirit v NJ/NY Gotham FC

April 27, 2021 (2021-04-27) 4	Washington Spirit	0–0	NJ/NY Gotham FC	Washington, D.C.
7:00 PM EDT (UTC-4)	Heilferty  87'	Report		Stadium: Audi Field Attendance: 2,039 Referee: Karen Callado (California)

NWSL

Main article: 2021 National Women's Soccer League season

Standings

Pos	Team v t e	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification
1	Portland Thorns FC	24	13	5	6	33	17	+16	44	NWSL Shield
2	OL Reign	24	13	3	8	37	24	+13	42	Playoffs – Semi-finals
3	Washington Spirit (C)	24	11	6	7	29	26	+3	39	Playoffs – First round
4	Chicago Red Stars	24	11	5	8	28	28	0	38
5	NJ/NY Gotham FC	24	8	11	5	29	21	+8	35
6	North Carolina Courage	24	9	6	9	28	23	+5	33
7	Houston Dash	24	9	5	10	31	31	0	32
8	Orlando Pride	24	7	7	10	27	32	−5	28
9	Racing Louisville FC	24	5	7	12	21	40	−19	22
10	Kansas City	24	3	7	14	15	36	−21	16

Source: NWSL
Rules for classification: Tiebreakers
(C) Champions

Results

Orlando Pride v Washington Spirit

May 16, 2021 (2021-05-16) 1	Orlando Pride	1–1	Washington Spirit	Orlando, Florida
7:00 PM EDT (UTC-4)	Morgan 84'	Report	Hatch  74' 76'	Stadium: Exploria Stadium Referee: Karen Callado (California)

Racing Louisville FC v Washington Spirit

May 21, 2021 (2021-05-21) 2	Racing Louisville FC	2–0	Washington Spirit	Louisville, Kentucky
7:30 PM EDT (UTC-4)	Ekic 76' Kizer 81' Baucom  90+1' Martin  90+2'	Report	Rodman  46' Bailey  70'	Stadium: Lynn Family Stadium Attendance: 6,011 Referee: Katja Koroleva (Washington)

Houston Dash v Washington Spirit

May 26, 2021 (2021-05-26) 3	Houston Dash	1–2	Washington Spirit	Houston, Texas
6:30 PM CDT (UTC-5)	Daly 9' Hanson  44' Groom  75' Prince  90 + 5 '	Report	Sanchez 21' Sullivan  44'  50' Hatch 70'   80'	Stadium: BBVA Stadium Attendance: 2,241 Referee: Natalie Simon (Florida)

OL Reign v Washington Spirit

May 30, 2021 (2021-05-30) 4	OL Reign	0–1	Washington Spirit	Tacoma, Washington
4:00 PM PDT (UTC-7)	Brooks  52'	Report	Rapinoe 52' (o.g.) Bailey  65'	Stadium: Cheney Stadium Attendance: 2,537 Referee: Samantha Martinez (California)

Washington Spirit v Orlando Pride

June 6, 2021 (2021-06-06) 5	Washington Spirit	1–1	Orlando Pride	Washington, D.C.
2:00 pm EDT (UTC-4)	Hatch 64' Heilferty  90+1'	Report	Petersen  39' Morgan  46' Kornieck 67'	Stadium: Audi Field Attendance: 5,199 Referee: Adorae Monroy (Washington)

Chicago Red Stars v Washington Spirit

June 19, 2021 (2021-06-19) 6	Chicago Red Stars	1–1	Washington Spirit	Bridgeview, Illinois
7:00 PM CDT (UTC-5)	Gautrat 90 + 2'	Report	Rodman 85'	Stadium: SeatGeek Stadium Attendance: 3,296 Referee: Karen Abt (Colorado)

Kansas City v Washington Spirit

June 26, 2021 (2021-06-26) 7	Kansas City	1–2	Washington Spirit	Kansas City, Missouri
7:30 PM CDT (UTC-5)	Rodriguez 3' LaBonta  33' Edmonds  56' Jenkins  73'	Report	Sanchez 78' Rodman 90 + 5'	Stadium: Legends Field Attendance: 5,157 Referee: Laura Rodriguez (Colorado)

Washington Spirit v Chicago Red Stars

July 2, 2021 (2021-07-02) 8	Washington Spirit	0–1	Chicago Red Stars	Leesburg, Virginia
7:00 PM EDT (UTC-4)		Report	Roddar 33' (o.g.)	Stadium: Segra Field Attendance: 3,201 Referee: JC Griggs (Virginia)

Washington Spirit v North Carolina Courage

July 10, 2021 (2021-07-10) 9	Washington Spirit	2–0	North Carolina Courage	Washington, D.C.
7:00 PM EDT (UTC-4)	Hatch 12,46'	Report		Stadium: Audi Field Attendance: 4,929 Referee: Matt Franz (Virginia)

Washington Spirit v NJ/NY Gotham FC

July 18, 2021 (2021-07-18) 10	Washington Spirit	2–3	NJ/NY Gotham FC	Leesburg, Virginia
5:00 PM EDT (UTC-4)	Staab  7' Rodman 13' Sanchez 56'	Report	Kawasumi 24' Zerboni 35' Long  51' Purce 76' 90+2'	Stadium: Segra Field Referee: Karen Callado (California)

Racing Louisville FC v Washington Spirit

July 25, 2021 (2021-07-25) 11	Racing Louisville FC	0–2	Washington Spirit	Louisville, Kentucky
3:00 PM EDT (UTC-4)		Report	Hatch 5' Staab 58' Bledsoe  90+1'	Stadium: Lynn Family Stadium Attendance: 6,422 Referee: Samantha Martinez (California)

Chicago Red Stars v Washington Spirit

August 1, 2021 (2021-08-01) 12	Chicago Red Stars	3–1	Washington Spirit	Bridgeview, Illinois
5:00 PM CDT (UTC-5)	Pugh 19' Hill 39' Gautrat 80'	Report	Rodman  30' Rodman 71' Aylmer  68' Staab  79'	Stadium: SeatGeek Stadium Attendance: 2,534 Referee: Natalie Simon (Florida)

Washington Spirit v Portland Thorns FC

August 7, 2021 (2021-08-07) 13	Washington Spirit	0–1	Portland Thorns FC	Leesburg, Virginia
7:30 PM EDT (UTC-4)	Sullivan 65'	Report	Charley 29' Smith 70'	Stadium: Segra Field Attendance: 2,899 Referee: Katja Koroleva (Washington)

Houston Dash v Washington Spirit

August 13, 2021 (2021-08-13) 14	Houston Dash	2–2	Washington Spirit	Houston, Texas
7:30 PM CDT (UTC-5)	Latsko 61' 90+4' Fields 67' Abam 83'	Report	Huster 5' 53' Nielsen 8'	Stadium: BBVA Stadium Referee: Laura Rodriguez (Colorado)

Washington Spirit v Orlando Pride

August 22, 2021 (2021-08-22) 15	Washington Spirit	2–1	Orlando Pride	Washington, D.C.
4:00 PM EDT (UTC-4)	Hatch 70' Sanchez 89'	Report	Turner 46' Marta 68' Strom 46'	Stadium: Audi Field Attendance: 6,002 Referee: Tori Penso (Florida)

Washington Spirit v North Carolina Courage

August 29, 2021 (2021-08-29) 16	Washington Spirit	0–0	North Carolina Courage	Washington, D.C.
5:00 PM EDT (UTC-4)	Roddar 90+3'	Report	Williams 55'	Stadium: Audi Field Attendance: 4,554 Referee: Greg Dopka (Illinois)

Portland Thorns FC v Washington Spirit

September 4, 2021 (2021-09-04) 17	Portland Thorns FC	3–0	Washington Spirit	Portland, Oregon
7:30 PM PDT (UTC-7)		Report		Stadium: Providence Park
Note: The NWSL declared a forfeit due to breaches of medical protocols by the Washington Spirit. Portland received a 3–0 win according to FIFA guidelines.

Washington Spirit v OL Reign

September 12, 2021 (2021-09-12) 18	Washington Spirit	0–3	OL Reign	Washington, D.C.
5:00 PM EDT (UTC-4)		Report		Stadium: Audi Field
Note: The NWSL declared a forfeit due to breaches of medical protocols by the Washington Spirit. OL Reign received a 3–0 win according to FIFA guidelines.

Washington Spirit v Kansas City

September 26, 2021 (2021-09-26) 19	Washington Spirit	2–1	Kansas City	Leesburg, Virginia
5:00 PM EDT (UTC-4)	Sullivan 45+3' McKeown 46'		Jenkins 8'	Stadium: Segra Field Attendance: 3,295 Referee: Karen Abt (Colorado)

NJ/NY Gotham FC v Washington Spirit

October 6, 2021 (2021-10-06) 21	NJ/NY Gotham FC	0–0	Washington Spirit	Chester, Pennsylvania
7:00 PM EDT (UTC-4)				Stadium: Subaru Park Attendance: 9,532 Referee: Ismir Pekmic (Minnesota)

Washington Spirit v Racing Louisville FC

October 9, 2021 (2021-10-09) 22	Washington Spirit	3–0	Racing Louisville FC	Washington, D.C.
7:30 PM EDT (UTC-4)	Hatch 8,80' Sullivan 52'			Stadium: Audi Field Referee: Laura Rodriguez (Colorado)

North Carolina Courage v Washington Spirit

October 14, 2021 (2021-10-14) 20	North Carolina Courage	1–2	Washington Spirit	Cary, North Carolina
7:30 PM EDT (UTC-4)	Speck 60'		Rodman 39' Roddar 70'	Stadium: Sahlen's Stadium at WakeMed Soccer Park Attendance: 3,742 Referee: Sergii Demianchuk (Georgia)

OL Reign v Washington Spirit

October 16, 2021 (2021-10-16) 23	OL Reign	0–2	Washington Spirit	Tacoma, Washington
7:00 PM PDT (UTC-7)		Report	Aylmer 22' Hatch 59'	Stadium: Cheney Stadium Attendance: 4,009 Referee: Katja Koroleva (Washington)

Washington Spirit v Houston Dash

October 31, 2021 (2021-10-31) 24	Washington Spirit	1–0	Houston Dash	Washington, D.C.
2:00 PM EDT (UTC-4)	Rodman 76'			Stadium: Audi Field Attendance: 4,542 Referee: Danielle Chesky (Virginia)

Playoffs

Washington Spirit v North Carolina Courage

November 7, 2021 (2021-11-07) First round	Washington Spirit	1–0	North Carolina Courage	Washington, D.C.
5:30 PM EST (UTC-5)	Hatch 113'	Report		Stadium: Audi Field Attendance: 5,379 Referee: Natalie Simon (Florida)

OL Reign v Washington Spirit

November 14, 2021 (2021-11-14) Semi-finals	OL Reign	1–2	Washington Spirit	Tacoma, Washington
3:00 PM EST (UTC-5)	Le Sommer 3'	Report	Rodman 12' Sanchez 68'	Stadium: Cheney Stadium Attendance: 5,273 Referee: Matt Franz (Virginia)

Washington Spirit v Chicago Red Stars

November 20, 2021 (2021-11-20) Final	Washington Spirit	2–1	Chicago Red Stars	Louisville, Kentucky
12:00 PM EST (UTC-5)	Sullivan 67' O'Hara 97'	Report	Hill 45+5'	Stadium: Lynn Family Stadium Attendance: 10,360 Referee: Tori Penso (Florida)

Transfers

Transfers in

Date	Position	No.	Name	From	Fee/notes	Ref.
December 24, 2020	MF	6	Emily Sonnett	Orlando Pride	Trade for Meggie Dougherty Howard	[4]
January 26, 2021	MF	16	Julia Roddar	Göteborg	Free	[5]
June 23, 2021	DF	25	Karina Rodriguez	UCLA Bruins	Free	[6]

Transfers out

Date	Position	No.	Name	To	Fee/notes	Ref.
August 18, 2020	MF	10	Rose Lavelle	Manchester City	Free
November 2, 2020	FW	20	Cheyna Matthews	Racing Louisville	Waived
November 12, 2020	GK	21	Katie Lund	Racing Louisville	Draft	[7]
November 12, 2020	FW	6	Katie McClure	Racing Louisville	Draft	[7]
December 24, 2020	MF	8	Meggie Howard	Orlando Pride	Trade for Emily Sonnett	[4]
December 30, 2020	DF	5	Brooke Hendrix	Racing Louisville	Free	[8]
January 7, 2021	FW	18	Jessie Scarpa	KIF Örebro	Free	[9]
July 8, 2021	DF	4	Natalie Jacobs	Real Betis	Wavied	[10]

NWSL Draft picks

Main article: 2021 NWSL Draft

2021 Washington Spirit Draft Picks
Round	Selection	Player	Nat.	Position	College	Ref.
1	2	Trinity Rodman	USA	FW	Washington State
1	8	Tara McKeown	USA	FW	USC
2	19	Anna Heilferty	USA	FW	Boston U
3	29	Sydney Schneider	JAM	GK	UNC Wilmington
4	39	Mariana Speckmaier	VEN	FW	Clemson

Player statistics

Top scorers

Place	Pos.	No.	Name	CC	NWSL	NWSL Playoffs	Total
1	FW	33	Ashley Hatch	0	10	1	11
2	FW	2	Trinity Rodman	1	6	1	8
3	FW	10	Ashley Sanchez	1	4	1	6
4	MF	12	Andi Sullivan	0	2	1	3
5	FW	17	Kumi Yokoyama	1	0	0	1
	DF	3	Sam Staab	0	1	0	1
	DF	14	Paige Nielsen	0	1	0	1
	MF	23	Tori Huster	0	1	0	1
	DF	27	Tara McKeown	0	1	0	1
	MF	16	Julia Roddar	0	1	0	1
	MF	26	Taylor Aylmer	0	1	0	1
	DF	5	Kelley O'Hara	0	0	1	1
6			Own Goal	0	1	0	1
Total				3	29	5	37

Assist leaders

Place	Pos.	No.	Name	CC	NWSL	NWSL Playoffs	Total
1	FW	2	Trinity Rodman	1	5	1	7
2	MF	12	Andi Sullivan	0	3	0	3
3	DF	4	Natalie Jacobs	1	1	0	2
	MF	23	Tori Huster	0	2	0	2
	MF	26	Taylor Aylmer	0	2	0	2
	FW	27	Tara McKeown	0	2	0	2
	DF	3	Sam Staab	0	1	1	2
4	DF	5	Kelley O'Hara	0	1	0	1
	MF	19	Dorian Bailey	1	0	0	1
	MF	16	Julia Roddar	0	1	0	1
Total				3	18	2	23

Clean sheets

Place	Pos.	No.	Name	CC	NWSL	NWSL Playoffs	Total
1	GK	1	Aubrey Bledsoe	2	8	1	11
Total				2	8	1	11

Disciplinary

Pos.	No.	Name	CC		NWSL		NWSL Playoffs		Total
GK	1	Aubrey Bledsoe	0	0	1	0	0	0	1	0
FW	2	Trinity Rodman	0	0	4	0	0	0	4	0
DF	3	Sam Staab	0	0	1	1	0	0	1	1
DF	4	Natalie Jacobs	1	0	0	0	0	0	1	0
DF	5	Kelley O'Hara	1	1	0	0	1	0	2	1
DF	6	Emily Sonnett	1	0	0	0	0	0	1	0
FW	10	Ashley Sanchez	0	0	3	0	0	0	3	0
MF	12	Andi Sullivan	0	0	2	1	0	0	2	1
DF	16	Julia Roddar	1	0	2	0	1	0	4	0
MF	19	Dorian Bailey	0	0	1	0	0	0	1	0
DF	21	Anna Heilferty	1	0	1	0	0	0	2	0
DF	23	Tori Huster	1	0	3	0	0	0	4	0
MF	26	Taylor Aylmer	0	0	1	0	0	0	1	0
FW	33	Ashley Hatch	0	0	2	0	0	0	2	0
Total			6	1	24	2	2	0	32	3